893:
A big part of our life should be about repairing for the
greater good, simply because there’s so much that needs to be done. Most of
us are devoted to something (other than ourselves); we feel strongly, and
perhaps act strongly, about the most important issues of the day. It may trees,
children, peace or whatever. If something has been broken or harmed it’s only
natural for us to want to repair it.
But however noble our repairs
are, unless we find ways to enjoy the repair process itself, we won’t keep it
up. Even a goal as noble as ‘the greater good’ can wear thin, and be too much
like hard work; without enjoyment, there won’t be enough motivation to see the long
term repairs through.
Whether we get good results or
bad results, the thing we want to repair must be so important to us that
to risk losing it, or see it further harmed, should be unbearable. But there
again, it’s the motivational state of mind which is important - whatever we do,
noble, selfless, hard work, can also be satisfying, in itself. We can enjoy
dealing with it, contemplating it and working on it. And whether the activity
is a hobby or some great cause, whatever it is, if there’s an edge to it, if
there’s a controversial element to it, then nothing about it is ever going to
be black or white.
My enthusiasms might not be
shared by everyone, or anyone even. Take this matter of animals and food -
there will always be a very mixed reaction. It effects people in different ways;
for me, who is claustrophobic and hates imprisonment, I want to save the
animals from all that, whereas perhaps for you, all you see here is someone
trying to take your food away.
If Animal Rights is seen as the
finger of punishment, or if we vegans see ourselves as bringers of punishment,
the animals liberation cause will be tainted with the sort of righteousness so
many religions have been tainted with and then been corrupted by.
Perhaps the best advert for
veganism is our own attitude towards the subject. I want Animal Rights to be
seen as a people-liberation cause, which makes the subject always urgent and ever
fascinating. The worst advert for veganism is food-stealing. If we’re perceived
as deniers of pleasure, then others will (willingly) go to opposite extreme. In
fact they’ll become deniers of something else, turners-of-blind-eyes to the implications
of continuing as they are.
The omnivore’s perception needs
change. But in a different way, so does the vegan’s. We don’t perceive things
the way the omnivore does, obviously. We have purposely sensitised ourselves to
certain things which we know the
omnivore isn’t presently interested in - about animal husbandry. But our own
deeper knowledge, or our own by-now-greater empathy, takes us further away from
contact with those who don’t see things as we do.
For us it’s all too obvious, we
perceive the bad guys, who do terrible things to animals, routinely, on a
massive scale, daily. They make a living out of it. But for them it’s obvious
too. They are probably as passionate about their livelihood as we are about
ending it. There’s nothing personal here, it’s just a difference-of-view, about
something very important to all parties.
Our heightened sensitivity
(mainly by being vegan-eaters of lighter foods) makes living amidst this animal
holocaust very difficult. In it we see danger for our species, not only for their
animal-exterminations but for the widespread acceptance of it, for what they
do. For omnivores it ‘works’ for them. They get the foods they want (and wool
and leather, etc). Whereas for us it’s a catastrophe.
I wonder if there’s something else
going on here? Why is there such division over this subject? Perhaps there’s a
difference of scale, where some see life as today and others see life as
tomorrow. It’s between those of us who focus on immediate survival and those of
us who focus on the long-term future of our species. The hard working farmer,
busy with thousands of captive creatures, thinks only of production and
markets. For the vegan, however, it’s quite different. To me, at any rate, it’s
all about the potential we humans have, to develop our own collective
consciousness. And that might sound big, but then perhaps it IS big. We are
becoming more conscious of consciousness. Which means the beginning stage of a
fundamental change of attitude, most particularly towards animals.
In a nutshell, it’s about regarding
animals as sovereign beings instead of prey. Whilst, once, life was only about
predation, now humans have refined that with ideas. One idea is to enslave and
kill, the other is to minimise harm. In this case, we do that by eating from
plant-based sources, thus our life coming to include both harmlessness and
repair. In this way we can determine our own destiny, something animals can’t
consciously do. But first, humans have to be cooperative about things. (Uproarious
laughter, pigs may fly, etc.) “All we have to do is to get people together”. A
very tall order, that is!
To bring this about, as unlikely
as it might seem at this point in time, we need to concentrate on repair and we
really have to stick with it.
That may not be quite the problem
we think it is. Let’s put it this way – ‘the place of animals in human society’
is a significant subject. It concerns every human on the planet. Vegans think
we need urgent attitude-repair on this one. So, yes, if we’re into
repair on this scale, it’s best we get close to the subject itself, commit to
it, and then enjoy dealing with it, on whatever level.
By
connecting personal fulfilment with practical repair work, we can make the
struggle of change less-painful, and we can actually enjoy the work involved.
By deciding to become vegetarian we appoint ourselves as repairers. Once we no
longer use stuff taken from animals’ bodies we not only keep our health but we are
helping to keep animals off Death Row (innocent of all crime, I might add!!)
When we are
into the liberating of animals, then almost anything we do will be primarily done
for them, and that’s going to be satisfying to us, on all levels.
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