The Scourge of The Dark Side...Tolkien and Modernism

[Groin Redbeard]

Originally Posted by Morthoron

Well, no, that's isn't what Nogrod was saying in the passage you quoted. He was saying that what if Tolkien had been told to be 'successful' at university, and choose a field in which he would have a 'sucessful career' (success in this case translating directly into a large salary -- it's simple economics), rather than wasting time on dead languages and centuries-old stories that no even reads anymore. So, he blows through his classes, gets an MBA in Economics, is hired by the local what-not manufacturer, and devises the means to make more what-nots with non-union workers, and after he breaks the union and lowers wages to below poverty level, he becomes chairman of the board, buries all of England's Lake District in a landfill for the toxic what-nots he's created, is knighted for his success and dies of gout after a long successful career.

Could you please summerize your view points! Are you saying that modern bussiness people are bad because they seek to gain money and better jobs, while unwillingly destroying things in the process? I am so confused here!

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Groin Redbeard

Could you please summerize your view points! Are you saying that modern bussiness people are bad because they seek to gain money and better jobs, while unwillingly destroying things in the process?

But Groin, summarizing what I just said would be like having to explain the punch line of a joke. Where's the fun in that?

You see, in this case the chicken did not cross the road because it cannot walk. This is because the poultry industry performs debeaking and toe-clipping of the birds and then puts them into tiny cages 16-18 inches wide with 5 or 6 birds crammed into each cage.

Debeaking is a painful procedure whereby the bird’s sensitive beak is sliced off with a hot blade. Poultry meat and egg producers that use battery cages and crowded floor systems remove one-half to two-thirds of the birds’ beaks to discourage cannibalistic pecking, a behavior that occurs when birds are kept in close confinement with no regard for their natural behaviors. Behavioral studies indicate that debeaked birds are often unable to eat, drink, and preen properly. They also exhibit behaviors associated with chronic pain and depression.

Toe-clipping is the amputation of a bird’s toes just behind the claw. This painful procedure is performed to reduce claw-related injuries on factory farms.

In conclusion, the only way the chicken will cross the road is via a truck, cut up into bite size chunks for mass-consumption at your local McDonalds.

See? The joke loses much of its humor in translation.