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Leave it to Felines: How the idea of Animal self-rule took hold in The Park

April 10, 2017 By Éléonore Musaraigne, TMD Book Reviewer

3d-cover-fierce-urgency-of-miaowTHE FIERCE URGENCY OF MIAOW
Jor and the Feline Roots of Zoocracy
by Pieter N. Paard
372 pp. Marcellin de la Griffe Publishers Ftoo 20

Early in his life, George Livingstone Barnaby Cuthbert—known to us all as Jor—went for a short walk outside his home in the arms of the Human who’d adopted him. As they strolled toward a local parkette, they came upon an old woman who asked them to stop. She pointed to his four white paws, which she called gloves, and tapped him on the head with her index finger.

“Someday,” she said, “you’ll be a very big man in the park.”

Virtually all Park Animals have grown up on that story, so it seems surprising to find it told again in the first few pages of Pieter Paard’s new book, The Fierce Urgency of Miaow: Jor and the Feline Roots of Zoocracy.

But Paard’s retelling of the story is very much in keeping with his book’s title and its premise: that Jor’s felinity was central to his vision of Animal self-rule—and to his ability to have that vision.

“Feline culture, as it were, had developed beyond that of any other species in The Park, to the point where Jor was allowed access to ways of thinking that led him to consider the possibility of establishing Animal self-rule. His challenge was to convince those of other species that such a system of government was achievable; his own kind had been contemplating it for years,” Paard writes in the book’s opening pages.

In this way, Paard breathes new life into the “Doctrine of Feline Exceptionalism,” a set of beliefs about the superiority of Felines that is thought to have originated in the decades before zoocracy. At that time, the Felines of The Park—particularly the “Big Cats”—held sway. Hated by all but their own species, they nevertheless used their great intellectual prowess and sophisticated governing skills to bring about a transformation of The Park (then known simply as “the park”) that culminated years later in zoocracy.

The fact that these big Cats were not satisfied with ruling over the other species but sought to share power with them is what gives credence to the Doctrine.

“It is hard to imagine any other species that would have gone to such lengths to divest itself of its political power in order to allow those they considered lesser to achieve some form of equality,” says Paard, himself a proud Equine.

That it ultimately fell to a small Tabby—and a formerly domestic one at that—to fulfil the Big Cats’ dream is further proof for Paard that Felines are intellectually and morally exceptional beings.

“Jor’s leadership qualities and the rôle his sister Zoë played in his political achievements have been the subject of much study of late. But I believe it was his own instincts and his intuitive understanding of other Animals that helped him to establish zoocracy. Jor’s ability to speak to other Animals at an equal level and his mild manner were just two of the qualities that I believe helped him win over his political opponents. To those Animals in The Park who desperately wanted to believe in a government of shared power, Jor presented a trustworthy ally,” Paard writes.

Much has been written about Jor during this year of zoocracy’s thirty-fifth anniversary and many have questioned his motives. But even if, as Yoshita Tigru writes in her book, George Livingstone Barnaby Cuthbert: The Tabby King, he did contemplate establishing a monarchy and installing himself as king, respect for his fellow Animals ultimately won out.

“Jor’s legacy is and always will be that he established zoocracy in a Park that most others believed was ungovernable,” Paard writes.

If Paard commits any error in this book, it may be that he emphasizes Jor’s achievements and downplays his sacrifices. But we must never forget that Jor left a good life in a comfortable domestic situation to work toward making life better for all Animals. In that one act, he became a model of the highest moral stature and a hero to all.

Filed Under: Book Reviews, Breaking News, Education, Media, The Arts, Entertainment, and Culture Tagged With: book review, Jor, pieter paard, the fierce urgency of miaow, zoocracy

Book Review: Shaken But Not Stirred

November 9, 2011 By Éléonore Musaraigne, TMD Book Reviewer

When violence broke out between Park Police and protesters at an otherwise peaceful anti-amalgamation rally in August, many Animals (both in attendance and at home) assumed that The Park’s court system would deal with the fallout. After an open investigation into the matter, which relatively few Animals attended and which was only covered superficially by Park media, the event receded into memory. Never mind that one Goose was killed and several others were injured at the event; there was The Park’s film festival to attend and hibernation preparations to be made, among other (seemingly more important) things.

Contrast this with the intense reaction to the murder of the Tartan Crab, the Groundhog Day violence, and the Mongoose weather trial and you might think you see a growing trend toward apathy among Park residents.

That is, in fact, what is happening, says veteran psychoanalyst Dr. Berthilidis Strix, who is best known as co-author of the book, The Silent Cluck.

In her new book, Shaken But Not Stirred, Strix discusses the two distinct lines that she sees forming in The Park: growing prosperity alongside growing apathy. In Strix’s view, it is at the point at which these lines intersect that they become a threat to our way of life.

Unlike many analysts, Strix believes that these two seemingly independent streams feed each other and that, in fact, our growing apathy is responsible, in part, for our growing prosperity:

“Without this new-found ability to ignore the plight of others, it would be next to impossible for us, in good conscience, to amass these great quantities [of food and other material goods]…and, now, the pursuit of same has become the foundation of our growing economy.”

Strix is highly critical of what she calls this “new division of consciousness” and warns that unchecked apathy will have dire consequences for Park Animals in the future.

“We need only look to other species to see the end result [of apathy]”, she writes.

While Strix emphasizes in Shaken But Not Stirred that she can offer no solutions, one suspects that these may appear before long in a follow-up book. Her insights are far too important to serve only as philosophical fodder.

