Superior Ethics for Inferior Beings
By: Dawn Worthy
Did you know that some vegans do not eat honey? They have several reasons for this:
· Some bees are inadvertently killed by the breeding and harvesting practices of beekeepers
· Kept bees are tantamount to at best indentured servants and at worst slaves
· The natural cycle of bee proliferation is effected by removal of honey from the hive and the process of natural selection is distorted
· Taking the honey from the bees is stealing
Gentle readers, some of you will dismiss this as balderdash without giving it a second glance. I ask you to bear with me.
There are two schools of divergent thought that pertain to animals and their byproducts, whether the byproduct is productivity and product or entrails. The omnivores of our species tend to take the position that we have dominion over the animals. This position is typically arrived at via religious belief or simple belief in the food chain. Herbivores whether they site religious or philosophical reasons tend to take the position that animals are “people” too. (Sort of)
Whether you agree or you disagree with the vegan perspective on this subject, you must give them credit for being willing to consider the notion at all. It is easy to eat something that you are certain doesn’t feel, doesn’t think and generally just doesn’t matter. People use essentially the same set of characteristics to justify eating animals and the fruits of their labor, which people use to dismiss other people.
The object of objectification is thought of as “the other” and they are not like me. I have emotions and thoughts; they are valid. “The other” is unable to process information like I do and this is why their thoughts don’t count or count less than mine do. Evidence of this diminished capacity is in the way that they live. They do not live like I do. If they thought like me, then, they would live like me instead of like thoughtless animals; they way that they live. They smell different than me. They smell different than I do because they lack self-awareness. If they had self-awareness, they would care for their bodies they way I care for mine. They do not and they are, therefore, not self-aware. They do not have real feelings like I do. If they had feelings that were valid, like mine, they would behave as I do. They do not behave as I do, therefore, they do not have valid feelings. I am superior; therefore, I have dominion over the inferior, the addled and the weak.
In short, (I know it’s a little late for that) should you come upon a situation where you happen to be superior, take just a moment to consider “the other” and remember that at that very moment, to someone somewhere, you are “the other” to.
Dawn Worthy, owner of Fresh From the Farm, offers a complete line of biodegradable, vegan friendly, organic botanical soap. What is in the soap is good. What isn’t in the soap is better. There are no artificial ingredients. There are no manufacturing, coloring or fragrance additives. It’s simple, Aunt Ann’s Garden Soap is naturally good. We invite you to see for yourself at http://www.FreshFromtheFarm.Us.