Leave the butcher out of the war!
ON his recent visit to Poland to bolster the morale of NATO allies and express some kind of solidarity with Ukraine, Joe Biden, the US President, uttered words to the effect: ‘Putin is a butcher!’ While such colourful terminology has been used to describe military dictators and ruthless strongmen often enough in the past, we now live in a world of heightened political correctness. Though Biden is prone to undiplomatic gaffes, intended or otherwise, the use of such terms may hurt the sensitivities of some, and most of all, the community of butchers worldwide!
The perpetrators of the Holocaust in Nazi Germany, Pol Pot in Cambodia, Idi Amin in Uganda, or the present-day terrorist group commanders, may have been often enough called ‘butchers’, but what does the poor man whose profession entails slaughter of animals feel about this?
The typical image of a village butcher is a stout and jovial individual, in a smeared apron, happily going about his business of cutting and selling meat in his shop. He is an important facilitator in the non-vegetarian food chain who not only hacks the meat into pieces, but also cleans and dresses it and prepares standard cuts, so that they are ready for cooking.
The calling of this trade, in fact, is not limited to just this. Butchers also manufacture various meat products, such as biltong, boerewors and even pickled meat. In a supermarket, the butchery section is often the focal point and a guarantee of commercial success, if well managed. From the abattoir to the dining plate, it is the butcher who ensures this gastronomic journey for the meat lovers, of whom there are aplenty.
While the butcher shop is an important landmark in a village or a small town, in cities and metropolises, the butcher becomes faceless as his handiwork is sold in large stores, pre-packaged or freshly frozen. Though mechanical means in a hygienic environment are increasingly used to prepare an animal carcass for consumption, the larger context of this business remains the same.
The butcher plays a vital role in putting ham or bacon on the breakfast table, providing cold cuts for luncheon and steaks or fillet for dinner. He is the one who ensures that the meat eater gets his daily fill. Therefore Mr President, please think of the simple soul who wields the matchet or the carving knife to enable the cook or the housewife or ‘house-husband’ to indulge in their culinary skills. His job may be tough, but he goes about it with a happy demeanour and maybe a few expletives now and then.
In using this term for his opponent of the moment, Biden probably implied that the adversary is a ruthless man who has unleashed mayhem by barbarically and wantonly killing innocent citizens of a particular country. Whether you agree with him or not, depends upon which side you are, politically, economically, strategically, or even emotionally. However, please leave the poor butcher out of this!
