Ok. Really. I don't know what my specialty is. I'm definitely working on it. And I'm working dang hard as a mother and housekeeper and lady-friend-partner. :)
That's not the point of this post, though. The point is what isn't my specialty. See, a couple of years ago a friend of mine became a vegetarian. I had some stimulating discussions with her, and one devil's advocate point I brought up in response to her statement that she didn't kill it herself, so she didn't think it was fair to eat it, was that she also didn't drill for oil, pipe it to a refinery, refine it, or ship it to gas stations, but she did use it, and a lot of destruction of life happened on the way. The reason I brought up that is that she feels guilty about driving, about using fossil fuels, but she uses them anyway, and they're not even nourishing her body. To her credit, she uses as little as she can get away with, buying locally and stuff like that. But she still uses them. I'm not holding judgment for her, it's just a simple fact.
I also don't kill the animals I eat. I'm lucky enough to be in a situation where I know my cow and my pig, but we still hire a butcher to come kill them, hang them, chop them up, wrap them, and freeze them. None of those things are my specialty. I've watched them kill the cows, drag them into a line, skin them, pull out their innards, all that stuff. It's hard work, and it may not appear to be, but it's specialized work.
Here's a thought: Do you only listen to music written and performed by yourself? Do you only hang art on your walls that you created? Do you only read books you wrote? Probably not. Long, long ago, and this is put very simply, we were smart enough to put ourselves into a position where each individual in the group did not have to put their time into the procurement of food, so there was time left over in the day to branch out. Sometime around when that happened specializing happened as well. There was enough food for everyone, so some people...made bowls. And clothing. And art. And musical instruments. And others started focusing on remembering...they remembered stories...ways to heal...the lay of the land. Eventually the arts were developed enough that a child could know that being an artist was an option for occupation, and that child could get her food from the food people and her clothes from clothes people and so on. Like I said, this is really rudimentary stuff here, but the point is, we started specializing.
Fast forward a long time, and we have people that specialize in, among other things, drilling for oil, refining it, and getting it to our gas stations. Whether we like it or not, we use them, and even while we try to find ways, in every aspect of our lives, to become less dependent on, and maybe eventually independent from fossil fuels, we are still using them. We also have people that butcher, cut and wrap our animals. My partner and I care for them the best we can while they are alive. I'm really glad we have people that have specialized in that. I'm glad we have people that have explored the arts. I don't like all art, I don't like all music, but I'm glad it's there, and I have such a wide variety from which I can choose. I'm glad I don't have to make my clothes, and in that line, I'm really glad my partner doesn't have to make his clothes. He can go off and build some airplanes. I don't know what my specialty is yet. But I guess I know what it's not, and I'm pretty comfortable with that right now. :)
Also--if we all had to kill our own food in order to be able to eat it, there would be so much waste. A half a cow and a pig feeds my family of five for a year. We don't raise our chickens, and we do eat a lot of chicken, but we're working on that. But if I had to kill everything I ate...if we all did...nah. I'd rather, if I had to kill it, share it, and let someone else do it next time. And in the meantime, between my turns to kill an animal that will nourish my body and the bodies of my family and friends, I'd be working on figuring out my specialty.
Any thoughts on this?
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