Cows. Pigs. Wars. & Witches.

I have just started to read a politically driven book for my Sociology class called Cows, Pigs, Wars & Witches: The riddles of culture.  The book consists of a number of short entries that attempt to eliminate preconceived notions and explain human action in greater detail.  The entries consist of Mother Cow, Pig Love and Pig Hate, Primitive Warfare and the Savage Male.  Without going into too much detail, I will try to justify how these taboos serve as practical purposes rather than hindrances.  I am sure that most of you have met or know someone that won't eat beef, for the fact that cows are seen as scared creatures in their religion.  Most of us think that such a taboo is ludicrous but I shall attempt to portray the other side of the story.

Firstly, Hindus consider the cow to be a symbol of everything that is alive, just as Christians view Christ as sacred, so from this stance it perfect makes sense as to why Hindus wouldn't want to eat cows.  Many economists deem cow worship as the primary reason for India's hunger and poverty but without the cow many would be unable to live.  Oxen are the principle source of traction for their versatility and ruggedness. A shortage of oxen would mean having to rent or borrow from others, but this presents inefficiency problems, for if they miss the monsoon rain the farmers will be unable to plough their fields and transport their crops to market causing even greater hunger.  So, as you can see, cows are like factories, a low energy substitute that produce oxen instead of tractors and milk to feed humans.  

Secondly, cows are able to carry out functions of the petrochemical industry, their excrement's serve as valuable sources of fertilizer, heat for cooking and household flooring material.  The farmers refusal to sell decrepit cows to the slaughter house have long term beneficial implications.  During droughts and famines, farmers are inevitably tempted to kill and sell animals, but once again, when the rain decides to fall, they will be unable to plough their feels, resulting in greater hunger.  The farmer would rather eat his cow than starve, but that he will starve if he does eat it.  Useless animals during good times is part of the price that must be paid for protecting useful animals against slaughter in the long run.

Many say that the answer to India's problem would be a beef production factory, however a rise in beef production would only strain the ecosystem, and switching croplands to meat would result in higher food prices and deterioration of living. I'm sure most of you are saying that cows intensify hunger in India by feeding off the farmers cropland, but here's the thing; the cow is a scavenger and is not in competition with humans for land.  As you can see, cattle perform vital functions for which substitutes are not readily available.

Cow love mobilizes the latent capacity of humans to preserve in low energy ecosystems in which there is little room for waste.  This demonstrates the adaptive resilience of the human population by preserving temporarily dry and barren but still useful animals, by discouraging the growth of energy expensive beef industry, by protecting cattle that fatten up in the public domain and by preserving the recovery potential of the cattle population during droughts and famines.

The most surprising thing I learnt is that India makes more efficient use of its cattle than the U.S.  Waste is something of modern societies.

So love cows, don't hate on them.