Down on the farm

1298:

What goes on, down on Animal Farm? Perhaps hatching a few chickens, or more profitably, hatching a few ideas. Some of them have revolutionised animal farming, to the extent that even the name of these places has changed from ‘farms’ to ‘intensive operations’. Many of them are now nothing more than efficient factories for producing animal protein. The animals, as animals, as individuals, simply don’t exist any longer.

You can imagine how some smart bloke dreamed up an idea for making more money out of the animals he owned. He looked at his chickens pecking about the yard and thought “inefficient”.  He realised he could reduce his feed bill as well as the untidiness of his farm yard by caging his birds, keeping them immobilised and automating the collection of their eggs. He sought to increase his profits at the expense of the animals, whose feelings were no longer worthy of consideration. The idea of crossing the boundary from animal-care to animal-contempt gave birth to the idea of intensive farming methods.

Once we take away all sentimentality about animals’ feelings, it becomes possible to keep animals on the threshold of survival and treat them merely as food producing machines. Then, the sky’s the limit. As long as there’s no customer-objection, then imagination can run riot. Animals whose strong instinct is to survive, are pushed to the limits by restricting any of their natural behaviours which don't turn a profit for the producer. But there’s a run-away problem that accompanies any such 'super-improvement'. Gradually, competitors either catch up and overtake to avoid going to the wall. For those who succeed, they must lower their costs by ruling out any 'animal-welfare' considerations. And by treating their animals badly, they can stay in business. 'Intensives' require ever more drugs to be pumped into their animals to prevent outbreaks of disease amongst the densely confined flocks and herds. And as the meat and by-products become laced with more and more chemicals, so it has a detrimental flow-on effect on the health of the consumer. And alongside the health implications are problems associated with environmental pollution and the huge carbon emissions from animal factories.

From what at first seemed like such a good idea, increasing profit and lowering prices, a whole new set of problems have been created; people get used to cheap food and will buy it where they will, from the competitive food market. Retailers will go overseas for their product if the home-produced product can’t compete, pricewise. So, neither farmers nor governments nor consumers have the will to hold back their support for intensification, and thereby each encourages a lowering of animal-welfare standards.

If the individual human brain can invent something nasty it can also uninvent it, but not in the usual way. We’ll never be able to uninvent the atom bomb or the battery cage, but any one of us can withdraw our support, and with others of like-mind, we can demonise what should never have happened and cause it to become so unfashionable that it is eventually considered too evil to be acceptable. That is really the only way to uninvent, by bringing about a transformation of attitude amongst an otherwise accepting public.

What could happen? We could, collectively, begin to consider the consequences of any of our favourite one dimensional improvements to life, examples of which might include the ultimate weapons of destruction, the intensive farming systems and the internal combustion engine, each of which was seen at first as an improvement but later something very destructive.

Inventing, takes up a new role. It now moves onto a more multidimensional and spiritual plane. Where we once saw food only in terms of cost, we can now see it in terms of its effect on our subtler sensitivities. Emphasis moves from our pocket to our peace of mind, from poor health to well-being. As we prioritise ethics over economics, so the old systems are tempered by the potential of new systems. Our body grows with our ideas, so that it need less bulk of food and greater quality of food. As we see a more healthy, vibrant and peaceful human being emerge, so we turn away from the unethical and exploitative and turn to cruelty-free food producers and help them broaden their market, lower their costs and reduce their prices.

We are lucky to have powerful brains to get us out of our scrapes. All we need now is the will to engage these brains of ours.

Changing our personal habits

1297: 

Anyone who instinctively sees the urgent need to do something about the way we treat food-animals is going to have to ignore what they’ve previously been taught about food - they’ll have to go against their own tastebud-advice, against the advice of corporations, governments and educators, simply because almost all of them are likely to be enthusiastic animal-abusers themselves .

The issue of using animals in the food and clothing industries sits like a lead weight on our collective conscience - what we do to animals makes monsters of us.  I’m ashamed of what I didn’t do, for so many years.  We should all be ashamed of the way animals are slaughtered, or the way hens are imprisoned in tiny cages and the way we always pretend not to notice.

