The Choice to be Green

Signing on

Each and every one of us thought that the stunt pulled by actress Alicia Mayer would be the last that we will see. Just the other day three women, two Pinays and one foreigner walked across Plaza Miranda wearing lettuce leaves, campaigning for Filipinos to switch to vegetarian diet. They are said to be members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

Personally I'm not against the idea of vegetarianism. Heck, I also eat vegetables. But at the same time I am a carnivore. I am, in my own words, a balanced eater. But the idea of totally converting to a vegan lifestyle has not yet crossed my mind, because I firmly believe that being one should be done only willingly and with full volition. But judging on how PETA reason out, I guess that I will remain the way I am. See, I couldn't help but wonder why these people think that raising cattle and poultry is harmful to the environment because they contribute to the increasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Well, I think that's because they pass wind, and their numbers increases the chances of the emission being brought up above. Personally, I believe that they are missing some points. Number one: whether to raise animals or not, either for food or otherwise, they will still break wind. Number two: all animals fart. Cows fart. Chickens fart. Lions fart. Giraffes fart. Elephants fart. And number three: Animals aren't the only ones who passes wind. We humans do that also.

I once saw a leaflet from PETA describing how inhumane cattle and poultry were slaughtered. But nothing is more head-shaking than what the foreigner had said; she said that cows are being flayed alive. HUH!? I once saw a pig being slaughtered, but I don't remember it being flayed alive. I guess that the proposition "claiming is one thing, proving is another thing" holds true in this case. You see, it's easier to say that that happens than to produce a concrete proof of such. It's like saying that aliens has indeed landed in Roswell, that everything written in The Da Vinci Code is true, and that Elvis has left the building.

So what's my point after all these? That after all that's been said and done, at the end of the day it's still our decisions that will make the difference. I recognize the benefits of a vegetarian diet, but I believe in free will, and I believe in choices, and I am against using ad baculum statements just for the sake of converting to a new lifestyle. I myself don't like people telling me of what I should be. And I know that we Filipinos do not entertain that idea either. We had endured three hundred and thirty-three years of Spanish occupation, fifty years under the Americans, with a four-year interegnuum under the Japanese, who did nothing but tell us what shall we do, what we shall believe, who shall we listen to, and whose authority shall we recognize. If I am to go vegetarian it is because I want to and not because they tell me to. I have the right to make choices for myself. I am a free man.

Signing off.