Filed Under: Book Reviews, Breaking News, Park Life, Politics/Law/Crime, The Arts, Entertainment, and Culture

Third edition of Zoocracy guide hits shelves this week

November 1, 2011 By Éléonore Musaraigne, TMD Book Reviewer


This new guide to our government will prove useful to newcomers and established residents alike.

The third edition of Anticipatory Zoocracy For All, a simple and informative guide to the principles of our form of government, has arrived in bookstores throughout The Park.

This updated edition includes information on the most recent decisions made by the current set of  Archons, including those involving calendar harmonization. A separate section on the currency amalgamation debate will prove valuable to newcomers as well as to those who have not followed the debate closely over the last several years.

Several copies of the guide, which sells for 13.50 Ftoo per copy, will be made available in The Park Library, said a spokesAnimal for the publishers, Birch Bark Books.  In addition, the publishers have committed to providing copies to the libraries of The Park’s institutions of higher learning.

Filed Under: Book Reviews, Breaking News, Education, Park Life, Politics/Law/Crime

Albert: A Life on the Street

June 23, 2011 By Éléonore Musaraigne, TMD Book Reviewer

By Digby
Tall Tail Books, 130 pages

Tagged as a sure winner for a prize in the Biography category at the upcoming Feline Fiction Fest (14-17 Karpos), this book tells the moving story of Albert, a Cat who was abandoned by his Human protector and forced to live on the streets outside The Park.

As told by his friend, Digby, Albert evolves from a mean-spirited to an affectionate, trusting specimen of Felinity until the fateful night when he is struck by a car and left to die by the side of the road. Digby’s book, then, becomes not only a poignant memoir of a unique friendship, but an indictment of the world outside The Park.

© The Mammalian Daily
Reprinted with permission from Issue 114, Spring 25 AZ

Filed Under: Book Reviews

From Slavery to Freedom: A History of Pack Animals

June 23, 2011 By Éléonore Musaraigne, TMD Book Reviewer

By Pieter N. Paard
Birch Bark Books, 450 pages

“L’histoire d’animaux est l’histoire du subjugation,” declared renowned historian, Angelique Blaireau, in La science de l’esclavage, her groundbreaking work on the history of Animal domestication. Now in its eighth printing, Blaireau’s study of the “science of slavery” has inspired a new generation of Animals to examine its history and to challenge our assumptions about Animal life.

From Slavery to Freedom: A History of Pack Animals picks up where Blaireau left off: in the Peruvian highlands, where Llamas continue to “work” for Humans, as they have done for 5,000 years. From there, author Pieter N. Paard takes us on a whirlwind tour of the world – on the backs of our brethren – and prods us toward a redefinition of slavery and freedom.

Though its title implies otherwise, this book is not a “history,” per se. Instead, Paard uses historical content as the foundation upon which to pose a number of philosophical, moral, and political questions. Chief among these, of course, is the question of what constitutes “true” freedom. Paard uses the example of the team of 20 Mules that hauled borax out of the mining areas in Death Valley. The fact of the Mules’ post-retirement status as celebrities and their subsequent appearances at special events begs the question: is this freedom, or just another form of slavery imposed by those massive, two-footed beasts?

Although it offers no definitive answers to the questions it poses, From Slavery to Freedom serves as a springboard for further discussion of a topic that is very much on our minds as we prepare to celebrate a quarter-century of zoocracy in The Park.

© The Mammalian Daily
Reprinted with permission from Issue 112, Autumn 24 AZ

Filed Under: Book Reviews

À la recherche du pain perdu

June 23, 2011 By Éléonore Musaraigne, TMD Book Reviewer

By Gustavus Duif
Blue Macaw Books, 600 pages

Translated as “In Search of Lost Bread,” Duif’s lengthy novel tells the tale of an unnamed Pigeon’s journey home across the entire North American continent.

Having flown a great distance on a mission direct by Humans, our protagonist finds himself feeling lost and alone. During the course of his return expedition, his memory of past times and “lost bread” is evoked by a random series of sights, sounds, and smells. As he remembers more and more about his journey, the “truth” and “purity” of his experiences in flight become clear to him and his place in the world seems more secure. The lost Pigeon, like the lost bread, is found again in the beauty of flight and in the experience of returning home.

While À la recherche du pain perdu is not a suitable novel for novices, experienced readers of all species will find that it has much to commend it.

© The Mammalian Daily
Reprinted with permission from Issue 111, Summer 24 AZ

Filed Under: Book Reviews

Tommy Tickbird and his Symbiotic Sojourns

June 23, 2011 By Éléonore Musaraigne, TMD Book Reviewer

By Otis J. Oxpecker
The Poplar Press, 230 pages

Spring is sprung, and the wanderlust is with us!

Those of us who do not have the opportunity to journey outside the Park as often – or as far – as we’d like, will undoubtedly find this book a welcome and exciting diversion.

The latest offering in adventure travel writing from The Poplar Press is the story of Otis J. Oxpecker (a.k.a. Tommy Tickbird) and his travels across Africa on the backs of one Giraffe, two Zebras, and three Warthogs. His is an idyllic existence. A natural groomer for these large Mammals, he performs most of his duties in the early morning and evening. During the hottest part of the day, he rests; at night, he joins the communal roost, in trees and cliffs.

Imbued as it is with the sights and sounds and smells of the African continent, this tale is sure to make great summer reading for both the wistful wayfarer and the vicarious voyageur.

© The Mammalian Daily
Reprinted with permission from Issue 110, Spring 24 AZ

Filed Under: Book Reviews

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