Hannah Cann tells us why she loves political correctness.
Do you have swine flu? No. Do you know anybody who does have swine flu? Probably not. So what's all the fuss about?
Can't afford ethical clothing but can afford a night out at Ziggy's? Jennifer Heyes discusses where students' priorities should really lie.
Three of The Yorker's blogs team have had a hard think about what general rules they live their lives by and written them down in the form of their own Personal Philosophies.
A few weeks ago, I was instructed to take some boxes of old clothes to the tip to go in the general waste. When I opened the boxes to see what was inside, I was shocked to find tens of old fur coats. It turned out that after trying to give the coats away to friends and charity shops, no-one wanted them, not because they were in bad condition or worn, but because they were real fur.
Now I'm not strictly for the breeding and slaughter of animals purely for their furs or pelts, but surely it would be better to make some kind of use of coats and furs like this rather than just send them to the landfill or to be incinerated?
Provided the conditions are humane and the waste is limited, I see no problem with buying a brand new fur coat - certainly no more than buying a nice cut of beef.
It seems the radical anti-fur campaigns of the mid-nineties have scared off everyone in the Western world from even touching anything that might be fur for fear of having paint thrown over them and being called a murderer. And so it seems all the fur coats that have been at the back of wardrobes are finding themselves buried or burnt. It just sounds to me like piling waste on top of waste: not only is the animal's life wasted but what's left of its body is wasted too.
In today's environmentally-sensitive world it actually makes a lot more sense to wear natural fur not just because old furs can be recycled but because it, theoretically, has a smaller carbon footprint than the similarly warm, waterproof, breathable, petrochemical alternatives.
Most of the controversy surrounding fur is based on the horrific conditions the animals may be kept in and the waste of the rest of the animal in some cases. Now whilst I can't imagine myself tucking into a nice plate of roast mink or a fox steak on a Sunday afternoon, I'd quite happily eat a rabbit and be even happier if the rest of the animal hadn't been wasted and had gone towards keeping someone warm. Provided the conditions are humane and the waste is limited, I see no problem with buying a brand new fur coat - certainly no more than buying a nice cut of beef.
Of course the veganazis will complain that almost all our slaughter of animals is wrong and unnecessary but that's another debate entirely.
In b4: "your mum" jokes
You must log in to submit a comment.
Report