Selective compassion
There are many similarities between the animals we call 'family' and the animals we call 'dinner'.
So, why do people love one but eat the other? Sadly, very few even bother to consider this dilemma.
Our pets are loved, cared for and treated as family.
Animals raised for food, on the other hand, are subjected to endless cruelty on today's factory farms, every minute of every day. They are born to die, and sentenced to unbelievable suffering on their way there. Their lives are a living hell, from the moment they are born until their last, agonized breath.
If your dog or cat (or any other 'pet') were subjected to even a fraction of this torment, you would - without a doubt - be totally devastated.
So, what differentiates 'pets' from 'food'?
Why love one but eat the other?
Carnism
Have you ever wondered why, out of tens of thousands of animal species, you probably feel disgusted at the idea of eating all but a handful of them?
What is most striking about our selection of edible and inedible animals is not the presence of disgust, but the absence of it.
Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism is Melanie Joy’s answer to the question posed above: how do we as a society “decide” which animals make for fine dining as opposed to a challenge to be conquered on Fear Factor? Why do we view some animals “consumable,” while others are “cuddly”? And how do we justify enslaving and slaughtering animals at all, when this suffering is unnecessary to human survival in industrialized nations?
Joy – a social psychologist and animal advocate – lays out the concept of “carnism” to explain how and why we classify a small subset of nonhuman animals as “food,” even though all animals (humans included) are essentially made of the same stuff (i.e., flesh or “meat”). The ideology of carnism at once enforces and reinforces our consumption of meat (our “meat culture,” if you will). Because “carnism” is ludicrous, we need to employ a number of defense mechanisms in order to maintain the status quo. These include denial, avoidance, routinization, justification, objectification, deindividualization, dichotimization, rationalization, and dissociation, and all occur at both the individual and institutional levels.
Text: Kelly G.
There is nothing extreme about ethical veganism
What is extreme is eating decomposing flesh and animal secretions.
What is extreme is that we regard some animals as members of our family while, at the same time, we stick forks into the corpses of other animals.
What is extreme is thinking that it is morally acceptable to inflict suffering and death on other sentient creatures simply because we enjoy the taste of animal products or because we like the look of clothes made from animals.
What is extreme is that we say that we recognize that “unnecessary” suffering and death cannot be morally justified and then we proceed to engage in exploitation on a daily basis that is completely unnecessary.
What is extreme is pretending to embrace peace while we make violence, suffering, torture and death a daily part of our lives.
What is extreme is that we say that we care about animals and that we believe that they are members of the moral community, but we sponsor, support, encourage and promote “happy” meat/dairy labeling schemes.
What is extreme is not eating flesh but continuing to consume dairy when there is absolutely no rational distinction between meat and dairy (or other animal products). There is as much suffering and death in dairy, eggs, etc., as there is in meat.
What is extreme is that we are consuming a diet that is causing disease and resulting in ecological disaster.
What is extreme is that we encourage our children to love animals at the same time that we teach them those that they love can also be those whom they harm. We teach our children that love is consistent with commodification. That is truly extreme—and very sad.
What is extreme is the fantasy that we will ever find our moral compass with respect to animals as long as they are on our plates and our tables, on our backs, and on our feet.
No, ethical veganism is not extreme. But there are many other things that we do not even pay attention to that are extreme.
If you are not vegan, go vegan. It’s easy; it’s better for your health and for the planet. But, most important, it’s the morally right thing to do.
The World is Vegan! If you want it.
- Gary L. Francione -
©2010 Gary L. Francione