1915:
There could be many reasons
for eating meat, caging animals and experimenting on them. An exploitative
approach to animals is certainly advantageous to humans – it’s cheaper and
easier all round when you’re part of the dominant species, and especially
attractive to the urban consumer who knows very little about animals. Only in
the past fifty years (a mere pinprick of time) have we city dwellers come to
know about the cruelty involving ‘food’ animals. But there’s always been some
sort of ‘knowing’. It’s a bit like pollution and starvation - these problems
are as old as the hills. And so is our guilt about them.
Humans have dominated their
environment, including the animals, for two million years. Now there’s an
urgent need, and a chance, to change all this. The transition may take time, as
much time as it takes to realise how much damage we’ve done to the planet and
its inhabitants. It may take time for us to realise how many deadly illnesses
have a strong association with the eating of animals.
But eventually we’ll say:
“This has gone far enough!!” and we’ll all become seriously herbivorous and
non-exploitative.
However, for the present, omnivores
aren’t ill enough or guilt-ridden enough to change. Our collective
consciousness is still too rigid to allow change, and most people don’t really
believe they will feel safe enough to explore new possibilities on their own. Vegans
have explored, and feel safe. And we want others to come with us. But how do we
convince people to give up what they’re used to for what, as yet, they don’t
know exists?
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