The more I learned, the more ashamed I became, especially when I kept eating the same breakfast, day after day, having already discovered what it cost certain animals.  I'd already found out about newborn calves being snatched away from their mothers (and shot soon after they’re born) to allow people like me to have cow’s milk on our corn flakes.  I’d already found out about sow stall restraints.  I’d found out about cattle being mutilated plus a whole list of other horrors.  And still I continued to eat my bacon and eggs and burgers and lamb roasts.  Each of the horrors the animals underwent, I'd learned about, and I knew it reflected badly on the farmers and food producers. But I was reluctant to take any of the blame, as a consumer, for giving them my vote by buying their animal produce. I’m only glad that the second half of my life has been spent trying to undo all those years of complicity.

         

Now all this might apply to you too.  There are still so many of us who have been or still are involved in supporting the animal industries, whilst we still pretend it doesn’t matter.  We can choose to ignore it all, and no one will notice.  We’ll never have to talk about it or be obliged to address it on any level, since almost everyone else is involved at a similar level of complicity. 

So, this is where we’re stuck.  My taste buds are much the same as yours.  We respond similarly to our favourite foods.  But, now that I’ve learnt more about what is going on, these ‘horror foods’ weigh more heavily on my conscience.  There’s a sort of numbness that comes over me when I try to think how sentient animals are suffering, just so that I can enjoy my meat or my treats.  The fact that animals (kept alive only to be eaten) are presently living in terror, and dying in the most ugly ways imaginable, should be enough for any of us to act.  But alas, we speak the words but don’t walk the talk.  We say “it’s outrageous”, but we still allow it to happen by allowing our own consumer habits to continue.  By way of some nifty mental gymnastics, we’re still able to relax around the dinner table and eat what's served up.  We keep our minds closed and our mouths open.  It’s what we're used to doing, and will continue to do, until we say, “No longer!”

Perhaps then, we do consider change. But, when cold hard reality hits, even if we feel outraged, we don’t reckon we'll have enough willpower to alter our eating habits so radically as to stop eating ALL animal-based foods, on principle.  It’s as if there is no argument powerful enough to convince us to stop.  Neither ill health nor guilty conscience can stop our 'habit'.  Neither will we avoid these products because of any concern about the environmental impact of animal farming.

But if we do make the decision to ‘go-vegan’, only then will we find we’ve made the best decision of our life.  It will be the best thing we could have done for ourselves.  By withdrawing our support from the Animal Industries and freeing ourselves from the addictive grip of their products, we are doing a major repair job on ourselves. And simultaneously, we are helping to liberate the enslaved, 'domesticated' animals.

But this habit-switching is no light matter.  If we give up eating meat one day, the next day we’ll be questioning the whole ethical basis of animal farming and nutrition!  So what starts out as just a change of diet, now opens up many other significant changes of attitude.

In my own case, I saw the advantages of a plant based diet but was fearful of taking the first step.  The idea was exciting enough in theory but in practice it looked scary.  But as it turned out, going vegan was almost like falling in love!  The idea of no longer ‘making use of animals’ was so empowering that I found it easily set against the personal doubt about having enough commitment.

So, to lay it on the line, I made a list of everything I could think of, to explain to myself exactly what vegan principle meant to me.  It would mean avoiding thousands of products which I was accustomed to using.  And I knew that all this avoiding and boycotting would mean me having to face up to doing-without, when the replacement-product wasn’t available.

That is what it came down to.  'Doing-without' was going to be the hard part; learning to not give in to temptation; facing that particular difficulty as well as the opprobrium of becoming a social misfit.  But all the time, the one thing that I kept coming back to - my discomfort in all this was nothing compared to the privations farm animals suffer.  Compared to theirs, any ‘lifestyle difficulty’ I might experience would pale into insignificance, and would always be hardly worth a mention. 

