Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2008 06:54:31 -0400
From: Brenda Denzler
Subject: Elitist?
I don’t always agree with everything Hipvegan/Aurora says, but sometimes she makes some good points, too. As for your calling her “elitist,” Steve, I don’t see it. I mean, she’s arguing that people ought to consider what it must be like to be a chicken or pig or cow on a factory farm, destined for a short life in unnatural confinement with often questionable food, water and waste disposal provided for the animal before it is slaughtered. And the slaughtering, itself, which can be done as humanely as possible when small scale production is used, can too often become a nightmare of fear and pain for the animals in situations where “economies of scale” are desired in mass production of meat.
In short, she is arguing that people *drop* elitist, human-only views that say, “I want meat and I don’t care how I get it, just so it’s on my plate by supper time.” She is suggesting that people expand their human-only views in a way that would take some care for the experiences of the animals that we, in the end, consume. She is, in this case, being very anti-elitist.
And yes, I eat meat. Now that I have the luxury of just being me to buy groceries for, and not a house full of children as well, I can afford to pay the slightly higher prices that come from trying to live out my highest ideals of care and compassion for all creatures — not just human ones. Not everyone is lucky enough to be able to do so. I understand that. I can’t always do it, myself. But I still think it’s important for us to *not* be human elitists, focusing only on our own good and refusing to acknowledge what “our own good” may be costing other creatures on this earth.
Brenda Denzler
Not hip, not a vegan, and definitely not thin or blond!