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livingontheland - Re: [Livingontheland] Killing animals (was "Harvey"-who knows why)

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  • From: Dan Conine <dconine@bertramwireless.com>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Killing animals (was "Harvey"-who knows why)
  • Date: Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:37:31 -0600


Have you ever killed and butchered an
animal so you could eat it? Ever looked into
its eyes as it died so you could eat meat?

Jaylee
Dragonfly Creek Farm
Oregon
Yes. Many times. I've looked deep into their eyes and you know what I saw? Nothing. I see the same when I look into the eyes of most humans. Anthropomorphizing and projecting thoughts and feelings where there are none is a disease of ignorance and imagination. Everyone dies. Every animal dies. Some kill each other for food. Humans are animals. No more, no less. It is the delusion of self-importance that gets people to think they can create some kind of Empire of moral power. Some think they will create a Vegetarian Empire or a Green Empire, but it's still the same egotistical human delusion that we are so important that we can imagine how the world "should" be and then force everyone else into that mold.
The universe doesn't work that way. We live. The only natural right we have is the right to Try to live. Every animal, plant and microbe has the same right. Anything else ('rights of animals', 'right to life', 'right to justice', etc.) are all imagined and agreed upon by those who choose to agree to them. Animals don't have their own rights because they don't have the ability to imagine or agree to them. Humans can agree to provide some protection for them with our laws, but only to the extent that we treat them as protected property or as a resource of the commons.

Killing things is what humans do. We do it quite well as the predators which we became. There are many reasons not to eat too much meat, but more reasons to balance one's living and killing with the way that nature provides for things to live and die. Getting all touchy-feely and sanctimonious about animals usually ignores the whole waste of resources involved in keeping them all alive. Those wasted resources may be needed in the future.

So, Yes, I HAVE looked into the eyes of animals that I've killed. Some which were in pain and needed mercy. I also looked at what their future would be like to let them live and suffer endlessly. Think of that the next time some "animal lover" talks about putting their dog or cat through chemo treatments for cancer, or giving them insulin shots. Think of the regions of the world dying from lack of medical care or resources while "Emergency Pet Clinics" are built in every American town.

It's all about resources. Avoiding the killing of animals is an imagined morality of Luxury, often provided by the economic systems which kill animals and people for some propagandist, imagined reason other than for food, but usually for economic conquest.

Dan C.





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