Grass roots

1296: 

As soon as we stop participating in the mass killing of animals we open up a new awareness, but it has to start with individuals, doing what they feel they ought to be doing, without reference to what others are doing.  Corny though it might sound, it comes down to doing the right thing, in order that other individuals will ALSO act on an individual basis, when they start to notice things, and they take action.  They follow suit.  And in that way, the ball starts rolling.

A government will never act on behalf of ‘the animals’, since a ban on the killing of animals would be so unpopular that it would spell political suicide for any political party.  The breakthrough has to start at the grass roots level, with individuals.

The particular difficulty of Animal Rights

1295: 

Animal Rights is the Cinderella of causes.  What makes it so different to all other important causes?  Perhaps it’s too personally close to home to be dispassionate about.  It's so closely connected to our food supply, and to the social habits connected to our eating and our health.  But it is also purposely neglected, because most of us are aware of other great dangers facing us, that seem more immediate and more threatening and which need addressing.  And we know for a fact that the animals we imprison on farms and in research laboratories seem to pose no threat to us.  They can’t fight back since they have no voice, no power and no rights.  It seems we can safely put 'animal issues' on the back-burner.

The more present danger seems to be coming from another direction entirely.  And, in response to the immediacy of some of these dangers, there is already some change of consciousness taking place.  We’re aware of the threat of climate change; we’re becoming more environmentally aware; we understand the huge waste of money spent on armaments.  And then there’s evidence of children dying from malnutrition, while our own obese society is eating to excess.  With so many human-caused problems directly affecting us and constantly being discussed in the media, the urgency of the ‘main issues of the day’ allows no room for any more concerns to weigh down upon us.  For instance, the plight of farm animals.  The other ‘louder’ issues crowding in on us stop us taking a closer look at the quieter issues which, nonetheless, are possibly of greater and more immediate importance, overall.

The enslavement of non-human animals doesn’t touch people’s day-to-day lives.  It doesn’t touch our hearts as it should.  It isn’t seen as an immediate threat, in fact to many people it poses no threat at all.  Few people care about the damage being done to our ‘humanity’, by confining and killing and then eating animals, when there are so many other more prominent issues to face.  But, there’s also a lazy side to our concerns.

We might say we feel strongly about the prominent issues of the day but, with these, we don’t necessarily have to do very much about them, personally.  We might believe in a cleaner environment and a more equitable distribution of food, but we are obliged to do very little to support those beliefs.  Perhaps we need to donate some money or subscribe to an organisation which is going to ‘cover our concern’.  It’s the sort of support we feel proud enough of, without feeling we are not a caring-enough person.  However, any effort we might make in one direction is nothing compared to the personal privations implied by supporting Animal Rights; our involvement won’t be a matter of making a donation or making a simple gesture of support, it will involve one in a much more substantial show-of-support.

Animal Rights involves fighting a very specific ‘wrong’ which calls for a substantial amount of personal action, to show how sincerely we feel about it.  And if we think exploiting animals is VERY wrong, then we’ll need to do as much as we can to support what Animal Rights stands for.

If we have a fundamental change of attitude towards animals, then that will involve many of our daily behaviours and related attitudes.  It will extend beyond the boycotting of animal-based food and clothing and touch the very nub of the problem which humans have been facing for millennia.  Namely, that the human species is extremely violent.  All the advantages we enjoy as humans may be attributed to violence.  No doubt, our eventual downfall will be traced back to our violent natures.  And at the root of our violation and violence is the animal-based foods we are in the habit of eating, because with almost every meal we confirm the violence of our natures.

It can only mend when we take away our support for the routine attacking of animals, which translates back to our other routine violent acts – the attacking of our environment, our neglect of poor and hungry people or the way we deal with potentially threatening neighbours.

Care for the planet, for the poor and for other less fortunate communities, sets the standard here. We should be aiming to be exemplars of confident, generous and non-violent people.  But it starts with attitude change in each of us as individuals.  We might believe in the rightness of being caring and non-violent, but we can hardly pretend to be non-violent if we’re still attacking and using animals.

