[Gpdd] MISC: Role of cavies in other cultures

[Willowstorm25 at aol.com]

Hi Slaves,
 
As I predicted, I have gotten a few emails from people who were offended by  
my original post about South American cuy consumption, and there were a few  
points I wanted to clarify before the lynch mob is assembled?  
 
You make valid points here.  It would offend me to  see other exotic animals 
slaughtered for meat.  I believe it is  against the law, anyway, but that is 
beside the point.   And,   yes, it bothers me that people eat guinea pigs, 
especially since, as one of  you affirmed, cuy is no longer necessary for Latinos 
to survive in the  U.S..  That is also true.   But unfortunatley, there are 
many  things that I find offensive that there is nothing I can really do about 
except  not participate.  I will not even deign to list them all!  
 
And yes, it does bother me to think of guinea pigs being consumed by  
Latinos, but I am sincerely at a loss as to what I can do about it.   Unfortunately 
many people are very thin-skinned, and we are a litigious  society.  As a 
teacher, I am held up to close scrutiny by administrators  and students alike, and 
I do often wonder about how I can "educate" my  students about something like 
that without being accused of being discriminatory  and losing my job.  This 
may sound petty, but in New Jersey, where I live,  things like this happen on a 
regular basis, and for far lesser reasons.  
 
Aside of that, I cannot fathom what I can do feasibly to stop cuy  
consumption once people close the doors to their homes and come in for  dinner.  I have 
never considered it my place, NOT becasue I don't  care, but because I realize 
most other people don't care, and that they are  going do do what they are 
going to do regardless of what I tell them.  I  make it clear to all my students 
that guinea pigs are kept solely as pets in the  U.S., but realistically, I 
don't see what else there is that I can do.  
 
Totally different topic, but a point for example:  I have worked in  inner 
city school districts, and spent much time incorporating into my  lessons the 
dangers of joining gangs and the opportunities available to  people now who live 
in poverty.  I am in a position to lecture because *I  grew up in poverty 
myself and escaped a gang*  Even though these kids all  know this, they couldn't 
care less.  They walk out of that school yard at  3:00 and beat the living 
daylights out of the kid wearing red and go hold up  that convenience store 15 
minutes after my lesson ends.  Some kids have  gone home and told parents that 
other teachers and I were "picking on  them" and "belittling their culture." 
And we have been reprimanded by  bleeding-heart, spineless administrations.  So 
bottom line,  most people don't listen.  They do what they are going to do, 
whether  I like it or not.  If what we say (be it about guinea pigs, gangs or  
otherwise) does not fit with people's narrow view of the world, people either  
throw it out or twist it around and throw it back our faces.   This is  human 
nature.  I don't consider myself particularly politically correct or  a 
"people pleaser," but there are precautions I take because I know I must in  the 
interest of preserving my livelihood.  So, how can we (teachers, at  least) 
remedy this?  Especially in a thin-skinned, sue-happy culture like  that of New 
Jersey?  I would love any suggestions you have for me.  
 
I love guinea pigs and do everything in my power to educate people about  
them and make a better world for them.....
 
But the fact of the matter is that if *everyone* went around trying to  
elimiate *everything* that offended them or that they disagreed  with, and got 
their way, then sooner or later we all would lose their freedoms  to do anything, 
and there would be really no rhyme or reason to any of it,  because no matter 
what one does, regardless of how innocuous it seems (and  I DON'T consider the 
killing of guinea pigs to be innocuous), there is  always someone who is 
going to find it offensive. And I think you and I both can  think of at least a 
dozen exaples of this off the top of our heads of that  that have nothing to do 
with animals.  Mind you, blowing up a building  because you don't agree with 
someone's religion is blatantly wrong and  needs to be punished.   Sewing women 
shut to keep them "pure" is  wrong.  Beating a kid (or a wife, or a husband) 
is wrong.  Those  things are considered wrong and reprehensible on a national 
scale, and they  should be.  
 
But there are also *so many* things that are considered gray and  
controversial, and I'm *not* making light of them.  But how do we go about  putting an 
end to all of those things without setting harmful precedents?   Almost all 
dictatorships started that way, and that is the point I am  hoping to make.  Even 
though I don't like it, I realize that sometimes  we just have to focus on the 
big picture and how *all* the parts fit together,  offensive or not.  You 
don't *have* to agree with me, but I hope you will  at least hear where I am 
coming from.
 
 
~Agreeing to disagree, Nicholle~
(though I will not speak for Ryvvir & Aquinnah on this  one)




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