The Concerned and Passionate Middle-Classes?

1146: 

Edited by CJ Tointon

A lot of people I know have all their bases marked - almost.  They’re environmentally aware, they fight for social justice, they hold healthy political views, they might even sponsor a child in the Third World.  Unquestionably, they’re concerned and passionate people.  They’re comfortable with their image and can hold their own in any conversation.  They enjoy socialising, they don’t overindulge in intoxicants but they can 'let go' when necessary.   They’ve covered every corner and act in an all-round intelligent way - almost.

They can defend their positions because they’ve thought through all the main issues of the day.  They’re neither uninformed, uneducated, nor uncaring.  But within this 'completion', they’ve settled for one glaring compromise - they won’t talk about food!  Well, not in relation to domesticated animals being used for the purpose of food.  Here’s a subject that brings up too many 'impossibles'.

But there's no problem, because (so far) they’ve been able to put that little blip in a 'special box'.  They’ve tucked it away because they can, because everyone does.  Each tacitly agrees that this is one subject which needn’t be gone into.  It doesn’t need to be brought up. It’s the silent subject because everyone eats the same food, wears the same fabric, feeds their pets the same way and shops for whatever is on sale.  It seems that everyone enjoys the convenience of forgetting uncomfortable truths.  They forget that shoes were once the skin of an animal, that wool is meant to keep sheep warm, that milk is meant for calves and that hens are not designed to be caged.  They ignore the questionable ingredients in some foods and plead ignorance of all the other unsavoury details concerning animal husbandry.  And as for misinformation!  It seems they are told no lies because they ask no questions.  They keep all the irritants in that 'special box'.

However, it’s like an itch that you just have to scratch but know if you scratch it, it’ll get worse.  So you try to ignore it.  That's worked well enough up till now.  But lately there’s been a whisper down the line.  It’s faint.  You can barely hear it, but it’s there.  It’s that same itch we have to scratch against our better judgement.  We hope it will go away but there’s a feeling  that it won’t.  It’s the unexpectedness we most fear.  One single encounter, one single embarrassing comment can collapse our cool.

The masses are nervous that their well educated, socially advantaged, middle-class persona is beginning to fray.  All it needs is for someone to mention, "Sorry, can’t eat that, I’m a vegetarian".  They think they've  got the edge on you then and the shock wave is enough to accuse you of not being quite 'up-to-date'.  And that’s just for vegetarians!  Imagine what they feel when you inform them that you're a VEGAN?

They turn to the usual defences, but ridiculing won’t work any longer.  Saying it’s too unhealthy will no longer wash.  And the laid-back, hedonist defence simply appears cold hearted.  If they try to ignore the matter, it still won't go away.  We all know what’s happening on today’s farms, not to mention the slaughterhouses.  The gruesome details have been documented and televised many times.  Obviously this issue, Animal Cruelty, can’t be swept under the carpet. We don’t live in that sort of age any longer.  These days everything is up for grabs, everything is discussable, nothing is tabooed.

  

It’s only a matter of time before it becomes too embarrassing not to engage in this debate about animal cruelty.  But, alarm!  Once the lid is lifted, out flies everything (well, almost everything).  Food, cosmetics, shoes, treats, pets, social lifestyles, laid-back attitudes to life - the lot.

  

The fact is, the majority of us are so reliant on animals for so many things, that in order to make them available for our food and clothing, these animals have to be exposed to unimaginable acts of cruelty.  If we want to maintain our image as concerned and passionate people who can think for ourselves, we have to face a reality check.  If we want to remain in control of our own lives, we must realise that Animal Rights reform  has the capacity to turn our whole lives upside down (in a good way)!