My good and our good

1294: 

How is Animal Rights generally perceived?  It probably isn’t perceived at all, since ordinary persons have other things to think about, things they can’t afford to neglect.  There are severe consequences when certain issues are neglected.  Woe betide any one who fails to keep on earning enough money to pay their rent or mortgage.  If you’ve got kids, then it’s essential to give them what they need, to secure their future, to prevent them being trampled by others, who are also reaching out, on their own kids’ behalves, for the 'free air above'.  Let others deal with the difficult issues.

There is some vague hope that responsibility for tackling difficult problems will be taken over by Government. Ha, ha!!  We all know our political leaders can’t be relied upon to show moral leadership.  They’re probably as nonplussed as all of us are.

So, problem issues remain on the everlasting ‘to do’ list.  While there is obvious need for change/reform/improvement, there is also a great reluctance to take the first steps, and to step out in front.  Most of us are yet to be convinced that our own principled actions, contrary to common practice, will set off a chain reaction of change in the wider community.

We all want change for our own good.  And some of us want change for the sake of the greater good. It’s a mix of noble and selfish needs.  But in the end it comes down to ourselves and to what is most urgent - this being, to repair what I see is most needful of repair.  And then it’s up to ourselves to not doubt our own power to make a difference, along the lines of “It's my ‘good example’ which will encourage others to follow, sowing seeds and encouraging growth”.  But while that lays a lot of emphasis on having the courage of our own convictions, it also must include our having faith in others’ ability to be inspired to do the right thing for the greater good.

Closer to ‘home’, amongst ourselves and our networks, we have to come to rely on each other, who already feel the same way as we do, and who are activists and advocates; faith in them is to do with knowing they are determined not to give up on the job.  With Animal Rights, it’s a long haul we have to be prepared for, and the success of that will depend on having belief in each other.

The whole process of repair is never going to be easy.  On the one hand our destructive habits and violent attitudes are deeply entrenched, but on the other hand people do have the potential to make major changes when they're sufficiently inspired.

First up, personal change needs good motivation.  We have to create an alternative non-damaging lifestyle for ourselves.  Then we can defend it.  Then we can promote it.  Then we can be effective.  And that's just about as much motivation as any one of us would need, to see our inspirations through.

The Incredible Blindness of Seeing

1293: 

Everybody knows we're trashing the environment and doing things against our own ethical standards.  But here's the justification trick - by admitting culpability in one main issue-area we can ignore other much more difficult issue-areas.  Some measure of environmental awareness shields one from any need for awareness of, say, animal exploitation.

Animal use and abuse has become so much part of our lives that the last thing a person would want to hear is a condemnation of animal farming.  It's in that yukky area which leaves a nasty taste in the mouth.  It never reaches the brain since it's an automatic gut-feeling reaction, that cuts in to stop anyone, like a vegan, having the chance, to speak about it.

My own rather futile strategy would be to try ANY approach, despite knowing that I'll be either shut out or shut up as soon as any opening remark is made.  This is what I find usually happens: I open up provocatively - saying that whilst animal farms were providing us with much of our food they were little more than death camps.  That's when eyes glaze over and there's no chance to expand on that theme.  I never get as far as mentioning how animal farming is a major cause of greenhouse gas emissions and general pollution.  I never get as far as suggesting that by eating so much of this contaminated produce, our bodies are going haywire, and that was causing us to lose control of our health.  Nor do I ever get to talking about animal foods being too ‘rich’ and being such fat-saturated food, leading to obesity linked with over-indulgent lifestyles.

You soon enough realise that everything which needs to be said is taken as an insult, and reason enough not to have to listen to ANY expansion of the theme.  Which means that there's an effective taboo on a whole line of argument, since there’s an obvious link between each of these issues - animal-use has links to many of the world's problems, the one issue leading to the other and on to the next, ending up with the shameful state of affairs where so many children in poor countries, even the country next door, are dying for want of food. 

One can point out the connections, between certain specific actions and the worst possible consequences, but most people can't find any way to see any of this, since they are so caught up in the present system.  They are so keen on consuming animals and all the ‘goodies’ made available by dint of farming them, that they can't heed the warnings.  They continue as they have always continued.  They can't make any substantial progress in what they do or think, since they are standing almost transfixed, like a rabbit in the car’s headlights.  The consequences of their action and inaction rush towards them and their first line of defence is to stop in-coming information.  It's the information that is rushing towards them, threatening to crush them with a need for change.  It sounds like something unpleasant, and it touches their gut feeling.

