Statistics and Stories - Part Three

1895: 

Edited by CJ Tointon

Vegan nutritionists say that animal by-products are not necessary for human health or wellbeing. So, as soon as we feel safe, we should put one foot on the lowest rung of the ladder which is waiting to be climbed, leaning against the ramparts of that seemingly impregnable castle wall. And as we climb, safe rung by safe rung, we get to a point where we can direct our volleys over the castle wall. But what drives people to abuse animals and condone animal cruelty in the first place?

Customers of the Animal Industry daily swear fealty to the masters by handing over considerable amounts of money to buy from them what they think they must have. But they don't fully comprehend just how conditioned they are. People usually believe what they are told, especially when it's what they want to hear. It's the same with our tragic victims on the farm. They initially trust the human who eventually betrays them. Modern conditioning is subtler than old-style conditioning. Conditioning these days is subliminal, relying on people not identifying as being conditioned. Social animals that we humans are, we succumb to peer pressure, fashion and 'normality' and let others guide us instead of using our own instincts. We win acceptance at the cost of not developing our own individuality, our own beliefs and our own attitudes.

Today's chief concern in the human world, isn't for what is right, but for what will fit in. Eating together brings us into a comfortable 'group' feeling. The ritual of eating, a daily re-enactment of shared normality. Our greatest appreciation of the food we are eating is shown in the way we chew it, savour it and the evident pleasure we get from a good cheese or a light sponge cake. Shared experiences of the gastronomic kind act as the social glue of conformity and convention. 

In terms of reality (even of desirability) the vegan plant-based idea is so foreign to most that its very name seems to conjure the idea of 'thin/weak'. People from a very young age, have been conditioned by governments, doctors, schools and the legal system to eat and use animals for strength, for growth, for happiness. In this way, the human mind is conditioned by the established institutions of authority. Without our fully realising it, we sponsor many already thriving animal industries by helping them proliferate deadly illnesses which are closely associated with conventional diets. Lawyers, doctors, teachers and politicians have a lot to answer for by underwriting all this. They authorise the violence that accompanies the production of all meat, milk and eggs, thereby excusing the brutality embodied in the animal exploitation industries.