Comments on: Man vs. Nature http://www.thetalentshow.org/2006/10/29/man-vs-nature/ Just another WordPress weblog Thu, 04 Dec 2008 01:36:09 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2 By: Cakesniffer http://www.thetalentshow.org/2006/10/29/man-vs-nature/#comment-11166 Cakesniffer Mon, 30 Oct 2006 22:32:42 +0000 http://www.thetalentshow.org/2006/10/29/man-vs-nature/#comment-11166 Rodeos would be just fine if not for the hillbilly jackasses and shameless/prideful torture of defenseless creatures. Rodeos would be just fine if not for the hillbilly jackasses and shameless/prideful torture of defenseless creatures.

]]> By: Larry Jones http://www.thetalentshow.org/2006/10/29/man-vs-nature/#comment-11165 Larry Jones Mon, 30 Oct 2006 22:10:47 +0000 http://www.thetalentshow.org/2006/10/29/man-vs-nature/#comment-11165 No matter what the activity, we always make it into a competition, pick winners and give prizes. From cattle-wrangling to copy-writing to beating people up to just driving a car, somebody will always set up a guild or an academy or a sanctioning body and claim to be selecting "the best" at whatever. You've named two of the stinkiest examples, but overall these games couldn't be less relevant or of less use to anybody. No matter what the activity, we always make it into a competition, pick winners and give prizes. From cattle-wrangling to copy-writing to beating people up to just driving a car, somebody will always set up a guild or an academy or a sanctioning body and claim to be selecting “the best” at whatever. You’ve named two of the stinkiest examples, but overall these games couldn’t be less relevant or of less use to anybody.

]]> By: Cris http://www.thetalentshow.org/2006/10/29/man-vs-nature/#comment-11164 Cris Mon, 30 Oct 2006 17:34:11 +0000 http://www.thetalentshow.org/2006/10/29/man-vs-nature/#comment-11164 In some ways, I think rodeo has stayed closer to its roots than other athletic competition. For example, we still have the javelin toss in track & field, but nobody uses a spear on the battlefield anymore. But the activities in rodeo competition, like riding an unbroken horse or roping a runaway calf, are still performed by real ranchers today. It's true that when you take these ranching activities to the fairgrounds, you've abstracted them considerably. But the competitors are still showing off a real world skill, even if in a bizarrely exaggerated and artificial environment. The PRCA talks a pretty good game when it comes to animal welfare, but I doubt there's any common ground between them and PETA. To the Pro Rodeo officials, the animals are being respected as competitive partners to the cowboy, and have to be kept healthy and happy in order to perform well. (It is worth noting that half of the scoring is the cowboy's performance, and half is the animal's.) But to someone interested in the inherent dignity of animals, the very act of rodeo competition is exploitative, no matter how much attention is paid to their health. In some ways, I think rodeo has stayed closer to its roots than other athletic competition. For example, we still have the javelin toss in track & field, but nobody uses a spear on the battlefield anymore. But the activities in rodeo competition, like riding an unbroken horse or roping a runaway calf, are still performed by real ranchers today.

It’s true that when you take these ranching activities to the fairgrounds, you’ve abstracted them considerably. But the competitors are still showing off a real world skill, even if in a bizarrely exaggerated and artificial environment.

The PRCA talks a pretty good game when it comes to animal welfare, but I doubt there’s any common ground between them and PETA. To the Pro Rodeo officials, the animals are being respected as competitive partners to the cowboy, and have to be kept healthy and happy in order to perform well. (It is worth noting that half of the scoring is the cowboy’s performance, and half is the animal’s.) But to someone interested in the inherent dignity of animals, the very act of rodeo competition is exploitative, no matter how much attention is paid to their health.

]]> By: FreedomByChoice http://www.thetalentshow.org/2006/10/29/man-vs-nature/#comment-11163 FreedomByChoice Mon, 30 Oct 2006 13:37:42 +0000 http://www.thetalentshow.org/2006/10/29/man-vs-nature/#comment-11163 <blockquote>the rodeo is an obvious metaphor for the struggle between man and nature since it's pretty much a spectator version of the taming of wild animals</blockquote> Yeah, but when we 'tamed' them the first time, they didn't have a leather strap cinched around their balls. I don't see a bunch of big-belt-buckled rednecks spelling 'metaphor,' let alone recognizing one. It's all just stupid and inhumane.

the rodeo is an obvious metaphor for the struggle between man and nature since it’s pretty much a spectator version of the taming of wild animals

Yeah, but when we ‘tamed’ them the first time, they didn’t have a leather strap cinched around their balls. I don’t see a bunch of big-belt-buckled rednecks spelling ‘metaphor,’ let alone recognizing one. It’s all just stupid and inhumane.

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