LIVE WITHOUT HARMING: LET US NOT BE OPPORTUNISTIC

By nature, we are opportunistic, as a mechanism developed over tens if not hundreds of thousands of years oriented toward the survival of our genes.

That is why Homo sapiens throughout history has sought its perfect setup: some to satisfy social needs, some to provide different types of love, some to help when needed, and others to abuse and exploit, stealing their wealth, or using them as free labor or sexual objects(1), or even killing them to use their flesh.

(1) Stealing, enslaving, and raping may not seem inherent to the human being for those living in modern societies, but in reality it is, as it has been a widespread pattern from the Neolithic until relatively recently. In fact, the right of conquest that allowed invaders to steal land and wealth in conquered territories and subject their inhabitants to forced labor was part of international law until after World War II. Furthermore, rape in war has only begun to be taken seriously since the 1990s, coinciding with the increased participation of women in the drafting and practice of international humanitarian law. On the other hand, this continues to be done today to tens of millions of people and TRILLIONS of non-human animals.

The former usually belong to our closest environment (family, friends, pets, acquaintances) and the latter tend to be more distant, such as other ethno-religious, ethno-linguistic, national, or racial groups, and especially other species. It is therefore a genetic mechanism that functions based on concentric rings.

Depending on convenience, we apply one treatment or another. To those from whom we want love, we must give love; those we want to do us favors must be treated well and helped, so that they feel in our debt.

In contrast, if we want to seize someone’s wealth, it usually has to be by force. When we intend for someone to perform forced labor for us, we must compel them through oppression and aggression, terrorizing them so they obey and do not dare to escape. If we want to exploit animals, it becomes necessary to de-empathize and treat them as if they were mere things.

Read LIVE WITHOUT HARMING: Let us not objectify

We use others as pieces, each with a different utility: some with the function of friends, others as lovers, companion animals, or animals to exploit and mistreat in order to use different parts of their bodies as food, clothing, or simple, completely superfluous luxuries and whims, etc.

To this end, we classify everyone, and for each category we apply a type of treatment, ranging from the most exquisite and polite, even reverential (for example, with a king, a dictator, or someone with whom we are very interested in being in good favor) to the most brutal and cruel.

HOW TO LIVE WITHOUT HARMING: Let us avoid labels that are a blank check to cause harm

And this is not an intentional calculation, like someone playing chess, but is carried out by our brain unconsciously, as it is genetically programmed to satisfy its needs and desires, doing whatever is most effective with each sentient being to cover our needs and desires—being ruthless with those where it is advantageous and charming with those where it may prove beneficial.

We tend to seek the best living conditions we can for ourselves, our loved ones and, to a lesser extent, the groups with which we identify (extensions of ourselves) at the expense of others, especially non-human animals, who in reality constitute a much larger population than the human one and whom we keep in deplorable conditions in factory farms and laboratories.

And while this modus operandi may bring us selfish benefits, it is clearly detrimental to the whole. Let us have a broader vision and think of everyone. Let us have empathy, so that we feel the misdeeds committed against others on a smaller scale, as if they were being done to us. Let us connect our hearts with those of all sentient beings and not just a few of them.

When we become aware of the default modus operandi we have as humans, we tend to change and become more ethical and compassionate, as we are equipped with an innate sense of justice that tells us that this opportunistic and unscrupulous way of functioning is not right. We stop being as insensitive and cold as ice with all those who are not within our small circle.

Thank you for trying to be a better person and for sharing so that others may be as well.