A Day Without Sunshine Is… Night.
What a joke by Steve Martin reveals about authenticity and essence
“A day without sunshine is like ice cream without ice.”
“… popcorn without the pop.”
“… a book without words.” And so on..
Can you think of more? Of course, you can!
Rather think of this: Steve Martin said, “A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.”
That’s right!
Without the most fundamental quality or ingredient that something is supposed to have, the thing ceases to be that in the first place. It can no longer be justified by drawing some forced analogies around it or trying to make a new thing out of it.
For example, a plant-based steak is not a steak.
What follows in this post may attract some flack from the vegans, but that’s okay!
I don’t have any issues with plant-based diets or veganism. I am an ardent believer in ‘individual liberty’ and since individual liberty is a two way street, I maintain that food choices, faith, choice of partners, etc. are matters of absolute personal preference.
In simpler words, I have no issues if you want to eat vegetables for the rest of your life while believing that God maintains a good human-bad human list, and marry someone your own gender. I respect you and your choices!
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But what in the freaking hell is ‘plant-based meat’?
Here’s my problem with it…
- Is it meat? No, it’s not.
- Do vegans want to eat meat? Apparently not, I suppose. Why else would they be vegans, right?
Then why in the name of the good Lord call it plant-based ‘meat’?
Does it mean that they actually want to eat meat and don’t because they can’t stand the animal cruelty, or because of greenhouse gases, or religious reasons, or may be simply because they don’t like it or don’t want to?
Well, I respect all these reasons.
But their product development and product naming speaks (or screams) otherwise. It seems they do want to eat the meat, desperately so. But they won’t, and hence decided to make some stuff from plants that apparently look and taste like meat.
In my view, this is one of the most twisted things that got so much momentum in the recent times.
Now, two things:
- I know that Mr. Martin simply delivered the statement as deadpan humor.
- This post is not meant to spew hate on veganism, or anything of that sort.
My point is, if the goal is to move away from animal products, then why mimic them so closely?
The essence of any product, idea, or lifestyle lies in its authenticity. When we blur lines or create such imitations, we’re often saying more about what we desire than where the values are.
And please, life’s too short for things that only look like the real deal.
Let’s be real, shall we?
