The Daily Worker Newspaper, January 22, 1927, Page 11

Vegetarianism Versus Vegetables By Ts J O'FLAHERTY. (Translated from the Greek) Despite the high degree of perfection to which @he modern Greeks have raised the art of cooking, @ Vegetarian epidemic has broken out among the Greek workers and unless stern measures are taken to halt the spread of the scourge Greek may soon be eating Greek into emaciation and imsanity thru diet of carrots, celery and cucumbers. serious. In fact it has a political side What is the relationship, # any, between vegetar- anism and osteopathy? Are all vegetarians addict- ed to back kneading and toe twisting? Are all pa- trons of neck snapping addicted to a tomato, carrot and fig diet? No, any more than every member of Aimee McPherson’s congregation could be seduced by King Benjamin of the House of David on the epecious plea that he is the Seventh Messenger of the Lord, engaged in the painful duty of purifying souls for their advent into heaven, but neither are any two mackerel alike in color, that is, exactly alike, They are all of the mackerel family, how- ever, and just fish. The writer has mo personal grievance against @ head of cabbage in its proper place, which is in the vicinity of a chunk of boiled bacon, spare Tibs or corned beef. But I know of a man who used to g0 around like a walking truck farm, usually with a good-sized head of cabbage under his arm and he committed more political errors than half a dozen right wingers. His judgment improved when he began to smoke a pipe and now that he has com- promised with clam chowder there are bopes for his complete recovery. + Another radical, whose appearance almost prought tears from those who knew him when his face bore the earmarks of pork chops, was almost at death’s door from malnutrition when his vegetarian doctor fost the faith and took to prescribing a straight meat diet for his patients, This particular patient was smoking five cent cigars inside of a month and get- ting away with it, In addition to the improvement in his health there was a noticeable improvement in the quality of his Mterary output. There are two wings of vegetarianism: vegetar- jans for the sake of vegetables and vegetarians be- eause of sympathy for animals. For the vegetarian who has espoused the diet as a result of a personal experiment with the effects of certain kinds of food on his health, I have nothing but respect. In all probability he will be a thosophist in two years and @ Holy Jumper in six but before the exclusive vege table diet gets in its deadly work he has more,sym- pathy for victims of child labor than for the pigs in the Chicago stockyards. The vegetarian from ethical considerations will tell you that “God” never created animals to be slaughtered, tho it never occurs to him that an animal had to be slaughtered so that he could wear ghoes, Such a person is usually opposed to the consumption of milk, particularly cow’s milk, for the good reason that it is the most popular. “Cow’s milk 4s only good for calves” he will tell you with an air of finality. On the matter of eating meat he may compromise to the “extent of allowing you that lux- ury provided you are able to pounce on your animal suddenly in the tiger fashion, sink your teeth into ts jugular vein and drink its blood while it is hot. Perhaps he favors sudden death. Or perhaps he thinks that lions and tigers lead a healthier life because they don’t eat cooked food. We have heard of sick lions and sick tigers despite the fact that they don’t patronize a gas range or put vinegar on their steak, One combination chiropractor and vegetarian that a friend of mine patronized boasted that he had not times he was compelled to do violence to the faith that was in him when invited out to dine with peo- cults will accuse me of having a charge account at my neighborhood drug store or being the recip- dent of a Christmas ham from the hog trust. Both charges are hereby indignantly denied. A straight meat diet is as bad, #f not worse, than a straight vegetable diet. But I have yet to meet the meat eater who did not like to order a combination salad, a dish of boiled greens or some Brussells sprouts with his tenderloin steak, Iam now speaking of those who can afford the luxury of combination salads. From my own experience with vegetarian restau- rants they are not for the man wilth e small salary. About the first step your anti-meat or anti-medical “inventor” of a new health fad will take és to figure how many suckers there are on the market and set the price to guit their gullibility. Radicals are easy prey for a wise faddist, who parrots phrases about the truts and hails turnips as the Messiah who will lead the sick out of the Egypt of druggists and dead animals into the promised land of neither. Where the average medical doctor will load you down with’ colored water the antimedic will fill your head with ollusions and your stomach with gas. The official] magazines of the quacks are just as atrong for the present social system as are the of- ficial organs of the medical associations. Both are in the “healing” business for what they can get out of it. That these are honest exceptions only prove the rule. Dr. Abrams of California was hailed a few years ago as the deliverer of the human race when he perfected a machine that was supposed to locate the whereabouts of any disease and tell its nature by a system that I will not take the, trouble tode- seribe here. The fact that Upton Sinclair espouses it made me instantly suspicious of it. Sinclair fell even for Woodrow Wilson. The quacks stocked their fac- tories with the machines and at ten dollars a crack any customer could have his blood tested, and win his favorite disease, “Before the “Abrams method” was finally proven to be a fake the quacks had separated the suckers from hundreds of thousands of dollars. These health shops hummed like dynamos in a central power sta- tion as the electric current was chasing tuberculis, syphilis or diabetes all over the patient’s body. Now the Abrams machines are going to the junk pile or being converted into graphophones, The U. S. #S the most fertile field in the world for quackery and not all'the