• Domain Change - We have moved to https://paste-and-cut.com as our new domain.

    If you are using shortcuts or bookmarks for the old paste-and-cut.com.au domain, you need to update these or they will cease working from the 25th January, 2025. Please check the notice post for more details on this change to the forum.

Badger brushes and BLM - potentially contentious subject

Incidentally, I'm not suggesting anybody actually gets rid of their badger brushes. That would be wasteful, and compound the injustice.

And my own future may well include one or two horse or pig knots...
 
All this discussion about badger brushes is making me want to go shopping for a new badger brush. I think they're fantastic. :)

Of course it's good to be thoughtful about our impact on the world and have the intention of 'treading lightly' but as with everything it's often more practical and reasonable to negotiate a middle ground.
As the previous posts suggest, most of the badgers are hunted for meat and fur, which would continue even if we stopped purchasing badger brushes. A lot of the articles I've read suggest the badgers become pests if their numbers are not controlled. I don't see a lot of difference in going out and shooting foxes and rabbits which are agricultural pests and may not even get used for meat or pelts. At least the badgers are being used for meat and fur.

I remember a year or two ago when animal rights people were raiding farms in Australia and I think concurrent to that there was a PETA video getting about showing examples of animal cruelty that are/have been carried out on farms and abattoirs. I was shocked at how many examples of cruelty they were able to compile across every example of animal farming. Of course it doesn't represent what happens at every farm or abattoir but it was very sobering to realise it goes on at all. So apart from becoming vegan (which only avoids the animal ethical issues) it's difficult to not be supporting an economy that raises lots of ethical issues especially as farming increasingly becomes big business and corporatized.

I'm not sure why badger brushes get the attention they do. Maybe an easy target. Do we spend as much time considering the ethics of companies we invest in. Should we be jumping up and down more about designed obsolescence (eg we've become conditioned to accept the regular replacement of everything from cars to whitegoods)?

I think it's good to be thoughtful about our purchases but in the scheme of things I haven't seen a convincing argument to stop purchasing badger brushes.
 
Pbgoose said:
I'm not sure why badger brushes get the attention they do. Maybe an easy target. Do we spend as much time considering the ethics of companies we invest in. Should we be jumping up and down more about designed obsolescence (eg we've become conditioned to accept the regular replacement of everything from cars to whitegoods)?
Click to expand...
In general, I don't think badger brushes do get that much attention, and even fur coats don't seem to attract the opprobrium they did 30 years ago. The other issues you mention do get a whole lot of coverage, but together they all form part of a large discussion about what is wrong with the world, and that's not really what this little shaving forum is about.

My rather carefully phrased OP raised the question of how we reconcile the ethical treatment of animals with our use of badger brushes, and the fact that most of us are at least giving it some consideration answers that very well.
 
I take a moment with any badger brush new to my collection to thank the badger for its sacrifice and honour its memory by using its legacy.
A bit of simple respect and reminder of where our natural produce (yes plants included as they feel and have a voice ) comes from, to ensure I don't end up detatxhed from it.
How many here hunt for their meat or think they could at least butcher an animal with suitable guidance, farm produce or even have veggie patch?
Who is hands on with what it is we consume in a normal daily life?
Difference between us and the vast majority of the universe, is the empathy we can feel for something that is not us, and finding a balance with one's own standards and needs can be a life long challenge.
 
Gargravarr said:
In general, I don't think badger brushes do get that much attention, and even fur coats don't seem to attract the opprobrium they did 30 years ago. The other issues you mention do get a whole lot of coverage, but together they all form part of a large discussion about what is wrong with the world, and that's not really what this little shaving forum is about.

My rather carefully phrased OP raised the question of how we reconcile the ethical treatment of animals with our use of badger brushes, and the fact that most of us are at least giving it some consideration answers that very well.
Click to expand...
No, not in general but enough that some retailers are making the decision not to sell them. My intention was not to derail the thread but to point out that consideration of the issue may be better made in light of the larger picture rather than just say some badgers are treated cruelly therefore I will not purchase badger brushes. I don't think the issue is as simple as that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top