My "Serious" "Professional" Take on This Meat-Causes-Cancer Thing

Again The Husband!? What's up with him. He thinks my prior entry entirely too silly/trivial/take your pick. He thinks I may damage my reputation (what reputation?) by appearing to be silly/trivial/take your pick. 

So here's my bottom-line, "serious," "professional" take on WHO's meat-is-cancerous report:

random photo series 2015

It's silly and trivial and unworthy of my time or yours.

It represents a classic case of the haves catering to the haves. Because if you're one of planet earth's billions who have little food, and certainly not enough to allow fretting over its origins, then I'm certain that a) you're not reading this; and b) you don't give a damn what some PhD at WHO says about meat. You'd be thrilled to have meat, or other food, under any circumstances.

In my opinion, based on thirty years work as a historian engaged in "intellectual" labor, studies like this are trivia, something designed, or so it feels, to shame/worry/amuse/entertain the haves rather than a project aimed at helping humanity. As far as I'm concerned, if we truly care about humanity, and presumably the folks at WHO do, then surely we'd be better off figuring out how, for example, how to provide the world's poor billions with the kinds of sanitary systems that prevent disease. Surely that matters more than whether “processed” meats may or may not cause “cancer.” (*1)

I'm not anti-science. I believe in research and learning and the effort required for both. Indeed, the kind of deep, long-term, substantive knowledge that keeps humanity afloat is accrued over centuries and by many people investigating an infinity of problems. We need "research" and science (and the arts). Knowledge is the foundation of human progress, however we choose to interpret that word.

Which is why I object to bullshit silliness like this study about meat. 

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1: Full disclosure and not I'm not a nutcase wierdo: Yes, I’m cynical about “cancer” and how it is defined. Based on my personal experience, every damn one of us is gonna get “cancer.” I’ve had “cancer” for fifteen years. When my husband and I visit the local “cancer” center to deal with his recent “cancer” diagnosis, the waiting room, all roughly 2,000 square feet of it, is always packed. All day long. Thanks to scientific research, etc., we’re all gonna get cancer because there are gonna be an infinite number of cancers from which to choose.