Comments on Neva Vegan: Balancing the Feelings of Entitlement

Neva, I hope you didn't think I was suggesting tha...

2008-01-11T08:58:00.000-08:00

Neva, I hope you didn't think I was suggesting that you ought to have done anything. I'm glad it was in your thoughts at all.

PS - in my first comment, I hope it was obvious that I meant to write "along these lines" instead of "along these longs". I have been spread too thing lately. :P

Thank you Eric. I did read your column and though...

2008-01-11T05:59:00.000-08:00

Thank you Eric. I did read your column and thought about it some as I wrote this--maybe I should have referred back to you.

Gary, thanks for the comment. I think you're right that habit and social acceptability figure into this a great deal.

Another good post.Problems with the imagined entit...

2008-01-10T20:48:00.000-08:00

Another good post.

Problems with the imagined entitlement to eat meat are:

- It strips animals of their much more fundamental entitlement not to be abused, violated, and killed by humans for pleasure.

- It is in direct opposition to nearly universal morals: being kind, generous, and compassionate; striving to refrain from harming the innocent; respecting life. I believe that when people do something that they know deep down is wrong and causes heartbreak, it wears on them and has a corrosive effect. We destroy our inner peace as we kill and enslave our animal brethren - and this inevitably takes a toll on our daily lives, and impairs our ability to give peace to others. We're forced to be callous and dishonest every day.

I think one factor that contributes to the illusion of meat-eating as an entitlement is that everyone's used to eating meat. They can't even remember the first time they had it. By the time they're teenagers, they're emotionally and sometimes physically addicted to it. To deem meat-eating an entitlement is a way to avoid the deeply uncomfortable and complicated admission that one is addicted to something that is cruel and in violation of one's basic morals.

I think you have a point about meat-eating and diet in general possibly being one area that people who are otherwise ostracized or belittled can control. But participating in something that is both mean and unhealthy never produces truly positive outcomes.

I wonder to what extent the incessant promotion of animal products - including some, like yogurt that are marketed primarily to women - has in perpetuating the myth that animal flesh and secretions are a) an entitlement and b) good for you. Looking at the ads and seeing the pervasiveness of meat, dairy, and eggs in our society can certainly give one the superficial illusion that eating animals is as natural and beyond question as breathing. That is one of the challenges we face as animal advocates. Fortunately, when people think about what they're doing, it's easy for them to see the wrongness of making the innocent suffer and die for our pleasure, even though most meat-eaters go to great lengths to defend it, rationalize it, or push such thoughts out of their minds as best they can.

Thanks for this post, Neva. I appreciate your thou...

2008-01-07T14:08:00.000-08:00

Thanks for this post, Neva. I appreciate your thoughts on this subject, and enjoy your blog most when you write along these longs. I have saved it as new in Bloglines to re-read it again later.

Did you happen to notice my column about privilege at TasteBetter.com? I was sort of reminded by that, in a tangential way.

Problems with the imagined entitlement to eat meat...

2008-01-05T08:48:00.000-08:00

Problems with the imagined entitlement to eat meat are:

- It strips animals of their much more fundamental entitlement not to be abused, violated, and killed by humans for pleasure.

- It is in direct opposition to nearly universal morals: being kind, generous, and compassionate; striving to refrain from harming the innocent; respecting life. I believe that when people do something that they know deep down is wrong and causes heartbreak, it wears on them and has a corrosive effect. We destroy our inner peace as we kill and enslave our animal brethren - and this inevitably takes a toll on our daily lives, and impairs our ability to give peace to others. We're forced to be callous and dishonest every day.

I think one factor that contributes to the illusion of meat-eating as an entitlement is that everyone's used to eating meat. They can't even remember the first time they had it. By the time they're teenagers, they're emotionally and sometimes physically addicted to it. To deem meat-eating an entitlement is a way to avoid the deeply uncomfortable and complicated admission that one is addicted to something that is cruel and in violation of one's basic morals.

I think you have a point about meat-eating and diet in general possibly being one area that people who are otherwise ostracized or belittled can control. But participating in something that is both mean and unhealthy never produces truly positive outcomes.

I wonder to what extent the incessant promotion of animal products - including some, like yogurt that are marketed primarily to women - has in perpetuating the myth that animal flesh and secretions are a) an entitlement and b) good for you. Looking at the ads and seeing the pervasiveness of meat, dairy, and eggs in our society can certainly give one the superficial illusion that eating animals is as natural and beyond question as breathing. That is one of the challenges we face as animal advocates. Fortunately, when people think about what they're doing, it's easy for them to see the wrongness of making the innocent suffer and die for our pleasure, even though most meat-eaters go to great lengths to defend it, rationalize it, or push such thoughts out of their minds as best they can.