Consider the Dog

Before I begin, I would like to clarify that I have nothing against Chinese people or what they may or may not do. Chinese people are great- I'm pointing out a societal flaw, not criticizing a Chinese festival. 

The Lychee and Dog Meat Festival, commonly referred to as Yulin Dog Meat Festival, is an annual celebration held in Yulin, Guangxi, China, during the summer solstice in which festival goers eat dog meat and lychees. The festival began in 2009 and spans about ten days during which it is estimated that 10,000-15,000 dogs are consumed. 

Now I know what you're thinking. Whether you own a pet dog or not, here in the Western world, dogs are in no way, shape, or form, intended to be consumed. "Oh my god," you think. "How could they eat such cute animals?" you question. Then you go about your day, consuming cows, chicken, pigs, fish, lobsters, but no- never dogs. Dogs aren't meant to be eaten. And yeah, I guess it's sort of true. This festival is quite cruel and disgusting. I was gonna provide a picture, but after looking some up, I think it would be best if you didn't see it. Trust me. 

But why only dogs? Why do we wince at the thought of dogs being slaughtered and cooked, but not any other animals? According to data from the USDA, in April 2017, the United States produced 3.9 billion pounds of red meat. We killed 9.34 million pigs, 2.4 million cows (with an additional 39,000 calves), and 179,000 sheep. Now on average, that's around 398,616 animals killed each day. 

"That's different, those animals are for food," you claim. But what exactly gave us the right to designate which animals are for which purpose? The fact that we are disgusted by this festival but simultaneously preparing a lobster for dinner reveals the dictionary definition of hypocrisy.

People are so self-centered that their beliefs are the only ones that matter. In China, the tradition of dog meat consumption began over 4,000 years ago. It's a tradition. What makes it different from Thanksgiving? The National Turkey Federation estimates that around 45 to 46 million turkeys are consumed each year for Thanksgiving feasts. Now imagine if some other country held Turkeys as sacred animals, or even just domestic pets. How would they feel? Exactly how you feel about dogs. "That's so wrong." "How could they do such a thing?" "How horrible!"

I'm not arguing for animal rights. I do eat meat, and after writing this I'm ashamed to say that I love meat. While animal welfare may be a significant issue, I'm looking at the bigger picture here. Humans are so caught up in their own doctrines that they regard every other opposing view as incorrect. Eating cows is okay, dogs- never. We see ourselves as righteous individuals, but disdain those who have different cultures. Of course, I sit here writing this, having just eaten mass-produced, processed pig/cow in the form of pepperoni on a pizza. I guess I embody the very hypocritical human I speak of. Maybe next time, you and I can consider the cow, consider the pig, consider the chicken, consider the lobster- just as we consider the dog.

holy

Jesus, would you look at the time. I’ve got less than 15 minutes to write this. My rhetoric here may be hard to understand. Once upon a time, I wanted a toy. I don’t remember what this toy was; it could’ve been a pink elephant, for all I know. I wanted two things from this toy: satisfaction and the ability to show it off. And for some reason- some really dumb reason- I would not rest until I got this toy. Everyone would be jealous. I wanted people to be jealous. I wanted to be cool. I wanted to have something no one else did. I wanted to fit in. I wanted a lot of things. Then I got the toy. I played with it twice. Then, it sat collecting dust at the bottom of my toy bin. I had gotten my two uses out of it. After that, it was useless. I wanted a different toy. I wanted two things from this toy: satisfaction and the ability to show it off. Unfortunately, I never got either of these things. Today, people want different kinds of toys. Toys that solely function to serve them. Toys that might be used once and never again. Toys that might be human beings. Toys that are left useless, hopeless, thrown away. If by chance, a toy more suitable than the current toy is found, it will be replaced, no questions asked. Women aren't toys. No. That's not right; I meant: people aren't toys. 

Literally

Maybe I'm just ignorant. Maybe I'm oblivious to female struggles. Maybe I'm a male (not maybe- can confirm I am, in fact, biologically a male). But one thing is for sure- I literally don't care what someone wears. I feel like a lot of people put way too much thought into someone's presentation based on their clothing. I mean yeah, if you're attending a formal event then you should probably dress accordingly. If you're going to the pool you shouldn't be wearing a sweater. But in general, who cares? In There Is No Unmarked Woman, Deborah Tannen emphasizes the connotations that women present with how they dress. But logically and sensibly speaking, why does it matter? As long as you're covering up what needs to be covered, why do the styles of the clothing itself matter? I mean if you look like this:

You might raise some eyebrows. And it might be frowned upon to have derogatory terms written on your clothes. But for the greater good, we need to stop caring about such insignificant matters. For sure, a person's outfit can say something about them. But keep it to yourself, as a mere assumption. You don't know who this person is, or what they're like. Stop being so quick to judge. I'd insert the cliché, "don't judge a book by its cover" here, but honestly we shouldn't need such overused sayings to point out such obvious things. The fact that we judge people based on what they happened to wear one day is only one step away from racial profiling. And omg literally Tannen also talked about the connotations that hair has. How exactly can you deduce someone's personality from their hair??? Like seriously lol.

I might be being dangerously closed-minded here, but seriously. Think about it for just a few seconds. Just a few seconds is all it takes to realize that we, as humans, are way too quick to judge others. We assume that because someone looks different from us, wears different clothing, or acts a certain way, they are "marked." As a society, as a population, as a species, we need to be more accepting of others' preferences and literally stop assuming an individual's personality based on their clothing.

Subwhy

In "Just Walk on By," Brent Staples discusses his ability to alter a public space by making others feel threatened just by his presence. As a society, we've come to subconsciously misjudge others based on our stereotypical perceptions of them.

Last winter break, I went to New York, probably one of the most public places you'll ever have been to. And one particular public space, the subway, caught my attention. If you're stuck in Troy, or Michigan in general, you won't really come across a subway. But in cities like New York, as well as my homeland of South Korea, the subway is a significant mode of transportation, with stations always bustling with people. Anyways, more often than not, a homeless individual would enter the car I was in. I sat unaffected- I thought it was no stranger than a beggar on the streets of big cities. Some kids gave weird looks, some parents seemed to want their kids not to make eye contact, and some parents were too busy on their phones to be aware of their surroundings or keep track of their kids. But some people would interact with the individual, even make conversation and, from time to time, place a few dollars in their box. But sometimes, people would flat out ignore them. Like literally. They would ask for spare change, and some people stared at the ground as if no one was there. As if they weren't human.

So my point is this- some people decided that because said individual was not of a certain socioeconomic class, they were not worth talking to, or even worth considering actual human beings. When the homeless enters a public space, it is no longer a public space, because people are offended by their presence, like, "how can someone like that be given the privilege to enter the same space as me, a middle to upper class member of society?" It may be true that you are more likely to be pickpocketed by one with lower status or income. But who really is the victim here? Are you threatened by their presence? Is their existence shocking? Or are they being victimized by blatantly ignorant misjudgment? Public spaces are public because they are open to all people. Now, if an individual does legitimately threaten you or others, that's a different story. I'm not saying you shouldn't be careful around certain people, and I'm not saying that you have to be wholeheartedly nice to everyone you meet. But at least have the decency to acknowledge their existence. At any rate, we should feel sympathy, if not empathy.