1001:
Because humans have indulged in so much violence down
through the ages, now that we have a chance to break that cycle we need to
examine what stops us. It surely comes
down to having faith in the power of non-violence. It comes down to giving peace a chance.
By suggesting that veganism is the starting point, on the
long road to world peace, then it too must be peaceful – in its practice and
its promotion vegans must exude peace. It’s
no good using any sort of force to get people to accept peace. Promoting peace must be a peaceful promotion.
Human thinking is still rather one dimensional. Even Animal Rights is plagued by single
dimension-thinking. Here is how I think
it’s gone so far: in our struggle to get the rights of animals recognised, we
hit people hard with the facts, to make them sit up and take notice. To ‘win’ recognition in this harsh world, we
settle for pragmatism not idealism. We
can’t take the risk - we convince ourselves that there’s nothing wrong with a
little bit of violence to win the popular vote. Vegetarians who eat no meat still support the
killing of hens when their lay drops off, thereby allowing themselves to continue
enjoying the eating of eggs. Parents who
get a bit rough with the kids argue that it will stop children taking advantage
of their parents’ kindness; a little violence engenders fear; punishment stops
the kids running riot. A few harsh words
to my next door neighbour will keep his noisy music quiet. If he doesn’t like what I say, too bad! I want peace, and without a few aggressive
words I won’t achieve the results I want. Educational and religious institutions show
how the double standard works. For
example, they will say that it’s okay to exploit animals because they are a
major resource, they represent food, food which is at our disposal. To stop using them, it is argued, would
threaten the stability of our society.
To make doubly sure that violence remains at the heart of
our society, it is passed on through the generations. To that end, the connection between animal
treatment and violence is kept from the kids, for obvious reasons - they aren’t
allowed to know what really happens to the animals they’re eating. Once the habit has had a chance to set in,
then the kids are hooked and go along with Societal norms.
Society determines moral codes and what is right and wrong. Society exerts a constraining force whenever a
person is tempted to stray from the norm. Society discourages the formation of a
personal code of conduct, for fear it will capsize the authority of Society’s
morality, and specifically in this case for fear that it will play havoc with
the food industry.
This is the reasoning of the Old World, a world which has no
faith in non-violence. The arguments are
made to fit that paradigm. If there is going to be a new paradigm, then it has
to have a more whole-hearted basis; if that paradigm is based on non-violence
it’s an ambitious aim, and it can only come about if that aim is consistent. By disassociating from the animal-based foods
on the market we make the first bold step towards giving peace a chance.
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