Thursday, September 25, 2003

Mtpolitics.net joins in the ridicule of a PETA protester who bicycled through town protesting KFC's treatment of chickens. Now why do you suppose that is? I agree with the comment on mt.politics that PETA sometimes hurts its own cause by overreaching. But why is it inherently worthy of ridicule to lobby for better treatment of animals, even those bred for the dinner table? I don't know whether KFC deserves to be singled out, but there can be no doubt that life for a commercially bred chicken is nasty, brutish and short. As the student said, they're just chickens, but life must mean something to them. I wonder how much of the ridicule derives from squeamishness over guilty consciences about how poorly we treat chickens? Of course, my squeamishness isn't powerful enough to make me stop eating fried chicken.

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