Why Farmed Animals Should be Grateful by Earthling Ed Lyrics
Animals wouldn't even be alive if we didn't eat them. They should be grateful to us for giving them an experience of life in the first place.This is an excuse that we hear a lot as vegans, so let's apply that logic to a human context first. Should a child who's born into an abusive family, where they are beaten by their parents, neglected and eventually killed by their parents bе grateful for the fact that their parеnts gave them an experience of life in the first place? Should a child who's born in Syria, who witnessed his parents being killed in the Civil War, who tries to flee into Europe by boat, but then drowns in the boat, be grateful for the fact that they had an experience of life in the first place? What about a woman who has brought up in a system of human trafficking, who never knows freedom, and is put into a system of prostitution her entire life? Should she be grateful to her captors for giving her that experience to live? Would we as individuals be grateful for the chance to live and experience life if it was in those situations and in those environments?
So let's apply that logic to a situation where it's non-human animals being abused. If I breed dogs into existence just so I can mutilate them and kill them, does that make me a good person because I've given those dogs an experience of life? What about cats? Let's say I breed cats into existence. I keep them in metal boxes so small they can't even turn around. I mutilate them, enslave them, deny them access to fresh air and sunlight, and eventually I hang them upside down and cut their throat. Am I a morally righteous person? Am I a good person for doing that because I gave those cats an experience of life that they wouldn't have had otherwise?
All we have to do is put the animals that we love in the situations of the animals that we eat to understand that their life is not something they should be grateful for. And we are not good people for putting them in that situation mainly because they then get to experience life. All we have to use is empathy to understand that this is not a life an animal should live. This is not a life that any living, conscious, sentient being should be subjected to. We are not morally righteous or good people by bringing them up in an environment that causes so much suffering and pain.
Now, the problem with this excuse is that it is only used by people who are living a comfortable life, by people who will never know the pain or fear of the animals they're saying should be grateful.
So I ask you: What if it was you in a situation where you were being forcibly impregnated, where your babies were being taken away from you, where you are being exploited day-in day-out, where fear and pain was an emotion that you felt on a consistent basis? Would you be grateful? Would you be grateful to those that are inflicting that pain and suffering upon you? What if it was you in that slaughterhouse truck, or you in that slaughterhouse with a bolt gun against your head, or the knife against your throat? Would you be grateful for that experience of life?
Now, I say to anyone who truly believes that animals should be grateful: Go to a slaughterhouse, look an animal in the eye as they're being transported inside. Or look an animal in the eye as they're about to be put in a gas chamber, or about to be taken to the kill floor. Look them in the eye and tell them that they should be grateful to you for giving them their experience of life.
The reality is that the life that these animals are given is not a life at all. These animals exist in an eternal hell, and we are the devil, the perpetrators that are afflicting constant cruelty and suffering upon them. In their eyes, all they want is to be free, truly free like we do. All they want is to live out their life and do the things that they want to do that come natural to them. To spend time with their families, to spend time outside, doing the things that they truly want to do. These are the basic, fundamental rights that we want for ourselves. So what right do we have to take them away from the other animals who also experience pain, suffering, and fear?
The only time that these animals would feel truly grateful is when their life is over, and they'll no longer have to feel the pain and the suffering they've experienced their entire lives. The only time these animals will be grateful is when they know they will never have to look into the eyes of the species that has oppressed them their entire lives.
And because we wouldn't want to have the experience of life these animals do, and because we would never wish it upon ourselves or indeed onto our companion animals, we can't morally justify killing and eating animals for the excuse that they should be grateful. Because we would never be grateful. And we would never be grateful if our companion animals were subjected to the same pain, fear, and suffering the animals that we eat are.
So let's apply that logic to a situation where it's non-human animals being abused. If I breed dogs into existence just so I can mutilate them and kill them, does that make me a good person because I've given those dogs an experience of life? What about cats? Let's say I breed cats into existence. I keep them in metal boxes so small they can't even turn around. I mutilate them, enslave them, deny them access to fresh air and sunlight, and eventually I hang them upside down and cut their throat. Am I a morally righteous person? Am I a good person for doing that because I gave those cats an experience of life that they wouldn't have had otherwise?
All we have to do is put the animals that we love in the situations of the animals that we eat to understand that their life is not something they should be grateful for. And we are not good people for putting them in that situation mainly because they then get to experience life. All we have to use is empathy to understand that this is not a life an animal should live. This is not a life that any living, conscious, sentient being should be subjected to. We are not morally righteous or good people by bringing them up in an environment that causes so much suffering and pain.
Now, the problem with this excuse is that it is only used by people who are living a comfortable life, by people who will never know the pain or fear of the animals they're saying should be grateful.
So I ask you: What if it was you in a situation where you were being forcibly impregnated, where your babies were being taken away from you, where you are being exploited day-in day-out, where fear and pain was an emotion that you felt on a consistent basis? Would you be grateful? Would you be grateful to those that are inflicting that pain and suffering upon you? What if it was you in that slaughterhouse truck, or you in that slaughterhouse with a bolt gun against your head, or the knife against your throat? Would you be grateful for that experience of life?
Now, I say to anyone who truly believes that animals should be grateful: Go to a slaughterhouse, look an animal in the eye as they're being transported inside. Or look an animal in the eye as they're about to be put in a gas chamber, or about to be taken to the kill floor. Look them in the eye and tell them that they should be grateful to you for giving them their experience of life.
The reality is that the life that these animals are given is not a life at all. These animals exist in an eternal hell, and we are the devil, the perpetrators that are afflicting constant cruelty and suffering upon them. In their eyes, all they want is to be free, truly free like we do. All they want is to live out their life and do the things that they want to do that come natural to them. To spend time with their families, to spend time outside, doing the things that they truly want to do. These are the basic, fundamental rights that we want for ourselves. So what right do we have to take them away from the other animals who also experience pain, suffering, and fear?
The only time that these animals would feel truly grateful is when their life is over, and they'll no longer have to feel the pain and the suffering they've experienced their entire lives. The only time these animals will be grateful is when they know they will never have to look into the eyes of the species that has oppressed them their entire lives.
And because we wouldn't want to have the experience of life these animals do, and because we would never wish it upon ourselves or indeed onto our companion animals, we can't morally justify killing and eating animals for the excuse that they should be grateful. Because we would never be grateful. And we would never be grateful if our companion animals were subjected to the same pain, fear, and suffering the animals that we eat are.