Let’s talk Ethics

I just want to give you a brief overview of each topic interconnected with veganism. I have a lot of topics already covered here where I try to collect as many questions, arguments and prejudices as possible. Here I want to talk with you about the ethical aspect of veganism at a very high level and if you are interested read my other posts or get directly in touch with me. The ethical aspect is the most altruistic one as you don’t get directly something in return besides a good conscience. But if you have a look at the “health” section you can see that it is worth it independently out of which reason you decide to go vegan.

We are animal lovers

Nearly everyone does care for animals and especially for pets. We love them, cuddle them, laugh about their clumsiness, play with them and are impressed by their different skills. How many children movies and books are based on animal characters? I don’t know the exact number, but it has to be around 80-90%. We all loved them when we were younger and a lot of adults still do. We don’t want to see an animal dying. Most children try to save an injured bird because nobody wants to see an animal suffering or dying. We have animals living together with us and sometimes even sleeping in the same bed. If someone would try to kill a healthy cat in front of us we would call him crazy and protect the cat. So I have no doubt that we are all animal lovers and don’t want to harm any other living being as long as we are not endangered by it. But each of us is responsible for the death of thousands of animals during our lives. And I am not counting the insects which get killed by accident.

Supply and demand

We are used to eating meat on a daily basis and we are not even aware of how much suffering every animal went through just so we can enjoy a piece of its body. We as consumers of animal products are responsible for the death of cows, pigs, rabbits, chickens, ducks, horses, fish, sheep and so on (have a look at the death counter). We cannot blame the farmer for exploiting these animals as he is just responding to the demand for meat, dairy and eggs. I believe most farmers enjoy working with animals but they have no joy harming them. But they cannot or don’t want to sell vegetables as it is less profitable without a changing demand from customers. So if we really care about animals we should start acting like it and don’t search for excuses and close our eyes. But by reading this you already did a first step and started to inform yourself.

Hypocrisy

I want to ask you a simple question: How is it possible to be an animal lover and eat a steak for dinner? Where do you see the difference between a pet and a so-called “farm animal”. Pigs are very intelligent (more than dogs) and cows have very strong relationships between each other. If you observe them a while you will find so many similarities between all those animals. The only reason it is accepted (social and legal) lies in our education and history when we needed meat out of survival. But how controversial are we today to pet our dog and eat a burger with the other hand? Most people are not questioning this because it is so regular in our society. It has always been that way, why should it be wrong. We can take slavery or inequality between men and women as an example. It was socially and legally accepted until humans realized that it was morally wrong. We often claim that a farming animal is here for us so we can make use of it. But why do we think we have the right to exploit another living being which has its own will? Just because it is weaker? Usually, we are raised to protect the weak ones and in every movie, we don’t want to get innocent people or animals hurt.

Necessity for animal products

On top of all this, we exploit these animals without necessity. We don’t need meat anymore to survive (there is enough proof for this). The only reason we are doing it is that we don’t want to change, as change is exhausting and we like the taste of meat. So do you think your taste is worth more than an animal’s life? Put yourself for all these questions in the position of the victim. Because we were raised to disconnect between the animal and the meat on our table. It is really hard to make this connection properly. If you have a pet it could help to put yourself into the pets position and think of how it would be to get killed by your owner (yourself). This is exactly how it feels for a cow, pig or any other animal to get killed by its farmer. From a small age, we learn not to do something to someone else we wouldn’t like ourselves.

This are my main reasons for going vegan:

• Every animal has a will to live
• Every animal is sentient (can feel pain)
• Harming another living being is wrong, doesn’t matter how well it was treated
• Just because something is legal and accepted doesn’t mean it is morally right
• We don’t need any animal products to live a healthy life
• Times are changing and we have a lot of alternatives (e.g. beyond burger)
• The pictures of happy grass-fed animals on a meadow are an advertising picture. To meet the demand most animal products are from factory farms.
• We don’t have the resources to feed the whole world with animal products

If you are still unsure if you can go vegan, I recommend you to think about these questions when you see a farming animal the next time. Then think about them when you eat your piece of meat. And if you want to continue eating meat I recommend you to watch a documentary like dominion or earthling because everyone should see where his food is coming from. This is the least you can do. To just close your eyes from the truth doesn’t make it better. Open your eyes and start thinking about your actions. The power lays in the consumers’ hands. More and more people start to realize that and if you have any questions or if you need some support I would love to help you.

The hardest part is to start it, afterwards you get used to it and you learn from day to day

By simply making other choices in the supermarket you can have a direct impact on the harm caused to other living beings. If you have any concerns regarding veganism have a look at my other articles and if you still have open questions or if you are struggling at a specific point, just leave me a comment or contact me directly.

Don’t close your eyes and ask yourself what stops you to make a difference? I am convinced you won’t regret it.

Cheers,