Carnism is an invisible belief system according to which it is natural, necessary, and normal to eat the meat of certain animals. Carnism is such a deeply rooted part of our life and culture that people do not question the morality and harmfulness of eating meat at all. The first step in changing an ideology is to precisely recognise and name it. The question therein is: what psychological and sociological mechanisms are built into that oppressive system to make it so effective?
Rudolph Steiner even knew at that time that plant foods contain all the proteins and fats that humans need. In his lecture “The Evolution of the Earth and Man” (1924) he said: “Healthy vegetable proteins are what our body has a lot of. When we put chicken protein into our body, our body can be quite a lazy, sluggish body; he will be able to destroy it easily because it is easily destroyed.”
The very idea of allowing unnecessary suffering, even more of taking life, was repulsive to Leonardo da Vinci. When he passed by a place where Florence birds were sold, he would often take them out of the cage with his own hand, and after paying the sellers the asking price, he would release them into the air and thus restore their freedom.
Pythagoras believed that everything that people do to animals comes back to them. He and his followers not only hated the religious sacrifice of animals but believed that man should not eat animals because eating meat makes him a war machine, aggressive, and murderous. He believed that as long as people kill animals, they will also kill each other. The Pythagoreans were of the opinion that man could live without inflicting pain or taking life.
One of the greatest minds in the world, Nikola Tesla, was a vegetarian who warned against the slaughter of animals and claimed that he would not harm or kill a single living being. Nikola Tesla fought for the liberation of animals, publicly standing up for their protection on many occasions. It’s no secret because he expressed his views in interviews for newspapers, but also in front of scientists and other prominent people of his time. That’s why we can rightfully consider him one of the biggest advocates of animal rights, who also left valuable advice to people for a peaceful and more healthy life.
The killing and eating of animals occur mainly because people were convinced that animals were destined by God for human use and that there was nothing wrong with killing animals. But this is not true. In whatever books it is written that it is not a sin to kill animals, in the hearts of all of us, it is clearer than in these books that animals should be pitied just like humans, and we all know this if we do not silence our conscience.
In the episode “Men Against Fire” in season three of the popular series “Black Mirror”, it was gruesomely shown how humans can be programmed to do cruel things. Soldiers willingly agreed to have implants integrated into their bodies that made them see ordinary people (including kids) as zombies and kill them mercilessly. The implant was created as a tool of control and a way to keep soldiers from hesitating to act when faced with the “enemy”. A soldier begins to feel guilt and empathy after his implant is hacked because he saw that he was killing innocent people and that it was wrong.
Children’s book writers often feel that their mission is to teach their readers, whether through facts, religion, morals, social codes, ways of thinking, or some other set of beliefs or ideas. But they are not alone. Parents, babysitters, older brothers and sisters, grandparents, teachers, friends, and priests want the same. Every single day, someone tells children what to do and how to behave. In kindergarten, at school, and at home, they learn about good manners and desirable behavior.
Many parents think it is wrong for children to learn the truth at such a young age or they don’t know how to reveal the truth in an appropriate way. Children naturally love animals and surely such knowledge would influence their food choices. Most children who eat meat are just naive consumers who are not aware of the origin of food, while adults have had the time and conditioning to come up with a number of reasons to justify eating animals.
Animals are sentient beings who can suffer, like humans, for a variety of reasons: illness, migration, abuse, loss of a human or animal friend, feelings of neglect, and more. However, people do not understand their language and therefore disregard their feelings. Animals, like infants, utilize vast communication without words, through gesture, expression, smell, sound, and touch. Language has disabled this other type of communication and complicated the relationship between man and the unarticulated animal world.
Donkeys appear in various ways in literature; mostly in a negative context as a symbol of human flaws, weaknesses and failures. Rarely are they portrayed as a being worthy of respect and admiration. Here I will give a few examples of the donkey in well-known literary works.
The donkey is one of the most exploited and abused animals in history. Donkeys were used for towing cargo and for chariots in Sumer (modern day Iraq/Kuwait) as early as around 2600 BC. The attitude towards donkeys has not changed much even today. The donkey is still a labor force that is brutally used and a tourist attraction in some countries, even ridden by people who weigh over 100 kilos.
I’ve heard some parents say “My 5-year-old child loves animals so much and there is no other way to meet his favorite heroes from ‘The Lion King’ but to take him to the zoo.” The zoo is indeed home to celebrity doubles from children’s favorite movies and books, such as lions, giraffes, tigers, elephants, hyenas, monkeys, pythons, parrots, and other exotic species.
What if parents say, “My five-year-old is so interested in the secrets of the Universe.” What is the best way to learn about planets? Maybe buy him a rocket ticket to Mars?! It’s a little expensive, but you could let your little boy write a Christmas letter to Elon Musk to ask.