July/August
2001
The
Watchdog
By Robert Cohen
|
|
|
We animal activists are a nation unto ourselves, under
siege by a relentless and well-financed enemy. Every day, our adversaries
bombard us with twisted versions of truth. Press releases are issued
by pharmaceutical companies, milk mustache ads grace the covers of newspapers
and magazines, stories appear extolling the virtues of drugs like Ritalin
that turn American children into walking zombies. There is little or
no balance to the insanity brought upon us by the persuaders with limitless
budgets.
I keep from burning out by playing mind games. I live in a fantasy
world of controlled schizophrenia. Id, ego, and superego merge and
I use fantasy
to project myself in a role that others fear to adopt. On Monday, I
grab the banner and charge up a hill the way Mel Gibson did in The
Patriot.
If one man will be left standing, it will be me. I cannot and will
not let the bastards win. On Tuesday, I shoot from the woods, and hide
behind
a rock. I imagine that “they” think there are hundreds of
people working with me, when there is just one. I push myself to write
a daily column; I call and fax media contacts, and am successful at
getting my anti-dairy agenda published.
I feel larger than myself, and accept my responsibility as a watchdog.
The harder I work, the more I recognize that I must work even harder
to expose the lies. It is my obligation. Sometimes, I feel that if I
do not do it, who else will?
I think of the animals. Ten billion farm animals will be slaughtered
for food this year and 270 million Americans will feast upon their
bodies
(10 million vegetarians will abstain from that inglorious buffet).
That’s
37 animals per meat-eater. Each one that I reach and convert means
that 37 fewer animals will have the knife applied to their neck. Can
I afford
to take time out? Can I afford to burn out? No way! The great blessing
of what I do hour by hour, day to day, is that I love every moment.
I enjoy showing the enemies of truth their own science. I do so by citing
human scientific studies. I combine my own special (obnoxious) style
of arrogance with a bit of humor. I love debate. Every day is a challenge.
I imagine myself in college, studying journals and memorizing data,
the end result being that few know more about my subject. Each challenge
becomes a game to me. Learn. Teach. Focus. Respond to challenges. My
days are filled with events that matter, and I am constantly reinforced
by positive signs that my work is making a difference.
Robert Cohen is the director of the Dairy Education Board
and the author of Milk—The Deadly Poison. He lectures widely
on milk and calcium alternatives. For information visit www.notmilk.com.
