Leo Babauta: Stop torturing animals! Go vegan

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

We do not even allow the thought that we live wrong, are mistaken in our beliefs and commit cruel and unjust acts. We all want to be good to ourselves. I know what I'm talking about, because I myself took a defensive stance when I first heard criticism of my clothes made in sweatshops, the ideology of consumption, as well as gender inequality and homophobia traditional for our culture. I know because I made fun of vegetarians and vegans when I first heard about their ridiculous rejection of meat and animal products for me.

We do not even allow the thought that we live wrong, are mistaken in our beliefs and commit cruel and unjust acts.

We all want to be good to ourselves.

I know what I'm talking about, because I myself took a defensive stance when I first heard criticism of my clothes made in sweatshops, the ideology of consumption, as well as gender inequality and homophobia traditional for our culture. I know because I made fun of vegetarians and vegans when I first heard about their ridiculous rejection of meat and animal products for me.

And yet we can remain good for ourselves, turning a blind eye to injustice, or we can speak out in defense, appeal to conscience and compassion.

I urge you to be merciful to animals. They are defenseless, they feel. They are suffering.

Our food system

I grew up in the modern world and got food ready-made. Ready meals, nuggets, jerky, candy - I didn't see the difference, it was all just Food.

I didn't know where this food came from. If he thought about animals, he imagined a serene life on a farm. For the most part, it was just nutritious and delicious food for me. I did not connect her with living beings in any way.

In reality, if you think about it, we eat our all-feeling and conscious fellows. Their lives are far from serene. Daily beatings, injections of hormonal drugs, mass slaughter - we doom them to such suffering.

Mass cruelty towards people invariably inspires our empathy. However, this does not prevent us from taking at least an indirect part in the mass torture and murder of other beings just for our own pleasure.

I agree that animal life is not equal to human life. But this does not mean that animals do not deserve mercy. This does not mean that you can treat them as if they do not feel anything.

Many of those reading this now love animals. You love dogs, cats, rabbits, dolphins. You will never hit the dog. It would never occur to you to first beat your pet well and then slit its throat. You understand that he feels everything and deserves to be treated well.

And yet, we do not take into account the fact that we make animals endure unbearable torment only because of their own whim.

There is no excuse for this

I'm sure there is no justification for torturing and killing animals that we raise to eat.

Perhaps I could kill an animal in self-defense or to save someone else. But now we are not talking about the choice between killing a person and killing an animal.

We are talking about the choice to kill animals or not.

There is no excuse for such murders. Here are some examples of the most commonly used excuses:

• Health. Some people believe that eating meat, fish, dairy products and eggs is essential for health. This is a deliberately false belief. Vegan health is, on average, better than the health of those who consume animal products. Naturally, some vitamins (for example, B12) have to be taken separately, but this is not difficult. I have been practicing this nutritional system for years and I can say that I have never felt better. I regularly undergo medical examinations and I am healthy in all respects. There is a huge amount of scientific literature describing how to eat well as a vegan. Of course, with some exceptions, because not everyone pays enough attention to health and sometimes follows such crazy diets as, for example, fruitarianism. But, in any case, it is quite easy for vegans to maintain health. You can also be healthy by eating animal food. Here's what I want to say: both can be healthy. Thus, animal food is not essential.
• So it was laid by nature. Many people justify themselves by the fact that it is supposedly natural for us to kill animals. Perhaps, from a historical point of view, this is really so - primitive people hunted for food. However, how and in what quantities we now "grow meat" has nothing to do with nature. And the ideas about the nutrition of our ancestors are also fundamentally wrong. I have already noted that many vegans have good health. Thus, “inherent in nature” is not always equal to “healthy”.
• Animals cannot survive without us. Here is another of the frequently cited arguments - if we stop eating animals, they will not be able to survive without us. It is simply inconceivable to use the helplessness of animals raised for slaughter as an excuse for new murders, supposedly we are doing it for their own good. Incidentally, the argument “they cannot survive without us” was used to justify slavery and oppression of women.
• I can't refuse meat. Many people think that they will not be able to stop eating meat, cheese or anything else. It is not true. In fact, they do not want to do this, which is understandable, but that does not mean that they cannot. Many have successfully dealt with this. There are those for whom veganism has turned out to be poor health, but mainly because they have not figured out how to get enough B12, iron and protein. It's not difficult, really.
• Everyone eats meat. In a society where it is customary to act in a certain way, it is always easier to follow the others. But is it worth doing in this case? Is it worth killing innocents just because everyone does it? Should we close our eyes to the truth just because it is so unattractive? Is it worth it to act cruelly just because otherwise your loved ones will not understand you? My life is fundamentally different from the life of my loved ones, and sometimes I do not find understanding from them. Nevertheless, I continue to live as I live and act humanely.
• Ethically raised animals. Some want to act humanely, but do not want to stop eating meat, and buy meat from animals that are grazed and free-range. I will disappoint you. These are all fairy tales. There is no "happy meat". In any case, such an attempt to be humane is not an excuse. After all, you eat meat because you like it, and not because it is vital.
• Eating eggs and dairy products is normal. Vegetarians eat eggs and dairy products because they do not kill animals. In fact, everything leads to that. Many do not understand the scale of the tragedy in this industry. (To begin with, please read this and this information.)

My point is that the only reason you eat meat and other animal products is for pleasure … For me, killing for pleasure has no excuse.

I don't blame anyone. I do not consider myself better than you. The food system we are used to is to blame for everything.

I call for change

It is possible to break this system.

Let's try going vegan. It’s not difficult, it’s a lot of fun, and it won’t hurt your health.

Join me, let us be merciful to our all-feeling fellows. Don't close your eyes to the truth. There is no need to participate in mass torture and killings.

You need to move away from the terrible power system, start changing for the better.

Now you know about the suffering of animals. Help others to learn this truth too. The desperation of the situation requires that everyone who knows the true state of affairs stand up and loudly declare themselves, otherwise they become complicit in this carnage.

Write in the comments

Have you tried vegetarianism or even veganism?

Why not?

Or, if you tried, what were the results?