The "average" American is a monster from the viewpoint of our fellow animals. Each American, with the exception of the woefully few practicing ethical veganism, participates in...directly or by proxy...in the confinement and suffering and killing of billions of animals each year. Every day you or some that you know cause terror and pain and death to chickens and cows and pigs and sheep and and and. Every day.
And most are able to do this without hearing one scream or groan or cry or moan from their victims. Most are able to do this without seeing blood, without smelling fear or feces, without observing the despair or horror or terror. How nice...for the "average" American...for those enslaved and/or dying...not so "nice".
I've written previously about obliviousness (and here and here) but not about how effortlessly most are led into being destroyers of life, into being terrorists to our fellow earthlings . Look around, look at your friends, at your family members...look at the schoolchildren, at the teacher, at the clerk in the store, at the newscaster, at the celebrity. See the blood on their hands, around their mouths...nope....all hidden....all sanitized away. No trail of bloody corpses behind their backs, no blood dripping knife is seen. Zip zoop...all gone. Thanks to the 'miracle' of the ease of destruction. The baby cows are torn from their mothers...for that ice cream "treat"...does the child eating that treat hear the cries of the baby? The moans and bellows of the mother, her thrashing and pacing? Does the child eating the treat watch and smell and hear the baby being killed? Nope, zip zoop...all gone, all hidden...now easily denied and ignored.
We have succeeded in making ourselves (most of us, anyway) into pseudo-innocent monsters. Ready to be outraged and angered should anyone accuse us of being harmers of our fellow animals. With our lying, deliberate ignorance many are ready to be offended and disturbed should anyone point out the truth of our destructiveness. After all, that's one of the benefits of the ease of destruction.
Apologies to P. F. Sloan for the variance on the title of his song "Eve of Destruction". Just as the song laments our disbelief that we are on the eve of destruction...we are truly and deeply disposed toward denying and ignoring our "ease of destruction".
And my apologies to my fellow animals for this denial and for their misery and death and for my own years of blindness. I will never be able to make up for my own participation in this debacle...but I participate no more and will spend the rest of my days helping with the rescuing of my fellow animals and advocating for them.
For those who try to avoid reality by conning themselves with the notion that those who are about to die do not know what is happening...I offer this photo. Anyone that doesn't grasp that the rabbit in the picture knows what her/his fate is...well.
The bunny knows, just as the cow knows, the turkey knows, the pig knows...the only ones who don't are the oblivious human animals who support these atrocities.
There's a quote that floats around on the internet which is maybe fitting here. Supposedly voiced by Leonardo da Vinci at some time or another.
We all are encouraged to not see, make sure you let yourself see when you are shown...and once you see...opt out of the ease of destruction. Please begin now if you haven't already...to live an ethical vegan lifestyle...stop participating in this nightmare.
8 comments:
Oh my! I sure do get what you mean about the pseudo-innocent monsters - And how they are everywhere! The "and, and, and" haunts me every time I let my self be reminded of exactly what types of blindly complicit people I'm surrounded by.
It's also in the physical reminders of the grills in their yards... Their shoes... The contents of their shopping carts - And well, it's in the emptiness of their conversations too. It's a totally difficult/impossible world to navigate in... It absolutely IS the "ease" of destruction that makes it harder still...
They say ignorance is bliss and it probably is - for the ignorant. But never for the victims or the witnesses. I'm certain with enough voices the oblivious won't be able to hide much longer. Zip zoop! Someday they will all be gone! It must be so!
Yes the pseudo-innocent monsters. How to help them open their eyes and keep them open. Some are ready, some may never be. I have a feeling that what we say often just sounds like gobbledygook, or at best, like the ranting of charismatic born again recent converts, which I guess, in a way, we are. But it's so, so hard to be patient when billions of wretched creatures are murdered every year. May we find the wisdom to help them in the most effective way possible. Your good work here is greatly encouraging.
Such a great post.
Another thing: the invisibility of all the people who do the dirty work in the slaughterhouses. The carnivorousness that just lets other people do such horrendous, low-paid, harrowing jobs.
The pseudo-innocence, as you call it.
I'm currently looking for vegetarian dog food and have not yet adopted another cat. As much as I love the domestic feline, I find that having to buy their food is harrowing.
My friends out at the farm want to move into sanctuary work --slowly but surely.
Thank you for commenting Bea. You're right on the mark with your observations. Here's to zip zoop coming soon.:-)
Thank you for commenting David. Maybe what needs doing is making the "default" way of living to be one of harmlessness, not destruction, then those for whom gobbledygook is the norm will be good citizens too.
Thank you for commenting DEM. Yes, too much hiding and evading going on. Privacy is often a good thing...organizations and such who hide things to avoid responsibility...not so good. More awareness...better decisions (one would hope).
I hear you re taking care of family fur people. :-)
I hadn't "seen" that quote by Da Vinci before -- guess that puts me in the second class? ;)
What worries me is the class consisting of 'those who see but don't care'. Butchers are starting to become popular again and backyard do-it-yourself slaughtering is on the rise, so it makes me wonder if destruction is in fact becoming more visible, but without an accompanying increase in compassion.
Thank you for commenting HGV. That 2nd class contains me too...since you're in it then it isn't a bad one to be in. :-)
Universality of compassion is a doubtful goal...there are still Germans who think Hitler was right and what he did was ok...but Germany is a dramatically different place now...even with the yahoos still there. All we need are enough folks to be willing to make compassion and caring and kindness and protection for all animals the default position. There will always be that percentage who won't agree...and there are always ways to manage their behavior. :-)
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