It was slightly raining, at 6.30 pm when I get to my fashion designer's friend's studio. We were there to discuss about his latest collection, inventory tracking stuff and other things I need to do for him this coming week.
I was actually really tired from work, my brain didn't work properly and I didn't have a lot of ideas that I could contribute to the meeting. But then, there was it. A black cowl scarf. Made from black fur that looks to me like faux-fur, black, shiny black. I put it on and I fell in love with it. I asked the designer if I could buy one for a wholesale price, and that is half of the retail price less the GST. He said yes!
But then there was these two guys who also attended the meeting, they started talking about how the green peace would throw a can of fresh red paint to me. I said no they wont, it's fake fur. It wasn't. It was made from real goat fur.
I know I've told you that I decided to be against fur for fashion. But I can't help it, it was too good. I gotta have it. And may be the next thing that happened, only made me wanted even more.
Ok, so there was a friend of mine who was there as well. Just say his name is Carlos. He's married to a guy, probably one of the best activist in the world. Sorta person who believe that as an artist he should be working for his art, not for someone else. And for that working is bad, and he decided to live in a squad, so he doesn't have to pay the rent. May be so he could save up some money. NOT. So that he doesnt support capitalism, and he would educate people, and he would be able to drink more.
Carlos had talked to me about his boyfriend's thing. We think it was just crazy, but I mean, I gotta admire someone who believes in saving the world. But that afternoon, Carlos was in his best activist mode. I asked him, would it be ok if I wore the fur scarf. He said he's a vegetarian.
I said, I dont wear fur, I think. He just smile, and Im telling you he is a good guy, what's happening here wasn't an arguement, not a fight, it was just a friendly conversation. And so I told him, I used to be number 1 Anna Wintour supporter, I believe that people should be allowed to wear fur for fashion. He was like, really? I said yes, and I told him how I decided to be anti-fur. Then I asked him, why is it not ok about wearing fur. I eat meat. So if I eat meat, wearing fur would not do worse?
He said, "It was about giving respect to animal. And wearing fur isn't the same with wearing cotton. You turn an animal into a material, you kill them for fashion. It's not necessary."
I said, "But I eat meat anyway. And it's not like goat is almost extinct."
He said, "So you're saying that these animals, each animals, have different value to each other?"
I said, "Yes, for example, a caterpillar. Who likes a caterpillar? It's gross."
He said, "Frogs eat caterpillar."
I said, "But they're just animals, we're human."
He said, "That's like you value people differently from some other people."
I stoped there, but in my head I thought, I honestly value human more than an animal. I dont think human and animals are the same. If I had to safe someone's life by eating souvlaki for the whole week, I would.
I said, "But people have always eaten meat. Even the cavemen wear fur."
He said, "They did, but they also rape and kill people."
I screamed, "You're so meaaaaan! It's not the same!!"
He just smiled.
Then I asked him "How did you started being a vegetarian?"
He said, "I started that because I believe that meat industry is bad. It's like ciggarette industry. They sell this poison, get people addicted and make money from it. I used to smoke, I quit for that reason, and I did the same thing being a vegetarian. I just don't agree with the meat industry. The media is full with consumerism, and people want to have a chunky steak for dinner. And for that, they have to kill animals."
I said, "But if you stop people from eating meat, then the farmer's would suffer. For example, farmers in Argentina. They're main occupation is dairy and meat industry. What would they do for a living?"
He said, "They should just start planting vegetables."
I said, "What? But you know how much it would cost them to change into planting vegetables?"
He said, "It wouldn't cost that much. With animal they would always have to feed them, sell them after years. That costs more than changing into vegetables farming."
I said, "No it would cost more. They need to sell the equipment. Buy the new equipment for the new farm etc. And the thing is, it would be more efficient to keep doing what they'd done for a long time. It would also be more productive and profitable. I mean, if planting vegetables are better, don't you think that people would started planting them anyway?"
He just shook his head. "Then they just need to suffer a little bit. Some of them may suffer, but we know that we're saving our planet."
And then the meeting started. So we couldnt continue our conversation. But in my head, I thought I don't know a lot of things about the world, and I dont even know if capitalism is bad. But I studied economics in uni. And I think in a free economics, people would do what's more efficient, effective, and profitable for them. I mean, like Argentina, they have comparative advantage in meat industry. It costs less to produce meat products there, and so people would produce meat there. It would be cheaper for them too from economics of scales and all those resources and distribution links that they have earned all this years. At the end they would be better off, and other countries can enjoy their fine meat as well.
And about the global warming, I believe that we should try our best to save our planet. But I dont believe in sacrificing some groups of people for that. I think if we have to sacrifice people, the people from poor and developing countries would get the most impact. And it's not fair. I think that people should just be conscious about things like, switching off the power point, use less water, recycle, save energy, something like that. I believe if we all do it together, we can save our planet.
At the end of the night, I decided, I would buy the fur scarf. Im a fashion person, I work for fashion, I love fashion, I would do all things that I can to support the fashion industry.
