"Suggesting people can't live without government is like saying animals can't live without farms". - Unknown
Statism, the belief that government is a necessary evil and political authority can ever be wielded virtuously, is one of the most inherently violent belief systems in the world and has left a trail of death and destruction from the streets of America and Europe to the war-torn countries of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Government is, indeed, one of the biggest evils: some of most violent atrocities and cruel injustices have been carried out, and sometimes even celebrated, in its name. It causes otherwise good, decent people to abdicate personal responsibility and commit crimes of violent aggression in the name of authority, nationalism and so-called democracy. How many young, naive men, thinking they were fighting just wars were actually serving the interests of a political elite and used as pawns in 'foreign policy', having meted out aggression and untold acts of savagery upon their brothers and sisters in far away lands - or sometimes even in their homelands?
Soldiers 'just following orders' push buttons in military bases, resulting in mass loss of life in other parts of the world where the 'enemy' is left to pick up the body parts and missing pieces of their loved ones. How many more men, women and children will be incinerated in acts of war before people ditch their pseudo-religious belief in political authority and see Sauron's Ring of Power for what it is: a tool of supremacist evil which sews the seeds of pain, trauma and cruelty within the human psyche and threatens our very existence as a species.
As much as government is responsible for so much human pain and suffering in the world, there is an even bigger evil that has left a permanent stain on humanity's conscience: the belief in carnism, or human-animal authority.
Carnism: "Carnism is the invisible belief system, or ideology, that conditions people to eat certain animals".
Most people abhor animal cruelty and understand that is wrong to initiate violence against non-humans. A sane, moral individual would surely intervene if he witnessed an animal being savagely beaten or mauled to death on the street, but would turn a blind eye to the ceaseless crys and screams emanating from the many slaughterhouses of the world, where pigs, cows, chickens, goats and many other creatures are mercilessly butchered to satisfy a consumer demand.
Like the statist, the carnist is typically a decent, well-intentioned person with a good heart - only his thoughts and emotions are not aligned with his actions. The statist will say he is firmly against murder, theft and abuse but will condone and even support said murder, theft and abuse when it is carried out by the state in the form of war and taxation. The carnist, while claiming to 'love' animals, will happily pay for their execution when buying animal products from the supermarket. He will feast on KFC 'bargain buckets' and feed his children McDonald's 'happy meals' whilst guzzling fish bladders and beer with the dog sat on his lap. Statism and carnism are forms of mental malware infecting the minds of otherwise good people who, when pressured by cultural norms, abandon their principles and support widespread violence against other sentient beings.
Hundreds of millions of people have lost their lives in war and other forms of authoritarian abuse, but hundreds of billions of land animals are killed each year in slaughterhouses worldwide. Carnism cultivates evil on an unprecedented scale, and "there will come a time when men look upon the murder of animals as they now look upon the murder of men".
Have you ever wondered why it is that we universally detest those who harm children, the elderly and the disabled? It is because they are the most vulnerable members of society. The animals, however, those innocent creatures who wish us no harm, are the most vulnerable of all - they are completely at our mercy, and that is why carnism is the greatest evil.
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” - Mahatma Gandhi
Both statists and carnists must address their cognitive dissonance in regard to humans and animals and come to the understanding that we are all members of one divine family. Only then, when we have shed our false and toxic beliefs, will we undergo a cosmic shift in consciousness and transform this planet for the better.
Thanks for reading, 'In Lak'ech
me for more content to come!
This is an interesting argument to set up. Ok, the cognitive dissonance you speak of is very real and a very strange thing, but let's put that to one side.
To be clear, I would offer up that whilst vegan, I am a speciesist, clearly meaning if I run into the often spoke-of burning building and I can only save the child or the puppy, the child is saved 100% of the time.
But, I don't believe the argument you are establishing is attempting to necessarily parallel the human to animal life on a 1 to 1 basis (you'll inform me if I wrong in my assumption but I'm led to it by your mention of "millions of humans", "billions of animals".
I have a little problem with the word "evil" just because it is a very fuzzy word. But I'll view it in this context as an "extreme moral wrong"
I hope I'm being reasonably clear to this point. So, I guess what you are laying out is a question on whether carnism could be viewed as an even worse moral outrage than statism (and for simplicity's sake, considering only unnecessary deaths caused as the metric for comparison). It is a fascinating question, I mean what is the equivalence between a human life and cow life? Does the unnecessary death of 10,000 cows equal the unnecessary death of 1 human? Is that number 100? 1000? 1million? 10? infinite??? How does the farmer (who monetarily values his cows) feel about this equation? Is he willing to suffer the loss of 1000 head of cattle to save one human? Is his answer only based on economics??
Lots of interesting thoughts comes out of this...
Once again, thank you @danielshortell for always leaving thoughtful responses to my articles.
I, too, am a 'speciesist' in the sense of valuing human life more than animal life but, with that said, I believe our suffering is universal.
The best way to gauge the suffering of non-humans would be put ourselves in their shoes by imagining what would happen if a superior race of beings enslaved us for food. What we're going through is, in my opinion, nothing compared to the plight of farmed animals.
Also, although this is subjective, I believe the greatest amount of 'evil' is measured by the vulnerability of the victims, as I touched on at the end of the post: 'Have you ever wondered why it is that we universally detest those who harm children, the elderly and the disabled? It is because they are the most vulnerable members of society...'
No worries, happy to comment. I'm newish to veganism (1.5yrs) and I arrived for the health benefits...the moral and environmental benefits are added bonuses and I'm trying to refine my understanding of both, your articles are helpful to this end.
Your previous article about a superior race was quite poignant and had some fantastic points and thought challenges in it. I think you're spot on - empathy can and should apply to animals in order for people to achieve perspective.
I think you're way of expanding evil into a more applicable concept is quite concrete/instructive. I doubt you'd find many people that disagree with: an offense is particularly reprehensible (and cowardly) when targeted toward those with the fewest means of defense. It seems almost self-evident, now, the challenge is to get people to accept this idea across species perimeters.
It's a deeper root for sure. If carnism can be dealt with, then statism will be become more obvious. Carnism is in your face overt, and statism is covert, so it's harder to get people to see something so well hidden... ;)
Indeed, although carnism is still kinda covert because it's such a big taboo. Humans are blind to carnism in the way fish are blind to water. It took me 24 years before I even started questioning where my food came from. It's the big elephant in the room that people can't/don't want to see.
Very well written as always, I couldn't agree more! I believe this transformation is already taking place and a cosmic shift in consciousness will come sooner than we expect, thanks to those such as yourself spreading awareness. Each one teach one.
I hope so @leokos331. Even if we don't see a cosmic shift in our lifetimes, we gotta keep planting them seeds!
Well said!! just today I heard my brother say that it is okay to do what you want as long as it does not harm others, that it is never justifiable to harm others and I was there like ok then why aren't you vegan 🤨🤔😪
lol, yep, people have a hard time giving up meat; it's so ingrained into the culture and such a big taboo that people shy away from discussing it all together. Thanks for your feedback @auracosmica
Is there room for moral dissent in here, or is it a circleJerk?
As long as you don't attempt to use the power of the state to keep me from having meat thats fine.
Unfortunately, statists are currently attempting to legislate against meat consumption via carbon taxes justified by their allegation that meat consumption is destructive tothe environment.
Meanwhile, according to them, electric cars powered by nuclear energy are lauded as an environmental savior. The mutants of chernobyll a hundred miles away from would beg to differ though.