IF YOU CONSUME ANIMAL PRODUCTS, HAVE THE MINIMUM DECENCY TO TAKE A FEW SECONDS TO WATCH IN THIS VIDEO THE CRUELTY YOU ARE COMPLICIT IN!
Let us not be complicit in the suffering inflicted on the BILLIONS—with a B—of sentient beings who live miserable lives on industrial farms: amputations without anesthesia, extreme overcrowding, aggression among them due to lack of space, and living in their own excrement. Nor in the abuse they endure, as workers punch and kick them, even in the head, beat them with sticks, jab their genitals, shock them with electricity, etc., to force those who do not want to move. Let us also not take part in the crime of utterly depriving them of their freedom, of living always in a totally unnatural environment without sunlight, of being unable to carry out their natural behaviors, of their stress, frustration, physical pain … read more details.
LIVING WITHOUT HARMING:
In all of this, consumers of products that come from those innocent creatures are complicit—indeed, more so than most Germans were with the concentration and extermination camps of the Third Reich. More precisely, they are as complicit as the traders and buyers of jewelry, works of art, real estate, and other valuable goods belonging to Jews that had been stolen from them after they were sent to concentration camps.
We tend to believe that we are different from those Germans, but in reality we are very similar, as we share virtually the same genetics and the same actions and attitudes. Essentially, what changes are the victimized groups, far more numerous today (BILLIONS of victims compared with the 8 million Jews exterminated).
Today, historians know that most Germans supported Hitler despite being aware of his abuses against Jews and other groups. In the elections, 44% of the electorate voted for him, but later support became much higher—among both Germans and Austrians—possibly widespread, according to Third Reich experts.
In fact, one of the few who opposed the Nazi regime and devoted himself to documenting its abuses stated that 99% of Germans were complicit and would deserve to be punished for it.
And in truth, Germans knew about the hundreds of discriminatory laws against Jews that were passed over the years. They knew Jewish doctors or lawyers who had been banned from practicing their profession, the expulsion of civil servants from public administrations and students from universities, as well as the pogrom on the Night of Broken Glass.
They also had information about businesses confiscated from Jews and sold off at bargain prices to “Aryans,” and about Jews being forcibly taken from their homes and disappearing in trucks. They were also aware that they were being sent to concentration camps, as the regime publicized their existence—including images of them—to instill fear in society.
Most did not know the details of those camps, but mainly out of indifference, apathy, and selfish disinterest—the same attitude most consumers today have regarding the conditions of animals on industrial farms. For most Germans, the status quo of 1930s Germany suited their interests, as they had regained economic prosperity and the country was once again powerful and respected worldwide thanks to Nazism.
Read “HOW TO LIVE WITHOUT HARMING?” Do not be opportunistic
This is masterfully depicted in the Oscar-winning film “The Zone of Interest,” which shows the Auschwitz commandant and his wife striving to build a dream life for their family in a fantastic house with a garden and pool right next to the camp wall, looking the other way in the face of the screams coming from inside.
After the war ended, many Germans—even those living just a few kilometers from the concentration and extermination camps—exculpated themselves by saying they did not know what was happening there. However, these details could have spread quickly throughout German society if there had been interest in doing so, since many had access to those camps, such as SS members, construction workers, the technicians who created the gas chambers, railway employees, truck drivers, etc.
Many Germans knew that what they were doing to Jews was wrong, but for most it suited their comfort zone and therefore they had no interest in looking deeper into the issue—just as most citizens today find it basically in their interests that industrial farms provide them with animal products at low prices.
Some will say that animals cannot be compared to Jews. Of course they can be compared, because both share the only relevant characteristic for making a comparison: both have the capacity to feel and to suffer. They have the same pain receptors and the same nervous system structure. And for that reason, experts believe that the level of human pain is similar to that of other mammals, such as cows or pigs.
In fact, from a scientific point of view, Jews, like the rest of Homo sapiens, are also animals—specifically vertebrate animals, mammals, primates, apes, Old World monkeys, and hominids—which, according to some studies, share 98–99% of their DNA with their closest hominid cousins, chimpanzees.
Read FOR A WORLD WITHOUT HARM: Let us not be unscrupulous speciesists
Read THE ART OF LIVING WITHOUT HARMING: Let us say no to exploitative anthropocentrism
And we know that the exploitation and abuse to which we subject those creatures—who share most of our genetics—in industrial farms is wrong. For example, 73% of Germans and 82% of French people reject intensive livestock farming. In Spain, 89% call for new regulations to improve conditions and 70% place great importance on animal welfare. Yet despite this, almost all the animal products they consume come from industrial farms, because they are cheaper that way.
Some people quickly shrug off their responsibility for the cruelties committed by blaming politicians. They believe it is politicians who must regulate. And that is true, but (i) politicians legislate based on what the majority of voters want, and (ii) politicians do not force you to consume animal products, so you are the one responsible for it.
Animal abuse on farms can become a boomerang that comes back to harm us. That is what happened to Germans in the Third Reich, many of whom ended up dying in the war earlier than their biology would have dictated. To this must be added some 14 million Germans from East Prussia and other parts of Eastern Europe who were expelled from their homes and regions and had to flee to other parts of Germany, with some of them dying along the way. And the additional millions who were amputees, injured, orphaned, childless, or in poverty, in a country in ruins and desolation.
The harm you cause can come back to you, because we are what we eat, and if we eat suffering, it will return to us in the form of animal products “enriched” with the toxic substances produced by stress and distress (such as cortisol or adrenaline), antibiotics, and other harmful chemical compounds that can ultimately cause cancer or other painful diseases.
What can an ethical and empathetic person do to put an end to these cruelties?
Read more at…
LET’S PREVENT HARM! 10 actions to eliminate animal abuse
Thank you for being compassionate and a good person,
Xavier Paya
Live Without Harming initiative
LET’S NOT HARM ANYONE, except in legitimate self-defense against an aggressor.
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