Why doesn't Morrissey apply these standards to those who eat meat but don't eat dairy? There is MORE suffering in dairy eating than there is in eating meat. Beef cows have a better life than dairy cows. They are not continuously raped and chained to milking machines. EVERY SINGLE TIME Morrissey sings 'Meat Is Murder' he is claiming that his dietary choices are 'the most ethical' and puts himself in competition with those, like Reality Bites, who eat meat but limit or avoid the cruelties of dairy. He calls Reality Bites a murderer. Quite rightly, she rejects this bogus nonsense. If Morrissey were to issue a 'mea culpa' and accept that he's got it wrong for the last 33 years, but he's doing his best, doing his own little bit to ease animal suffering by avoiding meat whilst accepting his addiction to dairy means he's as morally implicated in animal suffering as anyone eating a beefburger, then we'd be in a different landscape. What does he think happens to the cows who provide his Cheezy Panini ingredients once they can no longer produce milk? They become hamburgers. Or cat food. Cats are obligate carnivores. Why did Morrissey continue to have cats? What the hell did he feed them? Etc.
I note your write "Your level of brow beating about what's "right" and what's "wrong" just gets on a logical person's tits. You'll never make a difference."
My response is "Morrissey's level of brow beating about what's "right" and what's "wrong" just gets on a logical person's tits. Morrissey will never make a difference."
That's the tragedy of Morrissey's abysmal failure as an artist, activist and human being. He set himself up as fit to judge others as guilty of 'murder' then spent over 30 years doing exactly ethically equivalent acts by eating dairy. For years I assumed he was vegan and that references to milk and cheese were to soya products. Finding out, via the Interwebs, that he was a total charlatan, made a song like 'Meat Is Murder' a tragi-comic soundscape to a buffoonish troll. The fact that this eejit STILL has the gall to lecture audiences about eating meat whilst selling them cheese alongside pet murderers PETA is almost beyond satire.
How do these singers dare to stand on a stage and sing such untruths?!!
Exactly! Next time you go to a Morrissey show, ask yourself that question after you have been subjected to an arbitrary, totalitarian infringement of your rights as a consumer and a moral agent to decide which items of food you wish to consume. Morrissey will demand you refrain from eating meat at his shows whilst selling you Cheezy Panini and Gougons. Why? Because he's a crank with a phobia about meat. There's no other logical explanation, as cheese is just as egregious as meat in terms of animal death and suffering.
Morrissey is no more than a lucky jackpot winner. As we watch The Voice and X Factor we realise that a beautiful melodious voice is NOT a rare quality, it is commonplace. Particularly now that singing lessons can provide an arsenal of Melisma vocal techniques to trains most voices. Morrissey won the NME/Melody Maker talent contest and then spent a LOT of time and money having his voice trained. However, his is not just another pretty voice, he has a very real talent with words. I had always assumed that the lyrics to 'Meat Is Murder' were written by him as a 14 year old boy and that his use of them was, in part, an ironic nod to that young boy, whilst also accepting the complexity of animal rights issues. Of course, they were no such thing. They were a crude, simplistic manifesto which has become a dogma over the years. It would be wonderful if there was a figure in popular music who 'walked the talk' on animal rights but its' not Morrissey! So, we're left with a talented singing clown who resorts to troll tantrums whenever he fails to break through to genuine stardom rather than C List celebrity. For me, his public career is now a soap opera of no more importance and amusement than the Kardashian family. As the eclispe ends here in the UK I can only thank Fate that my own life didn't end up in such a cul-de-sac. There's a continuous claim here that I am somehow jealous of Morrissey. Why? His life, by his own admission, and by his public reports, is now that of a singing clown. One can only imagine what justifications he will conjure up to explain to his subconscious mind why he wasted all his gifts and opportunities as per Alma Mater. Having blamed record companies, this site, royals and the rest, he will surely run out of conspiracy theories one day and have to look in the mirror in some lonely 5* hotel prison. If you envy such a casualty, then you have real issues. The sun is shining. The eclipse has passed. And it's time to have another cup of tea as I nonchalantly ruminate on lofty topics of Fame, Celebrity, Talent and Trolls without giving a particular f*** about it once I press 'Submit Reply'.
I trust this reply is helpful to you.
best
BB