Billionaire couple Pankaj and Rhadika Oswal are currently in the process of building their family home in Perth, Western Australia. They are such strict vegetarians that they have imposed a ban on the men and women building their home: Yes, that's right, no meat to be consumed at all by the builders while working on the site itself. They are apparently allowed to go to this tiny shed to eat it at the bottm of the property.. Their reasons are both moral (vegetarian and religious) and apparently for the environment. The lovely Mrs Oswal had this to say about meat eating: And the house they are building? How's that for environmentally friendly?
Highly political people are usually pretty good at pointing out the flaws and hypocrisy in others, but usually can't (or won't, really) see it in their own views and behavior.
Not the same thing. It's apples and oranges, and not hypocritical in the least. She didn't say she was trying to be environmentally friendly, just that the breeding and killing of animals for the purpose of consumption is environmentally, economically and socially destructive. Which it is. We breed cows, that are one of the least energy efficient beasts ever known to man, who otherwise would not have survived in the vast numbers we see today. The amount of energy we use just to bring a cheeseburger to the table is equal or greater than the amount of energy and resources consumed by every gas guzzling SUV on the entire planet and then some. http://www.infra.kth.se/fms/pdf/energyuse.pdf We have destroyed vast ecosystems to provide the cows with enough land and grazing area to give you steak and hot dogs. We've destroyed the natural wolf population, and thereby shattered whole regions of lands that were once filled with wildlife. We spend so much energy to get so little energy out of one pound of meat that it makes the whole business unethical and unfriendly to human life. But no one wants to give up their savory little bits of goodness. And lets not even go into the way we treat animals, how we kill them, how much disease we expose ourselves to with the methods of consumption. Ever been to a slaughterhouse? Watched an animal being killed "humanely"? It's all a complete farce, perpetrated by people who have dollar signs in their eyes and their hands covered in blood. Your blood (cancers, obesity, gout, and many diseases) and the animals. There are protein and amino sources that occur naturally or are grown with far less impact on the environment and on your morals and values. So what if this woman wants to live lavishly? She does not want to do that with blood spilled in her marble halls. It is good that she feels strongly about her fellow living beings. In fact, Pankaj and Rhadika Oswal hope to bring the ideas of Bhaishri Rameshbhai Oza to Western Perth as they begin their new life there. The wisdom of Bhaiji teaches that love doesn't require religion, meditation in temples or offerings to your God or Gods... it comes from living a life with love. In fact, you are invited to share this good fortune by attend Bhaiji discourses on June 6, 7, 8 at the Esplanade Perth. Admission is completely free and funded by the Oswals entirely. More info; http://www.acelebrationoflife.com.au/sessions.php They aren't "highly political people" either. They came from a wealthy family, and may not understand how their own morals and values may be seen from the outside. Luxury is something they are accustomed to, but that they don't seem gluttonous for gluttony sake. They just like living in the way they are accustomed. Not hypocritical, they are paying for it themselves and not taking it from anyone else. His ammonia business is huge, and her businesses are likewise very successful. They also do a lot of philanthropic work both inside and outside religion. What does building a huge mansion have to do with the idea and ethics of consuming animals?
Tell that to the flora and fauna displaced or trampled by the massive construction. A tennis court, I ask you.
Perhaps one of her two daughters truly enjoys playing tennis and it brings a smile to her face and much joy? Should she not build a tennis court if she has the funds to do so? They are billionaires... should they live in a shack and struggle just to appease everyone's judgment of them? Should they close all their plants and give everything away? Would that make it alright for them to ask workers not to eat meat on their land?
umm, im not sure they are actually able to do that. What a person does on there break at work is there own problem not the companies. Otherwise you would have woolworths saying that ONLY food bought AT woolworths could be eaten in the lunch room as a way to increase profits
They've got every right to do that. If the company hired by the family doesn't want to work under those conditions, they don't have to.
It can be argued that some regions of rainforest have been felled to grow Soya. Now this might automatically draw accusations that the increase in vegetarians is responsible for an increase in need for soya, but the reality of the matter was the Soya wasn't destined for direct human consumption but was actually meant to be used to feed cattle, to fatten them up so they could be placed into human consumption. So you could say that is an instance where eating meat is actually harming the Ecosystem. (You could also argue that over fishing means that aquatic life is suffering and various foodchains are potentially broken.) You could also suggest that to some vegetarians meat is the equivalent of dog turd. They wouldn't want to have their kitchen or appliances speared with dog turd, much like they don't want it smeared with meat. There is probably also the concern that waste products like bones would be left laying around. As for them having a huge house... Well some people indulge, where they can't enjoy meat like some of you might, they spend their indulgence on their home. I just wish I could say not eating meat means you can have a huge house with savings... alas that would be dishonest.
