I'm with Ann Friedman on this -- the cat madness needs to stop. Let's all hear it for the realisticats and their unsentimental take on the feline menace.
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Realisticats
31 Aug 2007 11:16 am
Comments (29)
I like cats, but I hate the sentimental anthropomorphic view most cat lovers have of them. The reality is this: cats are carnivores and people are meat, and if they could take us down they would do it in a heartbeat. That's why I respect them more than dogs (which can actually be trained to emulate affection).
I'm in UR bl0g, disputin UR veooz.
When they say they're "endorsed by Manute Bol," is that the Manute Bol who used to play in the NBA? Because that would be awesome.
Well Anne Friedman should be pleased to hear that we kill 2 million cats every years in shelters.. another 2-3 million die on the streets as the twilight between the wild and the streets is quite dangerous.. (We do not eat them btw to maximise economics.. I wonder why?)
A cat in the wild, it is estimated, has an average life span from 11-13 years.. A domestic house cat (no access to streets) can reach 20+...
Stray and feral cats in and outside cities are happy to see 4 summers... Cars get faster but also less noisy.. you can jump into a bush to flee from an attacker (like a dog) - but you cannot jump through walls, rat poisoning also kills cats but only slower and more agonising, chemicals are everywhere, so is the cat-equivalent of aids...
But it is true that the cat as a modern-day pet is a sad tribute to humans. One of the best hunters on the planet (much better than the wolf/dog) can spend decades eating factory farmed meat while never making a single kill.
But that is all besides the point - I do no want to imagine how a cat fews the ugly animal homo sapiens.. only a few hairs here and there.. ugly in movement, barbaric in voice, not really into hedonistic enjoyment, does not know how to play - not how to chill...
My guess is we humans look like this to cats:
http://www.imdb.com/gallery/ss/0167260/lotr3__GOLLUM_HR.jpg.html
Yglesias comes out against kittens. Great.
Well Anne Friedman should be pleased to hear that we kill 2 million cats every years in shelters..
Man, Debbie Downer, I hope you've got something fun planned for Labor Day, 'cause it sounds like you need it.
We need to know about the Manute Bol reference. Everything else is secondary at this point.
What, the world is just crawling with Manute Bols?
The Manute Bol thing applies only to the illustration below and is a joke.
sir,
what sort of abominable human would hurl such contempt at cats? a small and cruel heart you have indeed!
sincerely,
c.v. snicker
Well Anne Friedman should be pleased to hear that we kill 2 million cats every years in shelters..
OH TEH HORROR...Think of the LOLcats!
Well Anne Friedman should be pleased to hear that we kill 2 million cats every years in shelters..
OH TEH HORROR...Think of the LOLcats!
Dogs are great. Cats are great. People-not so much.
I agree. Cats suck. I should know. I have four of them. Oh how they love to destroy antique furniture.
I do have to dispute Tom Hilton. Anthropomorphism can definitely be stupid, but to say that dogs (and only dogs) can be only be "trained to emulate affection" is really taking things too far in the opposite direction. (Interesting side note: one of the most facile articles I ever read in the Atlantic Monthly was on this very subject.)
Since no one can enter a dog's or a cat's brain, no one can know if the affection they both demonstrate is "real" or not, whatever that might mean. The same can be said for humans as well. All mammals have evolved to demonstrate affection in order to get other members of our species to like us and be nice to us. Most mammals discard this when they move into adulthood and no longer live with their mothers. Social animals (like dogs) maintain this tendency even in the wild. Other pet animals, like cats, are kept in an extended juvenile state in which their owners are surrogate mothers, providing food and so on. Showing affection to their "mothers" is natural and no more false than the affection demonstrated by any other species.
Sure, we project all kinds of things onto our pets. But affection is not one of these.
Oh, yeah. And dogs stink and slobber and bark like morons with no provocation. And as an added bonus, they sometimes kill people. So there!
Sure, we project all kinds of things onto our pets. But affection is not one of these.
That's exactly what they want you to believe.
cats do not destroy furniture, they give it character.
Agreed- the madness must end. Forget the cats, let's get back to the stuff that really makes sense, like people blowing each other up because of something Mohammed's brother-in-law said, or us blowing them up, or seeing a US Senator resign because he likes to do...well, ok, that last might not make any sense, but it has been funny to watch.
And never forget- unlike your next-door neighbor who collects shotguns and automatic pistols- your kitty is a vicious killer, or, at best, a serial projectile vomiter. Kinda like Brittany Spears, come to think of it, but without the car.
Just remember to look in your shoes before you put them on. I keep mine under lock and key when I'm not wearing them.
Well Anne Friedman should be pleased to hear that we kill 2 million cats every years in shelters..
OH TEH HORROR...Think of the LOLcats!
I love that humour.. reminds me of the joke:
Why are Chinese so yellow? Because they always pee against the wind... Get it? Get it? Hahahaha...
Why are blacks so brown... HAHAHAHAHA?
Were Jews allowed to smoke in concentration camps... UUUAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!
Them's fightin' words and then...
I'm gonna rat you out to Kevin Drum!!!!
