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Pres. Drnovšek in Tibet. (source)
The Society for the Liberation of Animals recently published an interview with the president of Slovenia, Janez Drnovšek, who is a committed vegetarian. He converted late in life, after successfully overcoming cancer. Slovenia is, and remains, a very meat-friendly place. (The Society claims a dismal 300 members) And although I’m also hopelessly carnivorous, I have a lot of admiration for the president. I suppose that just the idea of a principled politician (regardless of principles) amazes me.
You can read the complete interview here. (The original Slovenian version is here)
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I gained a lot of respect for “Drle” after he reinvented himself. Not because of his vegetarian persuasions, for which I couldn’t care less, but because he started to do politics in a less mundane way. Just a footnote: Apparently “Drle” did not overcome cancer - he just stopped all treatment.
But as far as a vegetarian life-style is concerned: For me, the best vegetable is still pork meat
Being a vegetarian myself, I can only applaud Drnovsek for being one. I just hope the Society for Liberation of Animals is not the same thing as the Animal Liberation Front, who have been known to use violence to liberate animals. I oppose animal testing and breeding for skin just as much as the next person (try hunting down, killing and preparing that fur coat yourself, if you really must have one), but violence is not helping that cause. At least here we have an example of a head of state that proves vegetarians aren’t necessarily prone to become mass murdering dictators (Hitler, anyone?)…
He said he’s feeding Brodi (his dog) only vegetarian, too. Poor dog (that reminds me of that famous scene in Shirley Valentine).
It is not easy being vegetarian in Slovenia at all. There are so many well-minded people there, asking you things like "If you really really don’t want to eat the steak; may I offer you some chicken soup instead? It is delicious and there is no meat in it?" I am not joking. Therefore, I would claim that Drnovsek is (unintentionally) doing some serious PR work for all those in need of some understanding. As far as the Society for Liberation of Animals goes: they claim the Catholic Church promises eternal damnation to vegetarians; I wonder whether it really actively deals with vegetarians nowadays. I might search for the reason for this harsh judgement, too. In any case, I find Drni kul, too.
We mustn’t eat meat, my precioussss, gollum, gollum!
Drnovsek did not overcome cancer - yet. As far as I know, he has an advanced form of slowly growing cancer - which means, he will be still with us for quite a while. But the ilness had undoubtedly had a great psychological impact on him - some (including me) would argue that not all that positive as the mainstream media would like to show. Actually, I think he has gone nuts…
I realize that many people think being vegetarian is a good thing, but I don’t. I don’t think it’s healthy really.
“In the entire history of mankind there have only been a handful of notable statesmen who were vegetarians”
Indeed, and Adolf Hitler was one of them.
And his counterpart Josef Visarjonovic Stalin wasn’t. So?
I am quite sure this doesn’t prove anything.
alcessa: “I am quite sure this doesn’t prove anything.”
I’m sure it doesn’t: but I still love to see how vegetarians always go mad when I point out this fact
@ Luka: didn’t you know, vegetarians don’t get mad because we don’t encorporate masses of agression hormones that animals produce while being killed :-)) But it’s OK to have fun. Have you also considered mentioning that A.H. was … Austrian?
I like this guy, he sounds pretty neat. As for the vegetarian thing: I love animals, so I don’t generally eat them. But I f*cking hate plants — why cut down the rainforest when you can EAT through it?
This is one reason why(not work safe me thinks, or nice), I don’t like meat, and the other is because seitan tastes better, and doesn’t make me puke.
I stopped eating meat (any kind) years ago, about 15 (with some exceptions depending on the worthiness of the occasion and because I didn’t want to become so strict)… now I rarely do (and I always get sick). I stopped not because of the animals, or ethics, or for any religious reasons… just because I felt better. One day I was giving blood, and when I was about to leave all the personnel came out just to meet the person with such nice blood
I think there are so many other alternatives to meat that many people could quite happily find a variety of foods that do not involve killing animals. But one can also argue that the pesticide- and land-use practices related to agriculture on a large scale are equally abhorrent. So which is worse? Destruction of animals or destruction of the planet? I believe that if you are someone who makes a conscious effort to ensure your foods –whatever they are– are coming from a low-impact and all-natural form of production, that is far better than someone claiming they are vegan (or omnivore) and buying into the Purdue chicken farm or Monsanto mentality. I disagree, however, with feeding dogs and cats an exclusively vegan diet. Dogs and cats are primarily carnivores. You need only to look at their teeth to recognize the evolutionary differences in our diets — our teeth are geared more more towards chewing flat, leafy, soft, substances and theirs are designed for tearing as opposed to chewing. I think it would be cruel to force your cat or dog to be a vegetarian without regular blood-work to make sure it was not having a negative impact. And you also have to consider that vegetable-based diets, when purchased in processed form, are very high in carbs, which leads to obesity in your pets.
At least you first kill the animals before cutting off pieces of their bodies (unlike cabbage or lettuce)
And of course Drni has gone nuts. But I still like it.
I am an admirer of this president. It is very rare that you find an ethics-driven president in this world. His vegetarianism and animal-protection orientation, right or wrong, shows that this guy stands strongly for certain principles. I really believe Slovenia has the luxury of having a guy like Drnovšek as president.