When Madeleine Albright was confirmed as Secretary of State in 1996, I was a
few months into my first year at college, and I payed no attention. But in the
years since, I am enamored of her whenever I see her.
Listening to Radio Times this morning in the car, (the podcast version will no
doubt be posted on the Radio Times website soon) I heard Ms. Albright expound
on our (the US's) relationship with the rest of the world. Her manner was sassy
but also incredibly refined and respectable. During the course of the discussion,
she summed up the US's responsibility to use its undeniable power for the good
of all by saying something close to:
"Look, whether you learn it from the Bible or Batman, from those to whom much
is given, much is expected."
And I thought, look at this woman who can take a bible passage and redirect it
to fans of comic books and action movies. Look at this charismatic, well-spoken
woman who has an incredible insight into the affairs of the US and the world.
Why isn't SHE running for president? On the walk from my car to the
apartment, I couldn't figure out why no one was making her at least TRY for a
nomination...
Wikipedia gave me the answer-- she's not a natural born citizen of the US.
Phooey. But all is not lost because there's lots about her life that is completely
inspirational to me, including the fact that she was raising kids while getting a
PhD and generally being a superstar of all things international. I also followed
the link to her 2007 Commencement speech at Wellesley, which is a wonderful,
quick read.
Madeleine Albright, welcome to my personal hall of heroes. You are lovely and
important.
Remember those commercials for pork that were all over the TV in... what? The
90's? And the beef commercials, too, which used the heartily awesome music of
Aaron Copland's "Rodeo" (a cowboy ballet)-- do you know, apparently 88% of
the population immediately think "Beef: It's what's for dinner" when they hear
Rodeo! 88%!
Googling these famous meat campaigns, I just discovered that Beef has not
finished selling itself. The new campaign for 2008 will be "Discover the Power of
Protein in the Land of Lean Beef". Honestly, I don't know why anybody wants to
spend money advertising meat to a nation whose citizens, on average, already
eat half a pound of it a day. Eat more meat? Ugh. I don't even want to think
about it.
But I have been thinking about it. Thanks to the popularity of books like Michael
Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and more recent "In Defense of Food", and
articles like "Rethinking the Meat Guzzler" from the NYTimes,
I'm realizing that our pace of meat consumption is bad for more than just our bodies.
I encourage everyone to read the article from the Times, but if you can't, here
are three short paragraphs from the end that I thought really drove the point
home about the enormous amount of meat consumed in the US and other
countries:
"If price spikes don’t change eating habits, perhaps the combination of
deforestation, pollution, climate change, starvation, heart disease and animal
cruelty will gradually encourage the simple daily act of eating more plants and
fewer animals.
Mr. Rosegrant of the food policy research institute says he foresees “a stronger
public relations campaign in the reduction of meat consumption — one like that
around cigarettes — emphasizing personal health, compassion for animals, and
doing good for the poor and the planet.”
It wouldn’t surprise Professor Eshel if all of this had a real impact. “The good of
people’s bodies and the good of the planet are more or less perfectly aligned,”
he said."
I am not a vegetarian-- I eat meat. Maybe once a week. Sometimes more,
depending on what my body needs. I am not inclined to give up meat. But
I am inclined to put my money where my mouth is-- on responsibly raised
foods! It's not just for hippies anymore.
And when are we going to see a campaign for kale? How about the slogan "I'll
bet you $50 you haven't eaten enough vegetables today"?
I can breathe easier now. I received my acceptance letter from Temple
yesterday, along with a nice little scholarship (fingers crossed that I might be
judged to have some financial need also). I had actually started watching the mail
with the hopes that my admission decision would be made in less than the
advertised 8-12 week time frame, and -- aha!-- my envelope arrived in 5 weeks!
So I'm awfully glad to know that my future plans do in fact rest with Temple and
the law-- now to see what I can do with it, eh? Hopefully some good...
More family updates to follow soon-- I PROMISE!!
I recently read an article in the NYTimes entitled Politics and Misogyny.
It's not so much about politics, actually, but says much about the treatment of
women in our country.
Everyone knows I'm a feminist (meaning I think women are equal to men), but
reading this article made me realize that even I had been lulled into a feeling of
relative safety and equal standing in our society. After reading the article, I
reflected on all the instances where I had witnessed disgusting language,
violence, and degrading practices against women-- how I am not even honest
with myself about the prevalence of these things in my own life. I owe it to our
daughter, and all the women I care about in my life, to urge everyone to read
this article. Hopefully it will make us all think about what misogyny is, and that's
a beginning.
If you do take the time to read the article, thank you.