I abhor cruelty. From decades ago...

I abhor cruelty. My consideration of the experiences of others has led me to change the course of my life. No longer do I eat others, wear their skin, laugh and hoot at their fear and pain, nor support, in any way, their - or your - harm. Reflection has led me to the conclusion that our wish not to be hurt is one thing we all have in common. Whether you are a Catholic, a Mormon, a Hindu, an elephant, a lobster, or a dog, we all share this common desire. This desire not to be hurt is our common ground; it is our undeniable common experience. This leads me to the Golden Rule. If someone were hurting me, I would want someone to try to help me. The Golden Rule means that I have to try to help those who are being hurt. As I look around I am struck by the callousness I see all around me. Nowhere is this more evident than in the case of the billions (that's not rhetoric) of others suffering and killed simply because their cooked flesh has a nice flavor. I'm also aware that most people really - when it comes right down to it - just don't care very much about anyone outside their immediate or extended family. This is why human slavery has been so very hard to stop. Nevertheless, the Golden Rule means that I have to try. Most people simply laugh when you discuss the suffering of a fish, a chicken, or a rat. They deny - out of hand - that these animals suffer, or else, simply don't care one way or the other. Most people start to get uncomfortable when you begin to speak about starving children and their own SUVs or condos in Vail. Lots of people are working on behalf of other humans. And, in reality, humans are not being tortured in the millions and billions. Other animals are. Who speaks for them? This problem has consumed my life. How to help the billions? My own answer has been to point out the undeniable similarities between the minds and emotions of us and the species most like us, the other primates, and to ask how like us they need to be before what we do to them should be seen in the same light as it would be if it were human children being tortured. See my essay: (http://www.primatefreedom.com/essays/howmuchlikeus.html) But humans are typical. Like all other animals we are driven by self-interest and care very little about others. We generally don't adhere to the Golden Rule. If we did, we'd all be vegan.

Scientific American on Xenotransplantion

Editor@sciam.com

Greetings,

I was bowled over by Sciam's article "The Inner Lives of Insects" by Lars Chillka. [Scientific American. July/August 2023.] The notion that we should be concerned for even a moment with what nonhuman beings might be experiencing, even that they have experiences, is a topic that most people shy away from.

Excerpts from pg 31-32 passim:

More than a trillion crickets, black soldier flies, mealworms, and other species are killed annually and the sector is expanding rapidly.... there are supposedly no ethical concerns with insects like there are with cows and chicken(s). In fact, some insect-farming companies promote the notion that insects lack any capacity for pain.

This claim is demonstrably incorrect for all insect species tested so far.

The 'colony collapse disorder' that you may have heard about in the media is not the result of some well-known pathogens but also of honeybees being literally stressed to death by ruthless beekeeping practices. Even brief shaking of bees induces a pessimistic emotionlike state. Now imagine the effects of intense and prolonged vibrations imposed on bees when they are trucked across continents in sealed hives, sustained on artificial food and unable to defecate outside the hive. Then typically finding themselves in crop monocultures that lack the diversity of the floral food bees normally require.

People avoid this topic I think mainly because the implications might force us to consider the interests of animals. Most readers probably avoid thinking about this altogether.

In light of Sciam's publishing "The Inner Lives of Insects" I was disappointed that the issue was glossed over in the article "Gift of Life" Tanya Lewis Scientific American November 2023:

"Although human welfare is the biggest concern, xenotransplants also bring up questions about the ethics of raising animals for their organs. Animal welfare groups have asked whether it is ethical to kill an animal to save a human life. Xenotransplant advocates counter that animals raised to feed people vastly outnumber any that would be used for transplants."

Very poor reporting. It is overwhelmingly likely that the organizations and individuals Ms Lewis alluded to are also opposed to raising animals to eat.

Sincerely,

Rick Bogle