30 April, 2009
I do not condone incitement of hatred towards pigs... :)
This pig hysteria is really getting out of control. I usually try my best not do get involved in debates in the blogosphere, but I don't know how to feel about this: Egyptian blogger Zeinobia (whose postings I often find interesting) used one of my pics to illustrate her incitement of hatred towards Egypt's pigs. I just have one comment to her posting: The ultimate source of that "awfull smell" you feel when you drive on the mehwar to the 6th of October city in your AC-equipped car is not the pigs, but your garbage... The pig farms surely aren't sanitary and in the long run something should be done about this, but they are also performing an essential service for many of the more affluent inhabitants of Cairo. In my humble opinion, what is needed is sustainable solutions to a broad range of interconnected health- and sanitary issues, not stupid slogans like "Kill 'em all" that doesn't really solve anything.
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Thank you!
ReplyDeleteDear Per I am sorry if I am using one your picture to illustrate what you called my hatred towards Egypt's pigs which I consider a real concern about my country and my people.
ReplyDeleteMy dear if it were by my hand my garbage would be recycle in an eco-friendly way but for some reason the the government does not believe it is good solution keeping those dumpsters inside the cities because of the garbage business tycoons
You see I do not understand if you know this or not but there is a multi-million business in garbage collection and disposal part of it is the pigs farms ,this business is protected by powerful lobby ,some of its members are members in the NDP
There is a presidential decree for 3 years has not been implemented to transfer the farms away from cities because of this lobby.
THe fear is that with the spread of H5N1 ,Human flu and the Swine flu which I believe some of these pigs have it in the conditions they live in , there will be a considerable chance that we will have a domestic H1N1 , just like our H5N1.
The WHO has warned the Egyptian government from the pigs farms over and over.
With my all respect those farmers you are supporting ,will be the first people to suffer if this happens and you know very well that the Egyptian government won't do anything to help them taking in consideration there is no vaccine for the virus worldwide right now
You know very well how our government can handle a crisis ,let's just say "
Prevention is better than cure"
Zeinobia: Thank you for making those points. My reference to "inciting hatred" should not be taken to seriously (that's why I put the smiley in the headline) and I'm not on a crusade to defend those farmers or their pigs - or the multi-million business involved in this. I definitely do not share the romanticized view of the zabaleen settlements that some foreign journalists adopt when they write cosy features about them. My main point is that if you are really concerned about these issues and want to bring attention to the dirty politics and business interests behind it, shouting "kill them all" and talking about "filthy pigs" probably won't be very helpful... Why not use your blog to expose the lobby you are talking about instead?
ReplyDeleteBeyond that, I prefer not to get involved in this debate.
You are always welcome to use my pictures on your blog as long as it's done in a spirit of contributing to a constructive discussion :)