Slavery & Oppression of The Beasts
2020 February 24th
I wrote this in 2020 (or perhaps late 2019), as such, the contents may not accurately represent what I think or believe in the present. In authenticity, this shall remain unedited.
I may add headings to improve readability at a later date.
There was a time when all of the developed nations considered those of a certain complexion & heritage to be of a lower class of life: non-human, yet human-like. And thus it was also considered fair and reasonable to treat those non-humans with lesser respect (or none at all); to capture them, take them from their families (or even take the whole family or tribe); to force them to work in abject conditions with no pay; to feed them little; to whip them as punishment, especially for trying to escape; to chain and brutally injure them to prevent them from trying to escape.
This, we call slavery, and for thousands of years it has been considered acceptable; a backbone to the relatively speedy progression of civilisation, primarily in the forms of agriculture, manufacture, and construction. It still exists today in many parts of the World, albeit often now with wages (a pittance); but internationally we recognise slavery & human trafficking as illegal and morally [devoid].
Those who were (and are) subjected to slavery were generally of a different “race” to the proprietors — a race considered inferior. [Contemplate the source of the word ‘race’. As if we are running different races.] Effectively, they had no voice, due often to a language barrier and because they were considered dumb and unfeeling, “like animals”. Today it is common knowledge that non-whites are just as much human as any white-skinned person. Racism is still institutionalised, but the older, more racist generations are dying off and we are making progress away from this way of thinking.
Historically, there have always been well-to-do folk who bought slaves in order to free them, often by way of giving them an education. And, in the courts of law, much of the legal reformations occurred thanks to white humen standing up and speaking out against slavery; being the voice for the voiceless. [N.B. This is not an attempt at vindication-of-the-white-man. Read on.]
There have been countless holocausts in our history — religious, political, tribal — and those in command of the killing believed themselves to be in the right. Today, we condemn acts of holocaust and genocide, because we know that all humans deserve equality and a fair chance at living Life. In practice, there is an enormous imbalance, but the odds of a good life are significantly raised by preventing slavery & holocaust. [This is not an exploration into population control.] By speaking up for “those who have no voice”, and listening to those who have tried to do the same, we eventually learned that “they” are the same as “us”, and that in fact, there really is no “Us & Them”. We are all common citizens of the same planet; siblings upon Spaceship Earth. Our moral and ethical state can only reflect our current understanding, and in the past generations, many did not understand this.
Our 21st Century is beginning to recognise non-human life as intelligent, in various forms. At some point in our own phylogenetic history, we were likely less intelligent; even further back, significantly less intelligent. If there had been a dominating force keeping our development in check, we never could have grown to where we are now — imagine how many “false starts” we may have had! And indeed, we see in recorded history that class & racial supremacy & domination prevents the growth, development & expression of groups of peoples. Currently, the economy, oil price, wars, and cheap foreign labour are some of the dominating forces, keeping millions — or even billions — in poverty, with no real hope to improve their living situation, nor the possibility that their children will have anything better. Recent news about “climate refugees” shows us that already, the living situations of so many are perpetually becoming far worse as I write this. So, we find that these dominating forces — factors of “The System” (“Babylon” if you like) — are causing global slavery and genocide, driven by the hands of The Rich, and perpetrated by idle players of The Game: those who wish to live in comfort, without trouble; and thinking — imagining — that they can do nothing to help. I am guilty of this, as I believe most of us with access to clean water, good food, internet and electricity probably are too. And it is only now, since I began travelling lesser developed parts of the World, and pushing myself out of my Comfort Zone, that I begin to really see how much damage and harm we cause by always seeking comfort for our Selves.
One of the most disturbing things about climate change, deforestation, and general habitat loss & destruction, is the billions of totally innocent victims. Most of the humans affected suffer greatly — but for the most part, they are simply displaced, and can travel with relative ease to another region and start a semblance of life there. By no means is this an easy feat, but consider: the greatest victims lay within the rest of the biosphere. Countless animals; plants; fungi; insects, are all losing their homes and have no way to migrate — no awareness of how; of where to go; of a means to travel far enough — and their families & packs are being divided and losing their strength & unity. Each of them is a facet of Universal Nature living out its grand experience with the Material Realm, but now all are being cut short in the Great Holocaust of Biology — today known as the Sixth Mass Extinction, the Holocene Extinction, the Anthropocene Extinction — due in no small part to the insatiable & inharmonious desires of the Human Race.
We see these innocent victims also in our food industry. Billions lose their lives daily, to feed our voracious & wasteful (waist-full) appetites. They all suffer in various ways, living out their lives in a broad range of conditions (some very good, for sure): wondering to where their family and companions keep disappearing; being rapingly impregnated in order to produce milk & offspring; having their milk stolen and their children kidnapped; suffering emotionally from the trauma, and entering an extended state of mourning and depression from the loss of their children. Some cultures elevate the humble bovine as sacred, prevalent in Hindu regions where the female cow is respected equivalently to the human mother figure. As a species, we are very selective (discriminatory), and recently it has been shown that the intelligence & awareness of the pig rivals that of the domesticated dog, yet we continue to guzzle pork as if there were an endless supply, whilst condemning the common practice in some nations of capturing stray dogs and eating them in their restaurants. At least they’re reducing the ‘wild’ population, and they’re not requiring massive land for rearing the livestock nor creating a market demand.
It is very possible, and usually healthier, to eat less meat than what is presently common in the West. The meat trade is putting an enormous strain on our environment, through land usage (living space; grazing pastures; livestock-feeding crop fields; land depletion & rotation); food consumption to feed the animals; water usage grow these crops and hydrate the animals; idle energy spent by the animals simply being alive.
But also it is straining our potential for inter-species relationships to develop. Under Westernist slavery, non-whites were considered unintelligent. As they were gradually granted the opportunity to education, it emerged that they had the same potential as any white human. The edges of psychological studies are showing that many species are also of high intelligence; that they have complex communication methods, social order, and emotional responses; that they can learn to recognise themselves in a reflection & thus have an awareness of an individualised “self”. Yet still, we treat them as inferior beings, less-than-human. Our species-wide domination of all other animal life holds them farther than arm-distance, preventing them from discovering or following any kind of ascension process, akin to our own Ancient History, oppressed and subjugated by various “elite” races across time.
We are their oppressors — and we oppress because of an insatiable and broadly unnecessary appetite of addiction to consuming their bodies and extracts. We can — and must — overcome our inharmonious desires to transcend these perceived requirements and create harmony between the Kingdoms.
Let us be the teachers, not the oppressors. And, equally, let us open up to learn from them, and from all of Nature once again; to commune with Life and work with it all in harmony instead of dischord. We could unify with the other species of the Animal Kingdom, and gift them the education to empower themselves. It is feasible that another species could achieve this for themselves one day, and I feel it is worth considering if they will recognise us as their benefactor or their oppressor.
Let us become on the right side of History by learning from our past mistakes. That doesn’t mean simply avoiding repeating those specific mistakes: it means applying those lessons to other situations previously not considered but still vastly analogous. We must overcome our egoic desires — those which do not serve the Universal Nature — and join with all Life, in an harmonious symphony as a global, planetary family.
This may seem like a daunting path to begin. But, there are already millions of people already practicing varying degrees of compassion toward Life, including religious traditions such as Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Taoism, and non-religious practices in diet and philosophy such as Veganism & Vegetarianism. Mindfulness and education increases your awareness of where your food originates and the process it underwent; and develops your self-control allowing you to consciously and intentionally decrease your food consumption. A lower market-demand for meat & dairy equates to fewer animals being bred & managed, which metaphysically means less pain & sorrow in the emotiosphere of Food, and physically means less land/food/time/energy required for “livestock”. This opens up vast areas of land for crop growth, and for exploration into more sustainable means like permaculture, meaning that We — the people — can eat locally, more healthily, and more cheaply. Additionally, we can re-wild contiguous regions of land, improving the habitat for the biosphere, thus increasing the fundamentally important biodiversity of the land, and enabling the broadening of subterranean mycelial networks, the brains of the forests.
To change the world without, we must first change the world within. All you can really change is yourself, so begin there with what truly feels right.
Meditate on the sights & sounds of Nature; Look within and ask yourself why you do what you do; Consider the nature of Existence, and the fabric of Reality; Imagine the perspectives & feelings of Other Beings; Allow your realisations to change your Mind and your perspectives; Give more than you expect to receive; Listen to your Conscience, the voice telling you the right thing, and create the bravery & strength to do it. Realise that Death is simply an emancipation gate through which you can take Nothing of Matter as you pass into the Unknown; and that you entered your current Reality through the same emancipation gate when you were born. Let us live this Life as a beautiful tapestry of harmonious vibration, instead of a tragedy in which only the top of the food chain get to experience abundance, peace & tranquility.
This world is not Yours Alone: it is Ours, inclusive of everyone, everything, every wave, every particle.
Some good resources for extended reading
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