A message to libertarians and anarchists...
I often hear, from the libertarian/anarchist crowd, that vegans are too 'emotional' and that emotions have no place in philosophy. To those same anarchists, Id like to ask: Do you feel emotion when a cop brutally murders a citizen? Or when the military drone strikes women and children on the other side of the world? Was your decision to become an anarchist not fuelled by empathy for your fellow man, or was it for purely economic, selfish reasons?
When vegans see animals being mercilessly butchered: pigs lowered squealing into gas chambers and cows mourning the loss of their newborn, they feel the same rage YOU feel when the state commits acts of violent aggression all over the world.
If you get angry whenever the government murders innocent people, please do not tell vegans that they are any more 'emotional' for being angered by the mass murder of hundreds of billions of animals. Perhaps try widening your circle of compassion to embrace all living beings.
Thanks.
This is a very important point. The artificial ego has blinded man to the truth that all life is LIFE! The forms and expressions may numerous, but every living being is capable of suffering and joy.
Such a great video. "The question is not, can they reason, nor can they talk but, can they suffer?”
I have no strong opinion about veganism but I agree that these types of judgement are contradictory to concept of personal freedom (in a sense, anyway). One would think someone who believes that a person should be able to live their life however they wish wouldn't be so critical of how this group of people chooses to live their lives.
Consistency seems difficult to achieve for many people, sadly. It isn't completely their fault though. I have, personally, lost friends over maintaining a consistent position. I like to think that I support personal freedom even if that freedom carries some risks and that can put me on both extremes of the political spectrum depending on the issue. That, however, is a different topic.
Anyway, good post.
An old tactic to try and discredit what someone is saying. I'm sure lots of women will have experienced exactly this - being told that they are being 'emotional', with the implication that their position is not 'rational' - not as good anyway! The illusory superiority of head over heart, rather than balance.
And, if one subsitutes the word empathetic for 'emotional' - this is more accurately descriptive IMO - then we can also observe the phenomenon of a lack of external empathy towards other sentient beings (human or non) mirroring a lack of empathy towards the self - ie towards one's own pain, trauma and suffering! It is a form of compartmentalisation and a symptom of split-living. If self-empathy were present, I doubt if the fact of living with violence would be as seemingly comfortable!
'The illusory superiority of head over heart, rather than balance.' - Absolutely brilliant.
Many of these so-called 'ancaps' seem to pride themselves on their lack of emotion when discussing injustice.
I just got into a twitter 'debate' (if you can call it that) with an 'ancap' who showed absolutely no remorse for the suffering of animals.
Spurred me on to write this quick post.
Thank you kindly :D
IMO, all groupings and group-identities (organisations, nationalities, teams, tribes, gangs etc) implicitly promote violence. If there is an us, there must be a them, and, in order to distinguish us from them, 'we' have to invent reasons for 'our' superiority, or else demonstrate it to 'ourselves' by putting them down (physically, verbally, energetically etc). Split living, compartmentalisation, lack of empathy etc are built-in components. The glue is Fear/Control. Outer division mirrors inner division. Lack of empathy towards other sentient beings an extention of this lack of empathy to self. A harsh and cold existence - firmly rooted in the head. Perhaps Descartes set a ball rolling of sorts when his joke (unintended by him I'm sure :) I think therefore I am, gave folk the notion of the primacy of thought and therefore, an apparent licence to discount the heart........
It's a tangled web of a Matrix, outside and in!
one bite = one whole life
Powerful.
Great post my friend. I agree with you completely, we should all try to be more open and loving towards each other.
And as being one of those who been mocked for being vegan I think it's just peoples fear and lack of will to understand that makes them judgemental towards others.
Again great post, we all need to be reminded to be more patient towards each other.
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