Kinship

1074: 

Although adults have more life experience than children they nevertheless, in one particular way, don’t differ from kids; both have an innate sense of kinship.  We enjoy each other’s company, have a sense of guardianship for each other, the elder for the younger and (perhaps later in life) vice versa.

           

In the same way, each child and adult has a strong sense of kinship with their animals at home - the family dog or cat is part of the family.  They have shorter lives than us and their death can be heartbreaking, as it can be when we see any animal in distress; humans naturally want to protect the vulnerable from hurt or exploitation.  But there’s another side to us, where we want to assert our rights, do what we want to do, have what we’re used to having, even though it might involve being brutish.

When it comes to food, our naked self-interest overrides our protective instinct for those animals we use for food (and clothing).  We have to feel somehow ‘against’ certain animals, so that we can sanction their murder.  It’s not acceptable to kill or eat dogs but it’s okay to kill and eats pigs.

This is something we’ll neither discuss or even think about too deeply.  Over the matter of using animals for food, we are un-budge-able.  We crush the softness in ourselves when it comes to the thousands of products on the market derived from animals.  It feels almost natural to use them, because we’ve always done it and because everyone else does it too.  We are even willing to give up on self-control in order to accept that we’re programmed; that we can change almost everything else about ourselves except our sexuality and food preferences.  We believe that we can’t un- programme ourselves.

Even if we like the idea of being more in touch with our soft side, it’s too risky.  It presupposes that in order to soften ourselves over certain matters we must harden something else in us, namely our resolve; we need resolve in order to accept our ‘little weaknesses’ that make life more pleasant, namely the many animal-based products on the market.  In addition, we would find it difficult to resist indulging in ‘violence-foods and commodities’, because we know we must validate common practice.  By what we eat, we wear a badge declaring our membership of Society, signifying our ‘normality’

For just about all of us today, we exchange the ideal of non-violence for a quiet life; we conform.  And after years of conforming, our habits become ingrained, and then we’ve no way out.  We still have to justify our decisions, so we pluck a defence out of thin air, by seeing animals simply as a resource; we take the view that it’s okay to kill them if we eat them and make the fullest use of their bodies.  By having some sort of ‘no-waste’ argument to support our practice, we hope to exonerate ourselves.

All this is magnified a thousandfold when it comes to making a living from animals.  If you are employed to exploit animals, it’s hardly likely you’ll feel like an animal ‘guardian’ (because you’re helping to kill them).  That’s how it must be for animal farmers.  But it’s not that much different for consumers.

Little wonder then, that Society won’t discuss welfare-issues (for animals used for food and clothing) let alone ‘rights’-issues.  State-sponsored education never mentions having kinship with these sorts of animals, only a need for kindness and respect towards other animals, including those in the wild or those at home.  It’s as if the ones on farms have done something wicked enough to justify showing no kindness towards them.

Most education programmes touch on food, and when they do they emphasise the need for humans to eat meat, milk and eggs, suggesting it’s dangerous to health if we DON’T!!

This is what vegans are up against.  Indeed, this is what farm animals are up against!!