And considering Jews, Chinese people, or African-Americans analogous to non-human animals--that's not offensive at all.
Right.
In one post, you've moved from Debbie Downer to Donnie Dirtbag. Congratulations.
I simply do not trust the rational capabilities of anyone who is proud of, rather than embarrassed by, their delight in anthropomorphizing mammalian pets.
Have you noticed how many people have cats (but rarely dogs) in lieu of children? They talk about them like children and they love them with the same fierceness people use for their children. That's fine, if you like cats, but they can also be seen as brood parasites.
First of all – I am a sucker for bad jokes – so I do enjoy and appreciate them…
But the term anthropomorphism has been successfully abused to justify torture and slavery.. That is why I was referring to Descartes… Darwin told us that the difference between us and the rest of the animal kingdom is in degree and not in kind... anthropomorphism therefore is simply attributing “wrong” degrees and not kinds?
Anyway – anthropomorphism has been successfully abused to justify crimes against women and blacks (as they were animals and not fully human at the time).. When Mary Wollstonecraft wrote: A Vindication of the Rights of Woman – she was belittled for daring to compare men and women.. how embarrassing.. Thomas Taylor, a self-proclaimed Neo-Platonist, wrote his little satire: A Vindication of the Rights of Brutes… (what kind of a Platonist is he one wonders? Did he never read The Republic and what Socrates writes about women? Pseudo as so many here.. Thomas Taylor is like a conservative who loves protectionism and state-subsidies…as so many here?)
In his article Thomas Taylor tried to refute Mary Wollstonecraft's arguments by showing that they could be carried one stage further. If the argument for equality was sound when applied to women, why should it not be applied to dogs, cats, and horses? …
If those who speak up for emotional, intelligent individuals who long for autonomy but are being enslaved and abused – are considered Debbie Downers and Donnie Dirtbags… may I simply call you Mr Neo-Taylor.. Thomas Neo-Taylor it has a nice ring to it…
PS: There is a lovely book by a Stanford Biologists who after decades of having studied and thought biology and ecology.. for the first time discovered what "animal" really means due to an unexpected visit from a stray.. he wrote an honest book about his development - I recommend it to the cat people as well as to the human-people..
A Cat Named Darwin
http://www.amazon.com/Cat-Named-Darwin-William-Jordan/dp/0395986427
Hugo Pottisch,
You're onto some real good themes there, mho, just needs a lot more work in presentation--you can run into PETA country real fast if you're not careful.
My favorite tack is to go to the basic respect most farmers have for animals AS animals (a lot of the honorable type of hunter, too.)
artappraiser,
thanks for your reply but more presentation..? what do you mean? i am just writing of the top of my head here... I do not want to think about presentation.. I have a day job and enough games to play!
If I may utter a request as well, regarding some changes from your side: please look at the content and not the package in this case...
please do not wait for me to find the right words? I cannot think for you - potentially I can package better for you - once I know you better.. but you don't want to have a marriage where you pay the gardener to screw your wife.. certain activities like "thinking" should remain a pleasure and not turn into outsourced "work"?
I personally thought the worst of PETA when I've first encountered them about 15 years ago.. I was a vegetarian at the time but did not know it (the term as well as other vegetarians.. I just avoided animal products for health reasons. I was playing 2nd league tennis and had heard that Carl Lewis was not eating any animal products. so I wanted to try what the fuss was all about. I felt great.. but that is another story!)
At the time - I had not made a connection to animal suffering my self. When I saw my first PETA poster, next to a naked model, it read: "I rather go naked than wear fur!"
My thoughts at the time were actually biased by my interest in economics: "lefties... come on - you just despise the fact that you cannot afford that coat.. I am sure you eat stake you hypocrites... " (little did I know that one of the founders quit a job at an investment bank and that she could have afforded that coat..)
Sufficient to say that I have changed my views over the decades... PETA country was forbidden territory for myself not too long ago.. but not anymore. I feel more multi-cultural and global now and there is no reason to tear some walls down?
What if you were historically a Republican but a Democrat comes along with an even sounder economic policy or vice versa.. How much does the brand count and how much the product? What is your tilting point?
PS: The respect that most farmers who I have met showed for their animals was either fake or full of vital-lies. Or they admit that it is tragic but that it is just the way it is right now...
And hunters..? What? Most pet owners spend MORE time with animals than the average farmer does these days! Pet owners today are maybe close to what a traditional farmers experienced a long long time ago.. they share their lives together. And just like the traditional farmers abused their animals - so do many modern pet owners as well.. But they are still better than modern day hunters and farmers in my book?
I think where we differ is that I don't consider sentimentality synonymous with morality.
Sure, we project all kinds of things onto our pets. But affection is not one of these.That's exactly what they want you to believe.
The same point can be made about people. They want you to think they feel affection for you because it is to their advantage. My point is that there is absolutely no distinction between this and "real" affection, whether you're speaking of humans, dogs, elephants, or any other animal.
Comments closed September 14, 2007.
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Heads in the Sand
Agreed. Hating on cats in full sentences with proper grammar has my full approval.
Posted by Christmas | August 31, 2007 11:15 AM