I grew up in Texas. I specifically remember in sixth grade, a “band” comprised of local police officers was performing at a school assembly, complete with police-like lights and a fog machine. They played the song “Proud to be an American,” and a kid who was very popular and “cool” was standing on the gym bleacher with a few other cool kids (🙄), and I was standing on the ground beside them. The first — very cool — kid pulled me up beside them and lifted his arm so they were all waving their index fingers along with the music. Not wanting to be the odd man out, I lifted my arm and waved my finger, too, though I thought that was a bit silly. And as I think about that now, I wonder how much horror has been carried out simply because folks were trying to conform. Sickening.
I was just watching a YouTube video about cattle, and I was reminded of the police band — not the band, The Police, to be clear. That would have been far better, but I doubt they even existed by then. But I digress.
In the farming video, there were numerous euphemisms that describe practices in only the most abstract terms: “processing” cattle and such. The entire notion seems like vestigial barbarism that only exists because it has existed. If certain essential nutrition were only available in meat, I could accept animal husbandry as an essential practice, but in my own life, I have seen numerous alternatives to animal products. Indeed, as I sit here, beside my very sentient dog, killing animals for human food seems like gratuitous cruelty. I struggle to understand how both slaughter and, like, cartoon animals can be simultaneously “normal.” It really seems like you would have to pick one.
Yet, this is where waving your finger in the air to the song of the police band becomes relevant. Those kids didn’t know the genesis of policing. They didn’t know about slave patrols. They were months from Rodney King being beaten on video, but that was a distant incident, somewhere far away to a somewhat privileged sixth grader in Texas. When a cow is executed and cut into pieces, it cannot object. The manner in which it is killed is specifically designed so it remains ignorant as to what comes next. The people working at the slaughterhouse do not get reality shows and tell-all book deals. They are simply paid low wages to kill and told that killing is normal.
Industries related to killing make me think that for all the talk of humans being very advanced, we are really pretty unsophisticated. Check the ballistics: even if meat can satisfy nutritional needs, you would be better off living in a world where industrial killing simply doesn’t exist. Advanced humans are empathetic, and empathetic humans don’t want other humans to have to kill for money. This isn’t even hard to figure out — the answer is like so obvious. Moreover, I think what has perpetuated this sorry state is simply a misconception. In the bible (I think), there’s a verse about humans having dominion over animals (or something). That doesn’t mean ya gotta eat em!
I can be convinced that eating animals has been important at various times throughout world history. However, I remain unconvinced that we are currently living in one of those times. Personally, I avoid eating animal-derived stuff because it seems to be antithetical to my health goals. Meanwhile, I think it’s quite rude to support industries that succeed when cruelty flourishes — which quite succinctly describes things like meat (and other animal product) industries.