Livestock are the second biggest cause of Despite the disproportionate volume of the
global warming gases; they take mostworld’s wealth which we control, we are
responsibility for wiping out wild plants andseemingly incapable or unwilling to solve the
animals (biodiversity), are the greatest causeproblems of poverty and inequality – even on
of deforestation and are at the heart of our own doorstep. When care and concern
almost all the world’s other greatfor our own species is so stintingly withheld,
environmental catastrophes – spreadingwhat hope is there for animals?
deserts, air and water pollution, nitrogen
pollution, acid rain, destruction of top soilIf you refuse to accept the immorality of self
and even the creation of deadly superbugs.interest and violence which binds this all
together and choose to exercise your right to
And the reason is that animals ARE justprotest – you will almost certainly be
another commodity and like all otherportrayed as the violent one. New laws can
commodities we must be persuaded to be used to prevent even the most peaceful
continue consuming them no matter whatdemonstration and so collective action
damage is trailed in their wake.against the violence of factory farming,
vivisection or global impoverishment can
People are not excluded from this exploitationnow be prevented, allowing the perpetrators
and in poorer parts of the world we ignore of this far greater violence to continue
their suffering on a massive scale. Theunhindered.
overconsumption of meat and dairy by
developed countries is directly linked to We, as humans, obviously believe we have
starvation amongst the world’s poorest people.the right to determine everything that
Capitalism, which sells itself on eff i c i e n c y, happens on this planet, who and what shall
quietly ignores the gross inefficiency of live and die. We slaughter owls, hawks, crows
livestock production – 17kg of good quality and magpies so that grouse or pheasants can
vegetable protein to provide 1kg of beef. be reared in large numbers. We then
slaughter them by sending lead shot ripping
Because of this, farmed animals nowthrough their flesh and call it sport.
demand 70 per cent of the world’s
agricultural land, squeezing out the
poorest and most impoverished people
to subsist and die, on the margins. We
conveniently forget our history of Seek and destroy – badgers
colonization which helped to make these are gassed in their setts
same people utterly powerless. through fear of TB
It was their countries which provided
the wealth which we now squander and
in return we destroy their agriculture
and social fabric. We now hand out a few
paltry pounds and pretend that we are
helping to cure the problem which we
were instrumental in creating. We still
control their economies with an iron fist and
demand fodder for our livestock while their
children die from hunger.
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