Instead of complaining, do something to improve Springfield
I have lived in many places, and have lived in Springfield for over 30 years. I grew up in Longmeadow, lived other places for 20 years, moved back to Longmeadow, and then to Springfield. I like it here. Every place has some problems; ours are not unique. Instead of complaining about it, more people should do even a little something to improve it. How many people belong to their neighborhood association? When was the last time you checked on an elderly neighbor, or asked if you could help in any way? Do you pick up litter on a regular basis? How about voting? Do you vote in every election? Become a school volunteer. Probably every formerly industrialized city has fallen on hard times. Instead of complaining, DO SOMETHING.
Killing Animals on the Wrong Side of History
Editor’s note: This comment was plucked from a lively debate among Advocate commenters on the merits of hunting. This conversation was sparked by an earlier Between the Lines, “Why I Hunt,” by Tom Vannah.
We won’t here settle the long-standing conflict between those who think animal killing is OK and those who don’t. I offer only a few comments. First, [the letter writer] is, of course, a vegetarian, and probably has been for at least 50 years. It would be hard, maybe impossible, to find somebody who leads a more decent and self-consistent life than she does. I grew up in a family of hunters, in a hunting-loving part of the U.S. (central Pennsylvania), and saw the hunting lifestyle up close until I became an adult. Those who detest the taking of lives by going into the habitats where animals eke out an existence, and killing them, also do not approve of factory farming. This is not a question of choosing one or the other. Nobody wants to have his or her mate-for-life, or parent or offspring killed, whether in a slaughterhouse or outdoors. Animals have the same kinds of bonds to parents, mates, and offspring that we do — many studies have shown this. Given this, and the fact that we would not want our own loved ones killed, it seems obvious that we should not do this to those who treasure their loved ones as we do. I realize how easy it is to reassure ourselves that killing animals is OK, because it’s part of most of our heritages. However, a lot of wrong things used to be considered OK. I trust that animal killing will turn out to be another one of those things, one of these days. Leonardo da Vinci, who said “The time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look upon the murder of men” would probably have figured that this change in human behavior would have come about long before now! But on we trudge …
