We have let the factory farm replace farming for the same reasons our cultures have relegated minorities to being second-class members of society and kept women under the power of men. We treat animals as we do because we want to and can. (Does anyone really wish to deny this anymore?) The myth of consent is perhaps the story of meat, and much comes down to whether this story, when we are realistic, is plausible.
It isn’t. Not anymore. It wouldn’t satisfy anyone who didn’t have an interest in eating animals. And the end of the day, factory farming isn’t about feeding people; it’s about money. Barring some rather radical legal and economic changes, it must be. And whether or not it’s right to kill animals for food, we know that in today’s dominant systems it’s impossible to kill them without (at least) inflicting occasional torture.
No comments:
Post a Comment