MAD ECONOMISTS' DISEASE HAS GRIPPED THE NATION
by Kevin Wohlmut
Mad Cow confirmation #3: http://today.reuters.com/misc/PrinterFriendlyPopup.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=uri:2006-03-14T201115Z_01_N14222297_RTRUKOC_0_US-MADCOW-BEEF-NEWS.xml
And this is one of those things about the 21st Century that just makes me want to crawl backwards a century, or maybe three or four or ten, until I find the point where we lost our humanity.
> "However, economists warned that the government must remain vigilant in testing for mad cow and safeguarding the food supply because consumer confidence is fickle and could quickly change for the worse."
Not, like, for instance, to say "The government must remain vigilant in testing for mad cow because it's a really horrible disease and we don't want anyone to die that way."
Economists are simply saying "The government must remain vigilant so that we don't have some kind of boycott or panic, causing the meat industries to lose a lot of money."
Normally I would say that it's unfair to criticize one small article for not citing all the ills and wrongs in the world at once. But when you read the coverage of Mad Cow disease over the last few years in the quote-unquote MSM, it's always couched with this economic caveat.
The argument always goes: Mad Cow disease is so rare, the suffering of the victims may as well be fictional. If consumers shy away from beef even slightly, the monetary losses will be all out of proportion from the actual risk.
Or, in other words, "Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome is a virus completely immune to normal methods of sterilization, and it literally drills holes in your brain. But the Experts we interviewed all said the REAL 'Mad-Cow Disease' is when pinko hippie freaks in Europe, Japan, and even here at home, refuse to just buy the meat, chomp down, and take their chances for the greater good of the Economy."
News coverage of Mad Cow for the last several years always brings to mind an old Ted Rall comic, (no longer online), where the characters are saying "We must stamp out the scourge of sexual abuse of children! Because it hampers them from competing in the Global Economy." The Economy trumps morality these days, it trumps safety, it trumps common sense.
...and of course, the industry response, to the third Mad Cow? Cut down on testing, of course, (from the heightened levels after the first cases in 2003-4). Why, did you think their response would be something different? ( http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2006/03/16/business/doc44189b4495739545418007.prt )
UPDATE -- As I've often argued, the Federal Government represents the interests of big business at the expense of citizens. Therefore, it is entirely logical, understandable, and predictable, that -- when the big meat packers want to reduce testing -- if a small meat company wants to test every cow, as is regularly done in Japan, and they're pretty close to doing it in Europe -- THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PROHIBITS THEM FROM DOING IT.
"What are you thinking?? Suppose you actually detect a case of the disease. You might start some kind of boycott or panic, causing the meat industries to lose a lot of money."
After all, what the consumers don't know won't kill them... oh, my bad, maybe it will drill holes in their brains and kill them. Ahem. What the consumers don't know, won't affect our bosses' campaign contributions.
You think I'm exaggerating, but that's what the article says! ( http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/22/AR2006032201741.html ) Not in those words exactly, but after quoting the government regulators: "Larger companies worry that Japanese buyers would insist on costly testing and that a suspect result might scare consumers away from eating beef."
Enjoy your burgers, folks!
