not for all north carolina

i was trying to decide yesterday if i am a principled person. additionally, how much overlap is there between a principled and an ethical person? i'll explain using eating principles. i like to eat most kinds of food (no liver, green olives, or canned peas), and more particularly i like to eat food that is grown/prepared/etc in ways that i support (sustainable, caringly). this means i have some problems with some industrial agricultural practices, particularly feedlots and places where animals are mistreated, but also some environmentally unsound practices (that contribute to erosion, pollute ground and surface water, require transportation over long distances, etc).

so i have some general, yet concrete principles for how i eat. if i am going to have a discussion with someone else about eating habits, i definitely prefer endorsing a view that one should (a) like/enjoy fruits, vegetables, and grains; (b) try to see what it's like to not eat milk for a while; (c) if one eats meat, try to know that it came from a place where animals are treated well.

but when it comes to my own eating habits, i eat meat very little as a general rule - when i make food, i rarely include meat in it - and i really like boca chik'n. but if i am at home where my parents make meat for me all the time, i eat it. same with eating at my grandparents or visiting an acquaintance that eats meat. so does that mean i'm not principled - i'm certainly flexible with my guidelines for life - one of my meta-principles is flexibility in all that i do. but is that the antithesis of "principled"? can i claim to be principled at all? should i make some choices and stick to them, even if it's hard?

do i do that already, but just not with diet issues? maybe. but what if i don't? does that make me an unprincipled person? and both vegetarians/meat-eaters, both progressives/conservatives respect someone who has strong principles (hopefully well thought out). does a flexibly principled person deserve respect? that's the question of this post.


this song is just one more example of the brilliance of stephin merritt's lyric writing. i decided a few weeks ago (and my brother agreed with me) that colin meloy is one of the best story tellers in prose lyrics, and merritt is one of the best poet lyricists. i recommend reading his lyrics as he sings, but if not, you'll catch most of them, and you'll be amazed.


All my little words by the Magnetic Fields

You are a splendid butterfly
It is your wings that make you beautiful
and I could make you fly away
but I could never make you stay

You said you were in love with me
Both of us know that that's impossible
and I could make you rue the day
but I could never make you stay

Not for all the tea in China
not if I could sing like a bird
not for all North Carolina
not for all my little words
not if I could write for you
the sweetest song you ever heard
It doesn't matter what I do
not for all my little words

Now that you've made me want to die
you tell me that you're unboyfriendable
and I could make you pay and pay
but I could never make you stay

Not for all the tea in China
not if I could sing like a bird
not for all North Carolina
not for all my little words
not if I could write for you
the sweetest song you ever heard
It doesn't matter what I do
not for all my little words