Two Scenarios – What Would You Do?

1) If you saw an obviously distressed barking dog locked in a car on a hot day, what would you do?  Would you look away and walk by as if nothing was happening?  Perhaps.  Or would you try the doors to see if you could open one and help the dog?  Would you look around for the owner of the car, perhaps going inside nearby stores and asking for help?  Or would you think about or even go as far as breaking a window to get the dog to safety?  After all, there’s a life at stake and you have the ability to save that life.

2) If you saw an obviously distressed squealing pig locked in a car on a hot day, what would you do?  Would you think, “Mmm!  Bacon!” and wait for him or her to cook to death, hoping the owner might share some of their carcass with you?  Would you look away and walk by as if nothing was happening?  Perhaps.  Or would you try the doors to see if you could open one and help the pig?  Would you look around for the owner of the car, perhaps going inside nearby stores and asking for help?  Or would you think about or even go as far as breaking a window to get the pig to safety?  After all, there’s a life at stake and you have the ability to save that life.

Moral Value

Pigs are not “bacon” any more than calves are “veal” or chickens are “drumsticks” or any other animal is only the parts humans deem useful – they are sentient beings and that fact does not change simply because some want to believe and behave as if the converse were true.  When societal “norms” allow for the devaluing of non-human animals to the point of no longer being viewed, treated and respected as living, breathing, feeling individuals deserving of autonomous lives free from being used as “things” merely to satisfy the fleeting pleasures of humans, an injustice is being perpetrated.

By analogy, women are not “pieces of ass”  – they are individuals and that fact does not change simply because some want to believe and behave as if the converse were true.  When societal “norms” allow for the devaluing of women to the point of no longer being viewed, treated and respected as living, breathing, feeling individuals deserving of autonomous lives free from being used merely to satisfy the fleeting pleasures of men, an injustice is being perpetrated.

If you agree that it is sexist and therefore wrong to objectify women (or children, or any humans) by using their bodies for one’s own purposes and find such behavior distasteful and unacceptable, then it only makes sense to agree that it is speciesist and therefore wrong to objectify non-humans by using their bodies, secretions and offspring for one’s own purposes and to find such behavior distasteful and unacceptable.  The fact that there is a difference in species does not indicate a difference in moral value between the two groups as they both share (at least) the common trait of sentience.

If one opposes at least one form of violent oppression because it is morally wrong, then to live in integrity requires opposing all forms of violent oppression because they are all morally wrong no matter who the victim is, regardless of (in no particular order) race, gender identity, species, sexual preference, age, physical ability or any other arbitrary criterion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another Scenario – What Would You Do?

If you saw an obviously distressed screaming human baby locked in a car on a hot day, what would you do?   For most (if not all) people, there is only one answer – you do anything you’re able to do to help.  If your answer was not as clear and immediate in those scenarios in which the species of the trapped individual was other than human, perhaps it’s time to deeply explore how you have been indoctrinated into a society built on speciesism, blinded, misguided and conditioned by a lifetime of daily exposure to a multi-billion dollar propaganda machine that would have humans believe all other species are subordinate to our own and exist merely to satisfy our pleasure, comfort and convenience… and then explore how living vegan dismantles speciesism, realigns your morals and behaviors and restores your personal integrity.

One Final Scenario – What WILL You Do?

Knowing that living non-vegan means you are directly complicit in the violent oppression, enslavement, exploitation and execution of the most vulnerable members of our global society – non-human animals – and that living vegan is the simplest and most immediate action you can take to end that oppression (and your part in it)… what will you do? 

Here is what I hope you will do –

Live vegan.  Educate others.  Start now, here’s how: