What Peacable Kingdown did to me

I consider myself a pretty average American citizen. Involved in society just enough to satisfy my guilt, but not enough to boast about my contributions. During times of honest reflection, I am more apt to admit to my mutiple downfalls as a citizen, (or being all together). I'm certainly not involved in politics like a "good" American ought to be. Nor do I contribute to community service organizations that aren't easily accessible through my employer. I live day by day, consuming without much thought to my affect on our land, or the people outside of my small circle of acquaintance. And this has been fine with me. On a regular basis, this life suits me well. Living peacefully under the assumption that "ignorance is bliss".

There is however, a part of me, that sneaks up ever so often to confront my selfish means to an end way of life. I will generally shake the questions off, unanswered ... sort of like a snooze button for reality. But regardless of my cowardly avoidance, I've always wondered what difference I could be making if I did care to learn. If I did care to be aware. Ha ha. That's laughable, "care to be aware". Perhaps this will be my new slogan.

Perhaps not.

But I digress. The purpose of this thought today, this creation of a new blog, is directly correlated to the documentary "Peacable Kingdom" that I have recently been introduced to (tricked into watching through an assignment by my Environmental Ethics Professor). These types of films are exactly what I have been avoiding in my cushioned unaware life. Kind of like how I ignore the statistics on abortion so I don't have to become one of those fanatics with signs outside of the buildings who are killing babies. Ugh.

However, after watching this film, I was sort of indirectly assigned into becoming aware, ... and with awareness, reality ... and with reality, care. Truly all my professor was doing was using this film to illustrate the concept of animals being sentient beings, who are a piece of equal consideration within the Utilitarian concept. But the wheels started churning, and beyond my lesson of Utilitarianism, I began to question my personal contribution to the horrible mistreatment of animals that eventually become my food.

There's a lot to be said about the years of I have spent disregarding all sorts of ethical issues in life. But this one, what foods I consume, and what type of handling my food receives before it dies, is well within my power of control.

Or so it seems.

Coming to terms with this, and my previous total lack of concern, is just about the time my "food" ... became a "living being". For real. Let's call it my "coming to Jesus" moment, or moment(s), because I'm still coming to terms with the idea that this path may very well lead me away from my beloved dairy products that I do so relish. I mean, let's be real, I very well knew that my juicy hamburger used to be a cow, and that at one point and time my tender chicken had legs and squawked. What I chose to ignore was the individual dairy cow who was left without any real quality of life, as she was impregnated and milked into uselessness, before she was sent to be slaughtered and churned into my burger. Or the featherless chicken, who's beak was chopped off, and who never had a chance to learn to walk because she was raised in a minimally sized cage, in the dark, to reduce cost and maximize production. What I wanted to pretend never happened, (and certainly never wanted to hear) was the terrified cries of the cattle being led/dragged/bulldozered, into slaughter houses, as their fellow cattle scream their final cries of terror ahead of them.

Now this may all seem naive. Perhaps there is some necessary evil to this madness that I have to account for. After all, nature is full of scavengers and beasts that torment, torture and tease their prey before they consume them as their dinner. Hell, my cat torments mice before she ever thinks about killing them, and that death is never for eating. It's just vicious play. My biggest problem at this point, is that I have left myself so unaware, that I honestly don't know. I have no idea what is a better way, or if the quantity Americans consume allows for anything else. My next problem, is simply that ... I no longer want to remain unaware.

This leads into a dreaded journey of discovery that I always knew would be the only answer to my incessant nagging of a conscience. And that ... my friends, is the purpose of this blog. Here I will record my inquiries, experiments and (with any luck) answers to the questionable process of which we Americans produce and consume our fellow sentient beings.

With a newly tendered heart, and hesitant curiosity ... I enter into the land of the unknown.

(Dear Lord, please don't let me become a Vegan.)