I happened upon a commentary I found interesting and somewhat
thought provoking. Thus, I share Animal Farm 2.0 with you. In Butjadingen,
Deutschland, there exists a farm unlike any nearby, nor for that matter
anywhere else to my knowledge. Now, to the meat of story. Animal Farm 2.0 has
“animals commonly found on farms; cows, chickens, pigs, geese, dogs... However,
the farm exists more to serve the animals than to contribute to the food supply.
Hof Butenland, as the place is called, is an animal sanctuary, a kind of
retirement home. The farm owners boast that their cows do not have to produce
milk and pigs can sleep late. No animal serves humans, and all co-exist as
equals. All the animals must do is live peacefully in their final years.”
At the same time, the farm makes a political and ecological
statement about how food is produced. "Neighboring farmers see the experiment’s
philosophy as a threat to their livelihood. Jan Gerdes and partner Karin Mück,
the farm’s legal owners, make no secret that they see their policy of total equalitarianism for all species as a revolutionary move
that will help save the planet. They would like to see all farms modeled on
theirs."
The place is revolutionary. For what it’s worth, a featured newspaper article paints a glowing picture of life on the farm. “The farm takes the
scenario in George Orwell’s Animal Farm a step
further. The animals have not revolted and taken over the farm, expelling all
humans. Instead, the animals are in charge, with humans doing their bidding.
The socialist framework has also been changed and updated. These animals are no
longer engaged in the revolutionary struggle. They have advanced to live under
utopian socialism where everything is provided to them. Animals are free
to roam the 100-acre farm and live in its red brick barns built in 1841. There
are no pigs that dominate the other animals as in Orwell’s story. Everyone gets
along in perfect harmony.” The “animals in the Butjadingen eco-equal paradise
do not have to worry about supporting themselves. Like their eco green social human counterparts, they live off other people’s
money. The farm survives due to the generosity of rich human outsiders who
donate to the enterprise." The funds allow free veterinary care for all while a large vaned wheel rotated by the wind to
generate supplies the
electricity.
It is said “visitors come to marvel at this pastoral scene of
peace and love. They might later send care packages with hand-written notes
addressed to a favorite cow or pig, all of which are curiously given human
names." There is a catch. "Not every animal can live in Hof
Butjadingen as space is limited." Nor does this carefully fenced-in sanctuary
boast of entirely free migration
across borders policy.
Its privileged occupants are "old farm pets, rescue dogs, and abandoned or
research animals. The latter enjoy a special status. Indeed, in her violent
activist days, farm-owner Karin Mück spent some time in solitary confinement after breaking into a laboratory to “liberate” its test animals.
However, as in Animal Farm, "not all are
equal. One species is especially exploited. The humans are constantly working
to make sure the animals do not have to work. The land is no idyllic paradise
where everything naturally takes care of itself. "Two full-time employees are
needed to make sure the animals have food, protection, and water. When the
animals get old, they arrange to have them duly euthanized.” Additionally,
animal coequality at Butjadingen is carefully
choreographed.: Some animals need not apply. The inescapable reality
is that not all animals get along. Some will eat others if given a chance.
Thus, no retiring circus lions and tigers or used up wolves make it to Hof
Butenland. The "diet is strictly and by necessity vegan…” Hof Butenland is
an example of unreal egalitarian schemes. “Despite being a farm, it highlights
all the leftist themes: political, ecological, or metaphysical." And like
all socialist experiments, the farm is an artificial development detached from
reality. It survives by living off the economic system it seeks to undermine. "The
problem with the farm is not the animals. They are the victims of artificial
constructs that seek to put them in human contexts." Such delusional schemes
eventually fail because everything against nature fails. Left to itself, the
system will fall apart and revert to the savage ways of the wild. The animals
at Animal Farm 2.0 could eventually suffer a tyranny far worse than those in
George Orwell’s original tale. What’s my take on the story? That’s life, that’s what all the authoritarians
say... But my heart just ain't gonna buy it.