1159:
Edited by
CJ Tointon
Altruism is concerned with
possibilities and opportunities, for ourselves and of course in the traditional
sense of the word, for others. Altruism should be 50% about being
selfless and 50% about being selfish. Selfishly we might need to fight
for a cause to give our life meaning and selflessly we might just want to help.
By pouring our energy (altruistically) into a great cause, we
significantly participate in the big issues which concern our age. For
Animal Rights activists, there’s great satisfaction in being part of one of the
main great causes of our day, namely the liberation of animals.
When we’re aware of our own altruism
(like parents can be with their kids) even if it’s only by not being so
self-interested, it acts as a strengthener. At home, where perhaps
we’re dealing with elderly parents or bringing up small children, altruism is
always close at hand. We gain a certain type of energy from what we
do. Extra energy. And with it, we
go beyond the home, beyond personal interest. In some cases we find
ourselves working for other people, sometimes for other species, sometimes just
for ideas. Animal Rights is one of the great causes, lining up with
planet care, social justice and the fight for 'right to life'.
Many people divide up their stocks of
altruism between personal matters and world matters so the energy has to be
pretty much guaranteed. When you start a
thing, you’ve got to know you can carry on.
Energy for this comes out of our
- what? Perhaps our empathetic
enthusiasms?
For us, as humans, empathy is our
forte. We can feel almost as much for the losses of others as we can for
our own losses. Humans are often drawn to compassion when they see
suffering and death, especially amongst children. To know that kids are
needlessly dying is heartbreaking.
But exploited animals are
needlessly dying too! All animals have a 'right to life'. But it
seems that billions of them have their lives prematurely ended, not from
starvation, but from execution.
As with kids who die of malnutrition
and treatable illnesses, farm animals are dying young; but they are then slaughtered.
The scene of a baby animal being brutally murdered is the stuff of true
evil - in anyone’s book. But it happens. They do it. And we
do it just as culpably when we sponsor the Animal Industries - in any
way.
When kids die, it’s sad. When an
animal dies, we don’t feel quite the same way. We shed no tears if it’s another
sort of kid dying - the baby goat having its throat cut, or a young sheep
or a calf or a hen.
As it is for children so it is for
animals. Destruction of life is why great causes spring up. They intend to end the killing.
For Vegans, empathy for the killers
(our fellow man) is much the same sort of empathy we feel for the dying and the
doomed, the incarcerated and those being made to suffer.
The ability to cause suffering,
purposely and carelessly, whether it’s denying kids food or caging and killing
animals, is the opposite of empathy. In fact it’s full-on separation.
When we’re separate, we’re far removed
from the other. Separation allows us to alienate, exploit and kill.
It allows us to fire bullets at the enemy in war. When we humans
turn against each other, there’s a feeling of warlike separation between
us. But when we turn against animals,
it’s worse than separation. We have no cause. We have no grudge to
bear against them as individuals. We bear them no malice. What we
do to them is simply murder-for-gain. It’s the coldest form of separation
and like all the great destructive forces on our planet at present, we know it
best as 'enslavement' or 'slavery'.
Maintaining this sort of relationship
with animals can't be good for us. Try
seeing it from the animals point of view!
We humans exercise power over them, unashamedly. We grant them No Rights
only the 'privilege' of staying alive long enough to be productive for us.
And isn't that about the most cynical foundation for a relationship you
can imagine?
Is there any better reason to pack up
the crap in the fridge, chuck it out, and Go Vegan?
No comments:
Post a Comment