This was an obituary email. Wonderfully, it had to be re-written as a reflection on the continuing life of Angus the cow.
During the two years Our Cow Angus(OCA) was running, so many people in so many places around the world asked about Angus’ wellbeing and future. It’s delightful to be able to say now with certainty that he’s made it.
For all that Angus was known to many, only 404 people at any given time held the keys to his fate; OCA was a constructed scenario, and one that was ultimately played out by his Steakholders. Most of the updates about Angus’ life over these past two years went out only through direct email to the purchasers of Angus tokens, and the choices that have in the end saved him could only be made by those token-holders.
From the outset, MSCHF’s goal was to strike a balance between providing information about Angus, while not moralizing about saving him. After all, the point of OCA was not to save a cow; it would be an over-elaborate and inefficient method of achieving that outcome. Ultimately OCA enabled one particular artificial scenario, in which the dopamine hit of making a purchase was significantly earlier in time than its consequences - a direct inversion of typical supply chains. As the consumer impulse decayed month over month, the value Steakholders might place on Angus’ life, or on participating in a distributed artwork, perhaps increased.
We expected Angus to have an uphill battle, and until the last 24 hours MSCHF did not believe Angus would live. As we sourced styrofoam meat trays and called cold chain shipping services in expectation of Angus’ death and subsequent burger-ification, many of us began to feel distinctly wretched.
Still, it’s worth reiterating that we absolutely would have sent Angus to slaughter had he not made his 50% threshold. From as far back as the early days of MSCHF Wholesale, MSCHF’s work often asks people to participate in unorthodox commercial transactions, which is always an act of trust. We said we’d make burgers unless otherwise directed by the Steakholders, and so at every point we were prepared to see it through. Nevertheless, we are overjoyed that Angus will live.
When OCA began, we earmarked the proceeds from the sale of all Angus tokens to be used to re-home Angus, should he survive. Plans change in two years. As it happens, the two farmers on whose farm Angus now lives are going to be retiring. They have committed to retaining care of Angus during their retirement. The money from OCA will keep him fed and cared for and he will not even need to leave his usual pastures.
With love from Angus (2024–)