gulls are segregated in Los Angeles. Neither are they all followers of Krish- namurti, the Hindoo “Jesus.” Some people fall for anything that has the brand of science on its brow. Others will come across with the sponduliks for any new religion which promisés democracy and a straight connection with God. Political radicals who think that under socialism fleas will not bite, as long as there are fleas, or that grapes will suddenly grow virtuous and refuse to ferment, are liable to get sick deliberately in order to show their hostility to the “drug trust” and refuse to eat meat in a crusade against the packers. I heard a chiropractor-vegetarian say that the main duty of the Communists should be to preach health to the masses; that is, to’patronize his own stalls. A healthy proletariat would-be in ‘a posi- tion to overthrow the system in short order. If not, did it matter since no social system could do no more for the human race than contribute ¢o: their well being? This same health “radical” claimed that the workers eat too much food. The capital- ists think they do and are always ready to hammer down the workers’ standard of living so that they (the capitalists) can have more to eat, drink and wear. The Chinese coolie who can live on a bow! of rice a day is preferable to the employer to the worker who is accustomed to living on not less than the equivalent of twelve bowls a day. Too much food is not the cause of the workers’ misery. It ts ther too little food and everything else that goes make up a standard of living. S32 Bat all the cabbage, celery, figs, onion and turnips” Eat them exclusively if you feel that way Your individual regimen does not neces- concern the public. Shun the contents of the medicine bottle and stretch yourself on the Dear Folks: “* Peasants’ government, Today we celebrite sor" 19 Communism Captures the Youth of the Intelligentsia By ROSE KATZ. When I returned to Russia after an absence of | twenty-two years, I visited many of my old school mates. They had been professionals under the old regime, and had lost many of the privileges they had then enjoyed. Now the betterment of theiy condition is bound up with that of all the workers. With the building up and improvement of workers’ economy, the doctors, engineers and other profes- sionals, would, as useful workers, also enjoy better conditions. However, many were dissatisfied at the loss of their privileged position. They grumbled, but I noticed that they were careful not to do 80 before their children. The children have been captured by the vision of a@ better day. They, as much as the children of the workers, regard Communism as their heritage and their care, They resent any criticism of the ideas for which the best blood of the workers of all coun- tries has been spilled. The following is a letter from such a youth to his ‘family in America. Leningrad, Nov. 7, 1926. Today we celebrate the ninth anniversary of the establishment of the Soviet government. For nine years the Soviet lives, works, and conquers. For nine years the workers and peasants have been building a socialist republic, All Russia celebrates. Hundreds of thousands of worker inhabitants pack the streets of Red Lenin- grad, with their banners, flags and placards. Their faces are lit with pride at the accomplishment of** the revolution and show their determination to de fend it against all the world. The streets and squares are so crowded that an apple could not reach the ground. The weather is damp and foggy and chilly, as usual in Leningrad at this time of the year. Still it could not dampen our feelings on this day, for today we unveil a monument to our leader and teach- er, llyitch. The crowd is so immense that those of us who want to see the unveiling have to hang on to cornices, and railings high up above the heads of the multitude, Thousands of us hold our breath and strain our eyes to see the statue of that won- derful man, of earnest and honest ideas; that genius of thot. The strains of the International and a salvo of guns from the fortress of Peter and Paul announce the unveiling. The wild enthusiasm of the crowd strengthen my .faith in the Workers’ and se Sooner or later other countries will be. celebrating theirs. I am getting along splendidly. My work is inter- esting and so are my studies. I enjoy the lectures of the professors and the new method of teach- ing, and the many new books published. Every day we absorb more knowledge and are inspired more and more with the greatness of our work. Today I feel invigorated by a wave of new, rich, red blood and am more certain than ever of the future. I just met a man who recently arrived from Amer- ica. He told me that the Youth of America spend most of their leisure hours in sports and dancing. We too know how to enjoy ourselves, but our minds are not occupied entirely with play. We realize that we are the builders of a future system. Dear par- ents, how happy I am that I live in Russia. I am eager to see you all, but you will have to wait un- til I can take you back to our dear country. You cannot realize the tremendous improvements there will be very soon. Our progress so far is just a promise for the future. When you come back you'll see with your own eyes how rich in culture and industry Russia is becoming. How wonderful it is to live at the present time. Russia is just awakening from a deep slumber. How inspiring it is to see and feel the strength and con- fidence of those now engaged in the task of building the New Russia. I hope that in the near future, Rus sia will be able to open the doors to those who want to return. Then you will see that my picture is not overdrawn. , Yours, as ever, Hariton, ane eoncern to the working-class: the task of abolishing the profit. system, which is at the root of all quack. ‘ery. Our job is to help the working class get more meat, more vegetables, more clothes and more, lei» ure to recuperate from the fatigue of the job. If the workers had more time to rest than they have now without having to look for a boss while they “rest” the food quacks and health quacks would not be pulling down from fifty to a bundred @ day from ailing wage slaves, ; ce | ¢ the a “ |