Bread and Games: European Union still supports bullfighting

Animal rights activists are celebrating a vote by the EU parliament demanding an end to subsidies for farmers raising bulls for fighting. This does not mean the flow of cash will stop. The vote is only the first, though very important step.

How much money are we talking about? PETA says upwards of 100 million Euros a year. The blogster would bet that some cash out of other EU funds also goes to support bullfighting, probably some cultural support funds, but that's between you and me.

Traditionalists don't like the idea, and some even point out that bullfighting bulls lead better lives than animals turned into meat. It is the old claim they respect the bulls, that the bulls live better than other cattle, and that bullfighting is a grand tradition; a form of art important to their culture.
Which so misses the point that we wanted to mention the argument.

As to culture, the K-Landnews TheEditor has a poignant definition of culture: It's any old crap that has been around long enough. Any crap that has not been around long enough is just crap.

Which puts TheEditor squarely against the likes of Heminway, who is quoted as having said "Bullfighting is the only art in which the artist is in danger of death and in which the degree of brilliance in the performance is left to the fighter's honour."

The response of TheEditor when challenged was: There is no honor in butchering an animal blinded by pain. And as much as I like Hem, he had a penchant for the kind of romanticism that eventually killed him.

You be the judge.

If you have never been to a bullfight, let's make that Euro-centric and a Spainish style corrida, and wonder if you should see one: don't, unless you study anthropology with a specialization in human craziness.

There are two very different kinds of bullfighting, the handful of major annual events, carefully crafted and staged. The sand in the arena is manicured to a degree of perfection otherwise only found in Japanese rick gardens. The stands are maintained in their meticulous and ornate state, the ritual is as polished as an American State of the Union address but with PA systems. It's were the celebrated matadors perform.

Then there is the other kind, which makes up almost all corridas. It comes with mobile, erector set stands that are a health hazard to the audience. The arena is whatever dirt is there year round, the matadors are lazy overweight middle aged guys who can't do any real job.

While the first kind of event may not make you vomit, chances are that the second kind may do the trick if you are a little sensitive.

What's more, there are slightly less obnoxious forms of entertainment with bulls, some where the score is more even and the animals live. In the European bullfighting countries, you have bull runs, the most famous of which is in Pamplona, Spain.
But even small towns have their bull runs. Unlike the corridas, bull runs are very similar without regard to the size of the town.

People do get hurt, but that's one them. If you want to experience the thrill of climbing up onto the top of a barricade or up a lamp post, why not. It is actually fun to try it in your younger days.

Then there is the rodeo. The bulls get to live, and there is hardly any danger to the audience.

If you are curious about bullriding at a rodeo, talk to caretakers or owners, and you may be pleasantly surprised to hear that the average Hollywood image is not the true story.
Many a rodeo bull will get to the point when it doesn't want to shake off pesky humans any more because the bull has learned that it wins all the time.

Handlers may also tell you that some of the bullriding bulls are as sweet as can be in everyday life and put on their game face only when put into the chute. Like any other reasonable mammal, maybe excluding humans, rodeo bulls learn that they have a job, and they are intelligent enough to know when they are at work and when they are not.

Let's end the post with a final remark on 'honor'. There is no honor in strutting around on a patch on encircled sand in a costume that makes a peacock look all mousy.

If you are searching for a way to express honor, there are plenty of opportunities that do not involve destroying life. Look around you, and you will find them.