when cruelty is the norm, opposing it makes you a terrorist

ah, anthony bourdain! brave comparer of foie gras geese to porn stars. great defender of the rights and freedoms of the meat-eater faced with that most dangerous of all threats known to mankind and the worst kind of terrorism: VEGETARIANISM! check it out:

Back to the important stuff, though—like those whom Bourdain refers to as a “plague of vegetarians.”

As things stand, Bourdain has a unilaterally declared truce with the veggies—in that he’s promised not to physically attack them. He’s particularly pissed off with those ... who claim that eating foie gras is a threat to society or the environment.

“These fucking people are not really all about us not eating duck liver,” snarls Bourdain. “No, no, no. They don’t want us eating any animal product whatsoever.

“When they win this tiny battle, they’ll move to the next one, like freeing the lobsters.

“These people,” says Bourdain, “are the worst kind of terrorists. And they must be stopped.”

well it's good to know that promoting compassion and awareness about cruelty is the worst kind of terrorism. yeah, yeah, i know he's making such statements to bait and provoke, i know he's half joking. ...just as much as i am when i say he's that very special kind of man for whom masculinity is directly predicated on meat eating (and all other things he enjoys and sees simply as his god-given right, no questions asked). challenge them - or the idea that not everything is anthony bourdain's god given right, that there are some other people and creatures on this planet whose interests count - and you not only disturb his comfort (bad), you also threaten his masculinity (badder)! ergo, you're evil, extremist and out of your mind. (don't you know anthony bourdain's enjoyment comes before anything else? come on!) as someone said in the comments over at green is the new red about this, bourdain's point is more or less:

“Oh, you people with your being kind to animals and your respect of life… you make me SICK! Savages! I just want to eat my cancerous duck liver and my tortured cow in peace you TERRORISTS. Why can’t I just torture animals for luxury? You people with your sick, twisted, compassionate ways… sickos.”

i plead guilty.

it always amazes me how much guys like bourdain feel that they must ridicule and silence those who care about something else than their own continued comfort. until i remember what these creature comforts/god-given rights of theirs mean, what's behind them, what tolerating any criticism will force them to admit they're doing now: eating things like foie gras and not having to give a thought to where your animal products come from? - institutional and individual cruelty to animals; supporting porn in which women enjoy being violated? - institutional and individual violence against women; ridiculing and silencing those who work for social change? - hierarchies of power and injustice that must be preserved at all costs... and so on and so forth. well, i'm glad that bourdain and all reactionaries like him feel that their lifestyle is threatened in some way. (by veg*ans or any other "terrorist" who wants this world to be a better, kinder place for all of us and NOT just the playground of the macho and the sanctuary of "trembling patriarchalists," as someone so aptly described bourdain&co).

i'd give this terrorist piece of advice to people (women, too) who want to just enjoy taking advantage of their various privileges as much as possible and would rather over-defend the status quo than think about what those privileges really entail -- let's give it up. try it. you'll see, even from an egotistical point of view, if you give up those "comforts" in the end it feels much better. (it's simple: those things are not really "comforts" in the first place... they're stuff that you do that helps you fit in better, but doing it makes you miserable, not "comfortable".)