The Chain of Food

May 18, 2005
(last edited on April 29, 2006)

It is curious that, much like how "Culture of Life" is a term that somehow justifies war & oppression, "Circle of Life" similarly justifies the very opposite of life -- and naturally, only for the other side. (Nobody consoles the shark attack victim by explaining how their left arm has perpetuated the Circle of Life.) There is a nearly-universal over-estimation of the alleged sharpness of the human tooth, and little admission of the pivotal role of the steak knife in the life of a carnivorous human.

I believe that the emerging global consciousness is leading to a point where people will regard the use of animal corpses for food not as wicked, but simply as vulgar, and will dispose of the act without much exception. Once the issue transforms from one of morality to one of humility, I believe the idea of vegeterianism will give way to the idea of ahimsa, and the motivation for a vegetarian diet will move from one of compassion to one of simple recognition that not everything is ours to do with as we please. (Sadly, such notions are typically regarded as "unpatriotic" in my home country, whether applied to another being's life or another country's oil fields.)

The fact that our species -- unlike felines, for example -- have a complete lack of need for meat is too pragmatic a point to break custom by itself. But once humanity sees, after the fact, the global benefits of being first-level consumers -- mainly that nobody would ever worry about food again -- the point will silently prevail. A world free of societies that want for basic needs is far more than a world that is simply fed. A world without an ethic or religion to support harm is a world that has a much harder time justifying it. Imagine a people raised in a society where the restraint from any unnecessary harm is taught, even of beings less advanced than us (and very tasty with catsup). Can you imagine these noble and compassionate people being marshalled to murder others over a flag, an idealogy, a tribal god-image, or control of some natural resource?