Article 2. Repair - Setting the Example

Today, in a world run largely by the irresponsible, we need more people who take leadership seriously and who see the need for repair. People who won’t give up on the job.
Repair was never going to be easy. On the one hand our destructive habits and violent attitudes are obvious and deeply entrenched. On the other hand, repair faces no particular obstacles until we try to put theory into practice. Repairs never look very inviting. They seem like hard work and any repairs we do make may not at first be appreciated. They need to be established in our private lives first, then communicated to others. Once taken up as new habits by the majority, legislation follows. So, if we are going to start the ball rolling on repair, we need good motivation to keep us on track. If we can approach repair the right way, it will not only be effective but become the most attractive thing we could be doing for ourselves.
We’ve only recently become aware of the threat of climate change; but to some extent it is being addressed. We are slowly becoming environmentally aware. Another damage, the spending of trillions of dollars on weapons of war, is getting publicity. The huge number of children dying from malnutrition, is being exposed. These problems are hopefully being addressed and will influence the way responsible voters vote and decent governments govern.
But there is another major level of damage that is still largely ignored - The enslavement of non-human animals by humans. It gets little publicity and never appears on the list of ‘greatest threats to civilisation’ because governments consider the topic "not in the interests of voters" and will not address it. Publicists don’t publicise it for much the same reasons. Therefore few people have seen the damage it is doing.
Vegans are suggesting that a different way of spending our money combined with a change in our eating habits will alleviate the problem. As soon as we stop participating in the mass killing of animals we open up a new frontier of awareness. It has to start with individuals doing what they think is the right thing. Then other individuals will follow and the ball will start rolling. At first, repair won’t be popular because of the restrictions it seems to lay on one’s lifestyle. Thus only the courageous can start the ball rolling. We can’t expect governments to spring up overnight and address such an unpopular topic ... because to ban the killing of animals would be political suicide for any government.
Any major breakthrough has to start at the grass roots level.
Anyone who instinctively sees the urgent need to do something about the way we treat food-animals, must ignore what they have previously been taught about eating habits. They must go against their own tastebud-advice, against the advice of corporations, governments and educational authorities, and turn to themselves for advice and to those who have already gone that way before them.. People like vegans, seemingly acting against their own self-interests, have stopped supporting the use of animals in the food and clothing industries.
The issue sits like a lead weight on our collective conscience. What we do to animals makes us feel like monsters. Any sensitive and well informed person must be ashamed of the practices being condoned. Any of the following examples is enough to make us take this matter seriously - the way animals are slaughtered, the imprisonment of hens in tiny cages, the theft of their newborn calves from dairy cows, the sow stall, the mutilation of cattle. The list of horrors goes on and on and each one reflects upon the human consumer who supports abuse by buying animal produce. It’s likely our habits are killing us by the death of a thousand cuts. But perhaps we can’t talk about it because we want the subject to stay neglected by governments and ignored by everyone else. It throws up just too many problems. To repair any of the damage we do, with respect to exploiting animals, seems like a burden. This much changing is more than we’re capable of.
But there are, nevertheless, many examples of people doing just that. They have established these changes in their lives and are now helping others to understand and carry out similar changes. They are reacting positively to a need to alter their attitude to animals. They want to show that humans are capable of this level of change, that we can all possess the self discipline and good intentions needed, to change the daily habits we grew up with.
Despite the fact our taste buds and memories of favourite foods give us pleasure, they also weigh heavily on our conscience. And that’s in addition to many other habits which persuade us into damaging our world. The waste and pollution we cause every time we drive the car, our lack of generosity allowing kids in Africa to starve. We feel guilty about all this and so we should. But these days it’s likely that we feel fully extended already, we’ve no room left in our conscience ... for animals! A numbness comes when we try to think of sentient animals suffering. We try to pretend it doesn’t matter - we ignore the fact that the animals (living only to be eaten) are presently having to live in slum conditions and are dying an uglier death that anyone could imagine. They die so we can feed our habits. We may say that it’s “outrageous” but we don’t intend change. We still don’t feel it personally so, we still allow it to happen.
By continuing to spend money on animal products, we participate in the death-camp treatment of animals. We try to ignore it, and by way of some nifty mental gymnastics we relax over our plate. We eat what we’re given. We let our most damaging habits continue - our minds remain closed when our mouths are open.