Friday, November 22, 2013

All-round, satisfying repairs


 BLOG HAS BEEN OUT OF ORDER THIS WEEK DUE TO INTERNET PROBLEMS
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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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