Saturday, March 21, 2015

The Food Chain Conundrum


The Food Chain Conundrum

I face many people asking me about me not eating Meat and as usual try to strike a cliche conversation(as every veg eater would have faced at least once in his/her lifetime) about my conviction behind not eating meat.They expect me to reply that killing a life is a sin and that's the reason for me being veg. And they would rightly pounce on me saying that even plants have life, so there is nothing different from eating meat or vegetables.Although my reasons for not eating Non-veg are completely by choice.

On a broader sense, They are absolutely right! Because Humans are programmed to be compassionate.So human compassion is something where they don't want to see another living being in a state of suffering.

But I have got a few questions to ask ...

If killing is not wrong, why don't you kill a random guy walking around the street,
strip him the skin boil his head and have for him a night's dinner?

You won't. Also, the law doesn't allow you.But you won't fight the government for killing human beings for food, as you do for those poor animals, which is altogether a different story.

If at all the government has allowed will you kill humans and eat?
I expect a big NO as your answer.

But you can't be blamed either.Because you consider your safety first and you don't want to offer your body for some one's dinner.

Assume if a person doesn't suffer any pain while killing or while getting hurt, Chances of humans becoming food are higher.

That is practical.Totally acceptable.

That's what happens when you kill a plant for food, you can't actually see if it's suffering.
But in Animals it is completely opposite.They are tortured and more to it you see them suffer.
That is where compassion dies.You allow something you can clearly prevent.

Also, In recent times I have seen people fighting for killing of lives

1.Killing/torturing animals for food.
2.Terrorist killing of innocent people.

with the former you want to kill it while in the later you don't want to. How is that fair? And isn't it an oxymoron? Both the cases involve the killing of innocent lives unnecessarily.

So if a human has the right to his life so does the animal. The extra senses for humans must be well utilized for protection from suffering and not for predatory ones, Be it for an animal or human.





2 comments:

  1. I guess I'd like my argument to be based off your statement "Humans are programmed to be compassionate". I'm not going to say that being a vegan is wrong, it's good that you respect life and as you rightly put, its a choice. That aside, I wouldn't accuse non vegetarians as being non humanitarian. There is a world of difference between terrorism,cannibalism and your occasional ventures to kfc or a home cooked non veg meal. We don't kill the animals out of spite or in desire for vengeance nor do we have people for supper, not because law forbids us to; but because we realize the line which separates us from being people and being barbarians (I use 'We' because, being a non vegetarian myself..I'll be my own kind's stereotype). If you visualize compassion to have a level of detail, Vegetarian's would range from all birds and animals and to humans; Non Vegetarian's would range from almost all animals and birds and to humans; The kind without anything under the level of detail would be Cannibals and the kind with everything in the level of detail would be God. Being a non vegetarian is a choice of life, just like being a vegetarian is. Yes we are compassionate, we just have preferences to what we are compassionate to; we have dogs and fishtanks and love birds...and we don't eat them. Comparing such a choice to a lack of humanity is plainly repulsive. Granted, killing a life is wrong..extremely sorry about that, we are inclined towards having a good meal . On the other hand, when you talk about cruelty to animals, elephants begging in temples and bulls tied to bullock carts, also fall into that category. We don't go- "Ohh we eat chicken, so lets torture that elephant!", there's more than one form of cruelty. Eating another life is not an act of violence...antelope eat grass, carnivores eat the antelope, carnivores die to become nutrition to the grass-it's all a balance in nature. If not eating meat entitles you to be more humanitarian, then you cannot be any more wrong because I'm quite sure there are people who are carnal, corrupt and vandalize lives to promote their own well being and yet not eat meat. Of course, we see animals hoarded in masses to be murdered, like an animal version of the Nazi holocaust and there's a good chance that you or I use an accessory fashioned out of them. But with respect to food, when you have to serve a population that ranges in the millions; the demand needs your supply to be huge and something done on such a huge scale attracts cynicism, which overshadows it's benefits. Makeshift kfc's, roadside fry shops, butcher shops..these people earn a living out of this, though they are not necessarily sadistic meat crazed brains...they have families of their own to feed and this is how they make ends meet, though according to your logic, they could just eat their own families (of course, assuming there's no pain in the process), they don't do so since they too have hopes and dreams to have a better living together and to see their child grow up to be a Person and not a dish in the frying pan. Even the casual eater like myself and many others have a life to with people, we share meals together, we have good dinner parties and including meat in it is just our way of celebration. Again I'm not justifying the killing, just saying that it's necessary; if this can provide people a life and to some others a satisfying meal, then why not?. Co existing with others while accepting their differences is also part of being human, characterizing us to be psychopaths who don't kill just because there's a law preventing it...isn't very humane.

    So i guess you should think about it and I'll wrap it up in Shah Rukh's style, "I am a non vegetarian,and I'm Not a Terrorist!".

    ReplyDelete
  2. Before writing my opinion... I would like to tell that I was eagerly waiting to read a blog which is written by someone I would meet daily in my life. I becomes true while reading this...

    And my opinion...

    Well half a page it will take if you write it in an A4 sheet. But the content, OMG, bundle of papers won't do this. What a clear thought... It started of with a finger pointing at yours and all vegetarian's mind but slowly that finger turned towards terrorists.. How do you do that??? :O .. Very well traveled with your words..

    A good start.. Way to go.. All the best anna.. :)

    ReplyDelete