Here's something that I've been considering. Please get some salt and a layer or two of thick skin ready (this won't apply to everyone). What follows is my opinion.
Lots of people (I used to be one of them) moan, groan and complain about a world that doesn't give a shit about them and their well-being, right? Think of all the occasions where people, where you, have ranted on about how unfair the system is; how underserving folk get promoted at work; how you feel used and manipulated as if merely an object or a number; how you are victimised and manipulated by the bullshit Matrix Control System, your peers, spouse, boss etc etc. It is perhaps an expression of anger and a sense of helplessness at one's plight - it was for me! Lots of folk feel hard done by and there is eagerness to blame. The system itself cashes in on this by gleefully encouraging a sense of entitlement and compensation for one's miserable state of being. People feel that they are treated badly and wanna FUCKING SHOUT about it! I don't even need to bother switching to a different website, Steemit's got plenty of examples of this kind of expression!
There is of course the other hand, and in it, you have a lot of these very people (perhaps you included – I'm not judging, just sayin' and pointing out) who will regularly and mostly unthinkingly, consume dead farmed animal parts. These animals have lived lives of horror and torture before being executed (any other word that describes this accurately?) and they most certainly also have a claim to being hard done by and unfairly treated. This is undeniable, and the facts don't alter if one chooses to look the other way! The scale is ENORMOUS! Arguments about the innate superiority of humans are fallacious, extremely limited, biased and unbalanced – ever lived and spent quality time with an animal? Check out The Superior Human? on YT. Could there be a notion that animals do not experience physical or emotional pain and thus are immune from suffering? Yeah, nice little bit of self-serving bullshit, You cannat be seriyus mayn!
Arguments regarding habits and practicalities of food production, consumption and one's moral positioning aside, the simple fact of the matter is that there are two conflicting streams of energy going on here – both quite fundamental and powerfully influential in how one lives. On the one hand is a deep dissatisfaction with the unfairness of life and how one is being treated, with demands and the expectations of something being 'due' (in compensation perhaps?). On the other hand, there is complete and utter disregard for and insensitivity towards life – this disregard for life is pretty comprehensive if seriously and sincerely considered: the suffering, the cries, the despair, the agony and heartache and all the rest of the behavioural spectrum in response to unspeakably cruel and depraved living conditions. Then we have those neat little supermarket packages! Who is brave and honest enough to make the connection and to acknowledge their line of responsibility? Unmoved? I challenge you to watch Earthlings (on YT, narrated by Joaquin Phoenix).
This is not an exaggeration. If this bit of writing gets you annoyed at those pesky vegans (I prefer plant-based eater if you please, but it doesn't really matter. I'm really NOT having a go at you and I do hope you may still be reading 💜 . You may have been suck(ere)ed into being an unconscious part of something really DARK. At least be prepared to see wtf is really going on and then decide what your position is...isn't this reasonable if you are someone who actually does give a shit about life and quality of living?) getting all high-horsed and blah-blah-blahey again, well, please also be aware that my words and attitude and opinon have no bearing on the matter whatsoever – the facts are clear and can be investigated for oneself without hand-holding or sentimentality. This is not a fight, or point-scorer; it's not a comparison of moral pedestals, hunger or contributions to science or art. We are all in it together in many ways, and the issue is considerably bigger than an ego or one's fear of confronting painful personal issues and taking responsibility for them (IM probably not so humbly delivered 😉 O). It is about respect for life, and not just the humble little chicken or pig (or the tiny insignificant creepy-crawley that one thinks nothing of squashing), but for your very own living-life too! What of all that intense energy of suffering that flows through the production process and into that bite of a steak or a burger? What's the effect of that? Nothing at all to do with the spouting keyboard of barge or anything he may say, so feel free to curse and stomp and snort all you like, it no maka no deefarenz mi amigo/a, I used to throw tantrums myself, so I do empathise :D
So all I'm really trying to say is where is the integrity in all this? Where is the continuity and consistency of the higher values of respect and acknowledgement for one's existence - the same good stuff one feels entitled to from life, society, family etc; and about which one complains so loudly and passionately when there is a sense of lack, unfairness, deprivation etc? Does this feel and sound like a balanced approach and one of alignment with anything higher? In a search for WHOLEism, compartmentalisation and divison just keep healing away! And where is the Love? Is it reasonable to expect and demand something that one is not prepared to offer in return? Could it even be that this disrespect for life is a projection of a deep sense of unworthiness and disrespect for one's own being, one's own life? Is there Love to be found here? Is there a sense of the presence or lack of Love in your life? Fukyu barge you plantEatingPothead, you know nothing about me... I'm gona climb through this screen and pull them pigtails of yours outa their godamn anarchoLeftyHippy roots and stikkem...... besides, you paltry, measly little rowing-boat, does any of this even matter?......hmmm, well, my dear gifter of scented rose petals, perhaps if you sincerely consider whether you are really and truly happy in your life, you may receive some indication of the answer!
With Peace, and with the greatest Respect for all of life, most certainly YOURS!
Namaste
🕉