Our biggest difficulty is that we are not dealing with the brains of people but their gut-instinct.  We might have a lot to say but no one to say it to.  The more one learns about the use of animals, the more cruelty one sees, the less one can tell others about it.  Either the cowardliness or the dishonesty of ordinary people is the biggest shock; it seems incredible that so many people are unwilling to see such obvious links between what they condone and what is happening all around them.  Millions of children are dying needlessly and millions of animals are being killed shamelessly, and everyone, it seems, turns away and goes about their business as if nothing bad is happening. 

What does "Animal Rights" mean?

1292:

Edited by CJ Tointon

The term Animal Rights is still not understood very well.  It's not surprising!  How can animals have 'Rights' when they don't know they have them or even know they want them?  No, it's really about 'Human Not-Rights'.  That is the 'not-rights' of humans to abuse animals, take away their lives or diminish the quality of their existence.

Imagine, if you will, a little puppy.  The most beautiful creature you could imagine;  innocent, playful, trusting with big brown eyes.  What happens after a few blissful days of guzzling Mum's milk and playing with his brothers and sisters?  He's taken away and put with his new 'humans' who soon enough subject him to the nastiest experience of his life - the destruction of his most sensitive reproductive organs.  His body undergoes surgery for the removal of its most fundamental function.  His psyche is assaulted in readiness for a life of seclusion - in a 'human' house.  From there he will be 'played with', incarcerated day and night and let run at the end of a leash (tied around his throat) for his 'walk' around the block.  He will be fed a totally unnatural diet - a few daily bowls of crappy tinned food - and that's it!!!  If there is any purpose to his existence, it is to be nothing more than a 'toy' or 'companion' for humans to play with and fondle.  He can look forward to no company of his own species, no relationship with anyone other than his human and his death date will be determined at the convenience of the same human he has been friends with all his life.  His use-by date comes when he eventually sickens and it's no longer economically viable to medicate him further. That's when he's 'put to sleep' (that's the child-friendly euphemism we use for 'murder'). 

All this is a grotesque assault on another living being.  What humans do to animals for their own pleasure, convenience or profit is what Animal Rights is all about.  And it's not just about charming little puppy dogs. It's about the whole pantheon of domesticated animals humans use for company, for eating, for experimenting-upon, for their secretions, for their skins and furs - and many other uses too numerous to mention.  Needless to say, for the added convenience of the human 'owners', the animals are not only castrated, neutered and sexually isolated, but they undergo terrible mutilations (and finally execution) without any regard for their feelings.

Advocates for the 'Rights' of animals are trying to explain something to people that they've probably never even thought about before.  Using animals is so taken for granted these days that it's assumed there is no NEED to think about it.  As soon as any one of us dares to speak out against using animals (let alone puppy dogs being 'de-sexed') hands are held up in horror that we should even think of mentioning it!!  But since animals can't speak up for themselves, all we are doing is showing things from the animal's perspective.  And when we do that, people may start to think.  But just as quickly they'll shrink away, because they'll be thinking to themselves,  "What, no pets?  No meat?  No ...?".  It's always about human loss.  Never about a loss to the animal, never about its sovereignty or its happiness.

There's so much to reveal, so much to tell people, so many human traits connected with the using of animals.  It's no wonder that one's first forays into confronting people with the 'truth' are failures.  But it teaches us one valuable lesson: that human habit and social mores are very deeply set.  Nothing any animal advocate can do or say will shift things, even revealing what is incontrovertibly true.  

I consider myself to be a sensitive person, and it seems everyone else does too.  Everybody has their own way of justifying themselves.  If you have a dog or a cat at home, it's important to justify everything about the 'owning' of a 'companion animal'.  For some people, the home is not complete without a cat or a dog in the house.  Without the animal component, the sky would fall in!!