It's Ingrained

1431:

Edited by CJ Tointon

We are so used to doing some things, that we don't even think about it.  We don't want to think about it.  Comfortable habits are hard to shake - especially the bad ones.  A classic example from the past is the way in which men got so used to women doing all the work at home (bearing and raising children, shopping, cooking, cleaning, etc., etc.) that they didn't want this comfortable status quo to change. There was no reason to anyway, since men controlled most things and women were kept powerless.  Women were regarded as a useful facility, providing what men wanted.  Gradually this is changing.  But the same principle still holds true.  The abuse of those beneficial 'facilities' doesn't call for any unnecessary questioning. Until the habit is challenged, it doesn't even enter one's head to question it, let alone change it.  A lifestyle-habit that works for us, becomes ingrained.  It makes no sense to 'fix what isn't broken', whether it be diet, clothing, relationships, a clapped-out car that still moves - or shoes!!

Let's discuss shoes.  From work boots to fashionable footwear, we take the wearing of them for granted – feet need protection.  They are often items we take care in choosing and can spend a considerable amount of money on.  Very few people ever think about them as being 'unethical'.   But that's the strange thing.  Everyone knows they're made of leather, and everyone knows that leather is the skin of a slaughtered animal!  But that's a long way from thinking about this substance as an abattoir item, or even worse, that this skin is of an animal that might have been raised primarily for its skin.  (This is why leather is often less a by-product and more a co-product, coming from an animal whose skin is more valuable than the food value of its carcass).  The ethicality of this is something we definitely do NOT want to be thinking about, because leather is so useful.  It's hard wearing, waterproof and can be shone up with polish to make our footwear look smart.  Shoes made from leather last for a long wearing time.  Almost everyone has worn leather shoes or boots at some time.  We've had shoes for best, shoes for walking and boots for playing sport.  Maybe we wear leather gloves and coats.  Maybe we sit on leather seats in the car or on leather sofas at home.  Our belts can be made of leather.  In fact, it's difficult to find shoes or belts that aren't made (at least partly) of leather.  It's difficult to imagine life without leather.  Leather is a good example of how we tend to by-pass the analysis we'd normally subject a product to when we determine if it's an economic buy or a healthy product.   This is evident when we examine how 'vegetarians' operate.  Some vegetarians (who would never eat meat)  think nothing of wearing animal skin.  Leather is a good example of how superficially some humans think about animals and the ethics of the things they buy.  There are even some vegans who still wear leather shoes whilst swearing they'd never eat anything from an animal. 

So this is all about how clearly or deeply we think about the things we use and how carefully we craft how we wish to be seen.  If we (vegans) are seen to be contributing to making improvements to farm animals' living conditions, we are so proud of this achievement, that we can conveniently forget that we are actually against keeping any animal in captivity for any reason. 


The bottom line here is that veganism isn't just about food or clothing or products.  In fact, it isn't really about commodities at all.  It's about animals being exploited by the food and clothing industries and it lets us reflect on the way convenience-oriented humans think about the products they use.  Most people think of animals only in terms of what can be usefully 'gotten from' or 'made from' them.  They keep their brains hardwired to avoid difficult questions - especially those concerning ethics. Ingrained habits take over the control of their freethinking.  This doesn't bode well for those animals that some humans find so 'useful'.