You most certainly have heard of the ridiculous (and chilling) response by the USDA to the outrage over their initial endorsement of Meatless Mondays. In a nutshell, the USDA first approved of, and then denounced, this initiative which was begun several years ago and exists in a variety of different forms throughout the world, including in many cities in the US (FARM promotes Meatout Mondays, which were an offshoot of the Great American Meatout, while Meatless Mondays were begun by The Monday Campaigns working with the Center for a Livable Future based at Johns Hopkins.)
In any case, there are always two sides to every backlash. The immediately obvious one is that it feels like you’re being forced back from a newly-won position. The more optimistic side is that you can feel you’re making some progress if your opposition feels it necessary to blast back at you so strongly. Backlash, in other words, while frustrating, can be a sign of real growth.
Here’s Animal Blawg’s take on the situation — as always, it’s both informative and well-written:
Your comment on the silver lining in a strong backlash reminds me of the old proverb, “The night is darkest before the dawn.”
There sure is a night-and-day difference between the bluster and bluff of a guilty party and the simply-stated “That’s a lie” answer of a good person defending himself against false accusers, knowing he has nothing of which to be ashamed.
Who knows – Maybe the backlash of the insinuated “must eat meat” message might cause a lot of people to rebel and eat veggies instead? Hey! I can dream – can’t I?