Saturday, February 8, 2014

The Me-first Human


961: 
If you’re an animal activist, a vegan, a liberationist or an advocate for the ‘voiceless’, you might have noticed how alone you feel, even surprised that so few people have linked arms with you.  But you probably know why.  You probably realise what a soggy bunch of people we live amongst, and how dependent people are on such things as milk, eggs and to a lesser extent, wool.    No ice cream in the fridge, no warm woollen blankets on the bed - the thought of doing without these items prevents people from joining our ranks.  If they became animal advocates they’d miss these products too much and this is why most people refuse to go as far as we (vegans) do.

So there’s the conundrum. We hate the thought of animals being tortured but we can’t face a life without using them (which always involves exploitation and execution).

Vegans face life without using animal-based products.  We disassociate ourselves from the ‘acceptabilities’ of our fellow humans because they support this violence-by-proxy.  We know that almost all people are unable to resist the benefits of using animals.  For that reason alone, I’d suggest that humans can’t be trusted around animals anymore than paedophiles can be trusted around children.  Whenever we use animals, we betray their simple-minded trust in us.  We’re conditioned to turn a blind eye to animal abuse whenever it spells food, leather shoes, silk shirts or warm woolly jumpers.

That’s putting it bluntly, but it can’t be written more delicately.  That’s how it is.  However, we must let others know that the condition is curable, simply by using some initial willpower, deciding to do without, or swapping over to products that are 'cruelty-free'.

Generally the human is a 'me-first' creature, always taking what can be taken. Few of us are prepared to consider the feelings of animals if that causes us any discomfort or inconvenience.  Almost everybody who isn’t vegan is in some way involved in the exploitation of animals, yet almost everybody will deny this.

Vegans are, as far as food goes, plant-based eaters.  Our clothing too has no connection with animal by-products.  We show that life is possible without using animals for anything.

If people feel guilty, about the cruelty and waste in relation to animals, then our job is to explain what is happening to animals on farms and at abattoirs, without necessarily making non-vegans feel even more guilty about what they eat or wear.  Our job is tricky.  We have to explain things without sounding disapproving because that will only drive them away.  The idea is to explain it as part of the human condition, a condition that can be moved away from me-first to me-second.  I don’t mean adopting an idealised selflessness, just allowing a consideration of ‘the other’, having more empathy and seeing animals more as equals rather than as inferiors.

If animals are to be freed from being our slaves, there will have to be large numbers of people, like us, who are equally horrified by slavery - in this case animal slavery.  The last thing we need to do is to alienate people unnecessarily.  They need to like us, learn from us, not feel judged by us.  But at the same time they need to be completely clear about where we’re coming from.  Our aim is to convince others not to use animals for ANYTHING.  To achieve this, to get past the mind-set of the normality of using animals, we need a less-than-obvious approach that will educate but not alienate.  First, we have a few mind-sets of our own to overcome.  We need support, but it needs to be voluntary and arise out of empathy.  It must come from within and not be forced from without (by us).  The best support comes when there’s a deeply felt agreement, and the doors of that agreement can only be opened if people detect no trace of value judgement coming from us.  Therefore we too have something to learn.  We need to understand how difficult it is for those who’ve known nothing different all their lives.  Their difficulties are real to them.  The idea of changing from an omnivorous diet to a plant-based diet is quite a big step forward.  It’s likely that most people would imagine great difficulty in making that change.  But when they DO decide to give it a go, they usually find it far less difficult than they imagined.

But whether it’s easy or hard, there should be no confusion about what we are saying.  This is not about how hard it is for us but how hard it is for them.  It’s about animal abuse.

People might not be completely clear about that.  Perhaps they’ve been confused by the ‘vegetarians’, who only put out half the message.  For vegans, though, we go for the whole truth or nothing.  We explain the complete ugliness and betrayal.  We make that number one priority, and emphasise that it’s not about our own personal health, but about the wrongness of animal abuse.  Human health is a secondary aim and certainly a bonus to those who only eat plant-based foods.  But primarily this is about healthy ethics.  It’s about developing empathy for animals, at the same time achieving a clear conscience for ourselves.

Ed:CJ

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