Day 10: Fur

It used to be OK to wear fur even for Joe Namath. In general people in North America no longer recognize fur as a symbol of status but rather an indication of ignorance or at the least irresponsible complacency. I'm not sure this is entirely fair.

Some of the information that I could find regarding human comsumption of animals:
- 50 million animals are killed annually for their fur.

- In the US alone 18,329,712,900 (I think that's 18 trillion) animals are killed annually for food consumption (Cattle:35,507,500 - Pigs:116,558,900 - Chickens:9,075,261,000 - Layer hens:69,683,000 - Broiler chickens:9,005,578,000 - Turkeys: 271,245,000)

- Most information I came across suggested that animals raised for fur and animals raised for food are governed by the same agricultural laws and in general are raised under similarly horrific conditions.

The difference between animals raised for food and animals raised for fur is rationalized by most people using the obvious distinction that fur is self indulgence and food is a necessity. For me this argument doesn't hold water here in North America where the average household wastes 50% of the food produced for their consumption. Some of this waste comes at the production level but most of it comes in the home.

If we are talking about irresponsible indulgence fur is the least of our offences. Think about the lakes we have drained in the Canadian Arctic to mine jewelry grade diamonds for rings and earrings. Or the everyday ritual of stand around for 15 minutes singing being lightly caressed with clean drinkable water while a billion people a day go thirsty. It is estimated that for a high quality of life a human needs 135 liters of water a day. The average Canadian uses 700 liters a day. This volume includes water used for cooking, drinking, hygiene, industry (oil production), agriculture and the service sector.

So the next time you righteously look down your nose at that fur clad movie star, take a minute to think about the 1 million people that died that day of hunger and thirst and how your lifestyle may have played a part.



We all need to start making decisions based on morality and equality rather then greed. Only then can we add fur to the list of things that makes a person ignorant.

How about that for a wondering rant, eh!!!

Day 9: Leave your kids in the car

It used to be okay to leave your kids in the car to run in to the store or even to have a quick drink with the boys. Section 17 (2) g) of the Child and Family Services Act states that a child under the age of 12 years, is not to be left unattended without reasonable provision being made for the supervision and safety of the child. I don't think that means having a 4 year old watch his 1 year old sister in a parked car with the window cracked. Safety advocates are reporting that deaths from hyperthermia have been more prevalent since the mid-1990s when drivers were first required to put their children in the back seat, where they are safer in transit but more likely to be forgotten. I can't imagine the horror of accidently leaving your child in a car on a hot day, but to purposely plan to leave them there baffles me.

Day 8: Racist

It used to be OK to be racist. On December 1, 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks, age 42, refused to obey bus driver James Blake's order that she give up her seat to make room for a white passenger. Thinking about this scenario playing out on my own bus ride into work today was really difficult for me to imagine. I suppose the fact that I couldn't fathom public segragation is a good indication of how far we have come as a society in only 50 years. I do feel, however, that there is still a long way to go to reach Martin Luther King, Jr. dream of every man being judged by the content of his character and not the colour of his skin.



In todays world we still allow people to identifying themselves by race and show pride associated with that identification. When Oprah Winfrey stands up as a strong woman for change and not a strong black woman to set an example for other African Americans perhaps then we can start to realize the true dream of equality.

Day 7: Spanking

It used to be OK to spank your children. I have always thought that hitting a child to correct an undesirable behavior is wrong. I remember contemplating the logic of corporal punishment at a fairly young age and determined it to be fundamentally hypocritical. I still hold this belief and as a parent I do not hit my children. Canada has a spanking law and although it does not fully outlaw striking a child as a parenting technique, the law does prevent the use implements and puts age restrictions on physical discipline. The law's main enforcements comes by giving the courts discretion to decide what is "reasonable force".

Reasonable force is outlined in the law as follows:

(a) Corporal punishment for children under the age of two is not reasonable
and is harmful to them as it has no corrective value given the limits of their
cognitive development;
(b) Corporal punishment of teenagers is not reasonable and is harmful
because it can induce aggressive or antisocial behaviors;
(c) It is not reasonable to use implements or objects such as belts, straps, or
rulers, etc., due to the physical and emotional harm the use of such
objects cause;
(d) It is not reasonable to strike a child on their face or head due to the harm
these physical acts can cause; and,
(e) Corporal punishment must not be inhumane or degrading or harmful and
there must be no lasting bodily harm.

I really don't see the difference between adults physically correcting each other outside a bar (assault) and an angry father physically correcting his 10 year old son. For those with the argument that physical correction does not come from a place of anger are fully delusional.

Day 6: Drink and Drive

It used to be OK to drink and drive. There isn't much explanation required with this one. It amazes me to think that people actually thought and some still do that it is OK to drink and drive. I can just picture the bars full of men on a Friday afternoon after work, complaining about the hassles of family life. Knocking back four or five and then hitting the road. The fact that Madd (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) still needs to spends $12 million annually to raise awareness is shameful. How could this money be beter spent let me count the ways.......

I think Gabriel Iglesias has an interesting take.

Day 5: Playing Outside

It used to be OK to let your kids outside to play. Spring, summer, winter and fall we played outside all day most days. At least that's how I remember it.

If we weren't organizing a road hockey game or digging tunnels in the snow banks we were throwing rocks at a wasps nest or building jumps for our bikes or wandering around the woods piecing together weather beaten fragments of adult magazines.



According to Statistics Canada after increasing through the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s crime rates in Canada have been falling for the last 20 years (30% reduction since 1991). This reduction in crime includes non-parental child abduction rates, which have been going down since the 80’s. So if the chances of your child being killed in a car accident are 1000 times greater the chances of them being abducted by a strange man looking for his “lost dog” why are we giving our kids less and less room to roam while at the same time the number of speed related car accidents raises annually. An intriguing issue of perception far to complicated a subject for this blog.

Day 4: Being old and looking it

Happy 143rd Birthday Canada! It used to be ok to be old and look it.
Now we have many remedies for the pesky signs of aging - Botox, laser resurfacing, hair dye, hair plugs and who knows what else on the horizon.