I have heard it said
that a sure signal that a child may end up in prison in later life is if he
willfully and maliciously inflicts pain on animals. Such gratuitous application of pain and suffering
foreshadows antisocial behavior in later years. Today I watched a documentary on Netflix
entitled Food, Inc. It treats the unspeakable cruelty inflicted
upon livestock in the American food industry.
The companies that are involved in the trade will not allow cameras to
record the dark conditions under which the animals suffer. Executives in the industry are often recruited
for key positions in the government departments theoretically designed to
regulate the industry. All the while,
the public seems content with the inhumane treatment of animals so long as meat
is abundant and deceptively cheap (deceptively so since the feed grain corn is heavily
subsidized). “Out of sight, out of mind”
seems to be the operative ethic. Not only
are animals mercilessly exploited, but so also is much of the labor required in
the secretive industry. It is troubling that
exceptional cruelty can be so blithely exercised and tolerated. What are the implications of willful and
persistent blindness upon the tone and tenor of American life? Can callousness be neatly contained, compartmentalized,
and crafted so as to impact only one aspect of life? Is the public’s affinity for willful
blindness to facts in one area detrimental to the pursuit of truth in others? Is lack of sympathy for animals associated
with inhumanity to man? (Related blog:
By Proxy)
Print Page
