To Serve Man

A farmer once countered the remark that pigs were smart by saying, “not that smart.” But who's to say that pigs don’t know what’s coming and that pigs aren't capable of experiencing Heidegger’s authenticity by sharpening their awareness of death. There have been numerous reports depicting the anxiety displayed by animals in abattoirs. Consciousness in animals may be different from humans but the differences are basically qualitative. So if we are against the slaughter of humans, why allow it in animals? Jonathan Swift, of course, provided one of the great satiric ripostes in A Modest Proposal, where he proposed solving Ireland’s famine problems by eating succulent children. The past few centuries have seen so many bloodbaths amongst them the Holocaust that Swift’s brand of satire still tests the limits. The Donner Party is purported to be an exemplification of cannibalism. Vultures eat human flesh, but there seems to be a real taboo against humans imbibing their own kind, even in emergencies. You're hard put to find any recipes that employ human body parts. Titus Andronicus features the famous scene when Tamora’s children are served to her in a pie, but if you go on line you're not going to find any recipes for that piece of pastry. Several years ago a New York City police officer was indicted for selecting subjects for prospective dishes, some of whom turned out to be pretty nice looking ones, at that. “To Serve Man” was the title of a famous Twilight Zone in which the seemingly peaceful title of an alien manifesto belies the fact that it's a cookbook. But it’s the rare meat eater who has developed a taste for their own kind.


N.B.: read Francis Levy's short story, "Pet Buddha"in Vol. 1 Brooklyn.