For any vegans or vegetarians out there who sometimes want to scream HOW CAN YOU BE SO MINDLESS AND HEARTLESS, this article is a breath of fresh air, proof that against all odds, carnivores do have flashes of insight.
Some choice quotes:
"Shrinks call this "cognitive dissonance." You munch a strip of bacon then pet your dog. You wince at the sight of a crippled horse but continue chewing your burger."
"Every society lives with two kinds of moral problems: the ones it's ready to face, and the ones that will become clear or compelling only in retrospect. Human sacrifice, slavery, the subjugation of women—every tradition seems normal and indispensable until we're ready, morally and economically, to move beyond it."
"300 years from now, when our descendants look back at slaughterhouses the way we look back at slavery, they won't remember the benefits to us, any more than they'll remember our dried-up tears for a horse. They'll want to know whether we saw the moral calling of our age. If we do, it's time to pony up."
Saletan's conclusion is that humans supposedly can't give up the desire for meat (I don't agree with that) but they should stop slaughtering animals and instead eat meat grown in a laboratory (I agree with this- I wouldn't want any meat, but I'd rather the world ate lab meat than factory farmed meat).
Our kitties, Bijou and Marble wish more people had compassion for animals.
What do you think about the article and whole lab meat idea?
Speaking of cognitive dissonance, Homer Simpson does a nice job of demonstrating it in this video from "The Simpsons." Pinchy is a lobster that Homer lovingly raised, intending to eat him. But then he grew attached to the lobster and felt he couldn't eat him...until he accidentally gave Pinchy a hot bath...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ksEihdkv-E
0 Comments