Is The Meat Industry Responsible For Society's Declining Moral Standards?
It is far too easy to lay all of the world's problems at one person/organization/entity's feet, however, in this instance, I'm not too sure that it would be wrong to do so. Let me explain.
It is no secret that morality is becoming an abstract concept. Whereas we once believed that there was a definitive right and wrong, it seems now that everything is clouded by doubt, and the introduction of the concept of "morally grey areas" has provided every human with a perfect excuse to justify the shitty things we do to one another.
How can it be that we can have such different opinions on what is acceptable and what is not, when we are all human and we all know what we would or would not like to have others do to us?
Perhaps it may seem naive to some, but I hold the belief that we instinctively know what is right and what is good. We're led to believe that we need to be taught how to be a good person, but I would suggest that it is the other way around.
What if we do inherently know what is right and what is wrong, through knowing how we would like to be treated. But, what if through movies, TV, adverts, music and the observation of human behaviour, we are in fact, as we grow up, teaching ourselves how to be bad?
For this to be a possibility, and for us to be so blind to it, we would have to have had our idea of morality skewed from the youngest of ages. If we can, at such an impressionable age, adopt the belief that it is right to do something wrong, sometimes, then would that not ensure that comprehending what is right and what is not becomes a very difficult task throughout out the rest of our life?
*Can we agree that murder is wrong? What about forced slavery? What about torture or genocide? *
If you do agree that these things are immoral, then I invite you to think about the following for a moment;
Envision a mother, a good one too, by today's standards. She is on the street with two of her children, attempting to provide one of them with a lesson on morality.
The child, aged 4, has just slapped his or her sibling without cause, and now the mother is explaining to him why it is wrong to hurt another person for no good reason.
The child is taking all of this information in, and is genuinely wanting to be better for his mother. However, while this lesson is taking place, and while the child's conscious mind is focused on what his mother is saying, their subconscious mind is paying attention to what is right behind the mother.
Behind the mother, hanging through the window of a butchers, there are severed body parts, dripping with blood and labeled with numbers on them. Those numbers are accompanied by dollar signs.
How useful do you think the lesson the mother is giving the child can be, if that kid's mind is also learning at the same time, that while it may be wrong to slap someone, it is completely fine to murder, kill and dismember living creatures-- all for profit?
The difference here, is that children do not typically wait until they are four years old to have this understanding, that life has a price that can be measured in pieces of paper. Most will be pushed past a butchers in their strollers, or brought to a deli on their father's shoulders, way before they reach the age of 4.
It would be interesting to see how a human would react to seeing chopped up bodies being traded for pieces of paper, if they had grown up outside of this system we are all forced to be a part of. I think they would spew their guts up, and question what the fuck is wrong with the world. But to us, this is simply normal.
I think we need to start thinking about the effect that seeing such instances of "justifiable brutality"are having on the children of this planet. If we, as a society, can accept that it is normal to commit mass genocide on creatures that we share our home with--for any reason-- is it really surprising that we might then develop into beings who have difficulty understanding right from wrong?
Personally, I am not surprised by the direction that humanity is going. We never had a chance, and neither do our children as long as they're subjected to horribly awful things in any context that claims to suggest appropriateness.
What effect, if any, do you think the meat industry has on children?
It's all been downhill since "Three's Company" showed an unmarried man and two women living in the same house together. Scandalous... just scandalous.
Lol. I don't disagree! Shameless fuckers.
The term that comes to mind is 'moral relativism' wherein things that are obviously wrong can be justified by presuming that it can't be completely wrong if a lot of people do it.
Even the word 'justify' is telling: if something is wrong, or unjust, then we instinctively know it is wrong, so then we might try to make it just, through moral relativism, so that we don't feel the guilt. We don't need to justify things that are already right and just.
Thanks for the post-- I stopped eating things with heartbeats about a year-and-a -half ago, and I can feel and clearly see the difference now.
Yes, I agree. I actually was planning to write a piece named "debunking moral relativism," but like so many other things-- I forgot. Thank you for reminding me though, will get that one done this week.
I actually hate using the word justify as it is almost as if by using the word, you are advocating for a "justice system," and therefore the "law", which I personally do not. However, my vocabulary is a bit lacking, so I will have to find a replacement word for the point I'm trying to get across.
I haven't eaten meat in a couple years either, but unfortunately, I am still forced to take part in the meat industry because I have a puppy to feed. Makes this entire post a bit hypocritical I guess, but what I can do...
Dogs are carnivores, there's nothing immoral about keeping an animal fed! Now, if you start nibbling bits of the dog food yourself, then we might be looking at some hypocrisy. I have some cats with a similar diet, so I have to support the meat industry too, but letting the little varmints go hungry would be wrong-er, ... er, more wrong? Not right.
The meat industry has a huge effect on us all, even if we do not eat meat. We have to clear forests to make room for our pastures for raising cattle, the meat which we raise for food produces about 37% of all human caused greenhouse gases/emissions so yeah, the world would definitely be a lot better off if humans were vegans thats for sure. haha.
Plus we don't treat the animals which we end up eating very well at all...
Yeah, man. And I'm sure the majority of the world's water supply is used by the meat industry too. So fucking wastefully.
This is a great question. The meat industry is such a "normal" part of society that people don't see it for what it actually is. People that speak out against it or choose not to eat meat are often viewed as odd.
A child is raised in a society where killing other animals and consuming them is just part of life because humans are "superior". Some children grow up to be adults who decide that isn't ok morally while others continue to view it as such. I remember the moment many years ago when I realized it wasn't ok with me. It makes me sad and I now find the idea of eating another animal's flesh repulsive.
Not very insightful, but just wanted to share my feelings and let you know that I appreciate your question.
I thank you for sharing. I agree. It is the normalization of things that should not be the norm in a moral society, that make deciding what is moral a difficult task for most.
So...is this the first debate post? Or just a post? If it's part of the project I recommend stating that in the title or in the first line.
(and I don't think you gave people enough time to know what's going on yet- head to the chat when you have a moment)
This is nothing to do with that... I was just sharing some thoughts is all.
When it comes to the debate, I would like to see the community deciding what topics they want to see discussed.
Okay good, you can occasionally be a wee bit impulsive ;)
Do you really think so? I know I definitely have a spontaneity about me, but I feel I do not enter any such projects without a fair bit of planning. Hence why I just invited you to a group on discord to help me plan the debate project.
Fair enough....
should I post the video?FIVE minutes later "You took too long"hahaha
I'm not sure if it's simply a popular topic or that it's something I've been thinking about so I notice it more but this is the second post in just a few minutes that's brought up the topic of what society is doing to our kids.
I've been digging into an essay that looks at the life cycle of Empires. Not just the individual empires themselves but empires as they've stretched throughout history, one after another and there appears to be a very distinct pattern that they go through.
I believe that what we're seeing is yet another manifestation of the latest empire (Murica) in it's final stages.
Have you ever heard of Caligula?
Most people wouldn't be too comfortable if they were to compare and contrast the last days of the Roman Empire to what's going on around us today.
No, I hadn't heard of him. I did just google him and have a little read, but I am not certain I have uncovered the relevance of you sharing his name? Why do you ask about him?
Caligula is the archetype for the leader of a decadent society sliding into collapse.
He had an incestuous relationship with his sister, appointed a horse as a Roman Senator and became the symbol of the worst aspects of the Roman Empire.
Looking around today, that's not a difficult thing to imagine happening again.