1702:
Despite a certain wave of change taking
place today, it's still fashionable to be 'unaware' of the conditions in which
farmed animals live and die. Fashion says it’s okay to eat meat, to wear
wool, to buy fashionable shoes made of leather, to eat eggs for breakfast and
take cow’s milk in your coffee. But what about the big food temptations, the
salivation stimulators, the rich foods, the treat foods, and the exotic foods
like lobster or wagyu beef? Or simple mouth-watering confections which contain
cruelty-based ingredients? By deciding to buy any of these tempting items, we
implicate ourselves in cruelty and atrocity. Could there be anything more
atrocious than visiting a tank in a restaurant, and asking the waiter to bring
you "that" (present-living lobster - which must of course must be violently
dispatched before being steamed)?
At that most private moment, as you are standing
at the 'lobster tank' or at the shop counter, you are imagining the taste of this
lobster. You've decided to buy it, and it's likely you won’t be considering the
rights and wrongs of your purchase - you refuse to deny yourself the most
exquisite taste-pleasure money can buy.
For children, things are different. For
them such choices don't have to be made. But for them choosing is denied anyway,
in most important ways. I don't mean choosing what lollies they want, I mean
choosing the ethics they'll need, to guide them through their lives. Most often,
the family regime is imposed directly or subliminally - many of the foods the
kids might want are, in practical home-rules' terms, unattainable. But as we
grow up and we have freer choice, we’re faced with a new fear -‘missing out’. The
time is narrow, and we are young men and young women for only a short period. We
choose to live our lives to the full, and enjoy whatever we want. So, it would
seem strange to deny ourselves anything simply based on ethics. Even the
mildest consideration of 'ethics' would inhibit our delicious freedom-of-choice.
But
this is exactly what many people are doing - making a conscious decision
not to buy. "I no longer eat meat, fish or fowl", we might say.
But we can be tricky with ourselves. If we want something badly enough we’ll pretend
a 'lightweight' ignorance. Particularly in the supermarket when we fail to
check the ingredients list. And then we're able to eat what we like. BUT we end
up eating what we actually disapprove of. Since there's no one checking up on
us (whether parents for kids or vegans for adults) there's no
pressure to ‘do the right thing’. We can avoid knowing, for there's only
Conscience left that could be calling the shots.
Imagine what life must be like for our consciences,
becoming ever more disabled, disconnected and discarded. Today there's so much
to object to that our conscience is a barely heard voice. We've trained it to be weak, which is why
vegans have to spell out something we shouldn't have to - a
‘non-use-of-animals’ standard. And if we do have to, then we must do it as nicely
as possible - vegans have to speak loudly (and softly) to get others to think
things through for themselves, so they can come to their own conclusions with a
newly reinstalled conscience.
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