The greatest crime in human history
As an intelligent species, we should recognise that eating meat is not natural
No. If you guessed by reading the title that I was going to say warfare, you are wrong. Poverty? We built that ourselves. Famine? Yet another consequence of capitalism. The Holocaust? Although a stigma that will forever stain the history of mankind, it did not sustain itself for relatively long. Inquisition? Read the previous. What about, say, the food industry? And moreover, the carnivorous food industry?
Yes, that’s right: mass-slaughter of animals. As much as meat eaters may use the excuse, “Oh no, but we are higher up the food chain and some animals eat others as means of feeding” as an argument, this is an altogether fallacious one. You see, we as humans should have – and in fact it is this very capability that supposedly distinguishes us from the rest of faunal species – intelligence.
Intelligence allows us to discern the good from bad, the right from wrong, happy from sad, and ultimately have mercy – or at least pity – for those in pain. Indeed, it is natural for animals to eat other animals but since when did it become natural to inhibit millions of animals from having their freedom by confining them in cells awaiting their unquestioned demise?
Pigs are desperately squealing, cows violently writhing, chicken being forced to lay unnatural amounts of eggs, ducks having a stick jammed in their throats and still there are a handful of shareholders profiting from it. And it is from death that they profit. Insofar as laws concern, this is legal under every constitution even despite how many non-governmental organisations and activist groups lobby against it. It may well be legal, but essentially lacks the most basic of ethics: humanity. Ah, but when it comes to a cute puppy everyone feels empathy and is softened just by looking at a photoshopped picture.
Sadly, there is no stopping this force given that it has gained too much inertia by today. Meat is now a staple in everyone’s diet and is even entrained within different cultures. By opting to be a vegetarian, one’s conscience may remain clean but this does not stop the ruthless consumerism of the society as a whole. Perhaps a good way to part-solve the problem would be to, at the very least, let these animals live in a somewhat “natural” environment and use less violent methods (some sort of short life drug) to butcher them. And of course, decrease the volume of the overall industry by a great deal.
