To close your eyes will not ease another’s pain

By Stian Karlsen

Most people today probably understand that the production of meat and dairy is detrimental to animal welfare, but either don’t care, or choose to turn a blind eye because it’s too painful for them to watch. I know, because I used to be one of them.

I used to eat a lot of meat, and for as long as i can remember, I also used to knowingly choose not to investigate how the flesh appeared on my plate, because I knew that if I did, it would become very difficult for me to go on.

In other words, I chose not to look.

What will happen if you choose not to close your eyes?

Reflecting on my conscious decision to close my eyes to the truth, I don’t feel proud. Rather, I feel like I didn’t fulfill a moral obligation, that is, the obligation to know where food comes from.

Choosing to look

People are scared of investigating the meat and dairy industry, and with good reason. The holocaust that is meat and dairy production is difficult to watch and read about, and for that reason alone I think many choose to avoid it.

You may for instance think that the milk you drink comes from cows that roam fields of green grass, when in reality that is far from the truth. Most cows don’t see the outdoors, and those few that do, only do so for very short periods of the year.

Dairy cows are also pumped full of antibiotics, simply because they are surrounded by their own waste (the video below show an heavy case). If the cows didn't receive antibiotics, they would get sick and die from all the bacteria they live with every day. As a side effect, antibiotics is starting to be less and less useful for the human population as well, due to extreme overuse.

Did you know that a cow has to be pregnant before being able to produce milk? To achieve this, she'll be raped repeatedly her entire life, until she can't take it no more; at which point she's sent to slaughter. Her children, of course, are killed as soon as they are born, because if we kept them alive, they would use the milk that is being sold to you, and we can't have that, right?

Why do you turn a blind eye?

The question I pose to you is, what do you think will happen if you decide to look?

Is the reason you choose to turn a blind eye because you are afraid it might force you to consider parts of your world view?

Do you think the reason behind not looking is that if you do, you know you’ll have to do some serious thinking, and make some serious decisions?

Will you make a decision to stop being part of the cruelty?

What is your reason for not looking?

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