One part of the class that had an impact on me was the discussion of making compromises. As humans we make compromises every day. I feel that most people are pressured to take one side or the other. Either they refuse to participate in animal abuse or they are on the side that animals have no rights. I think we need to be realistic and make compromises. We need to satisfy our human needs, while thinking and protecting the animals needs and environment. People should think before they act. What are the consequences of my actions and how is it going to impact the environment? Americans are not going to give up their meat but maybe we can think of a more humane way of killing and raising the animals. In an ideal world animals would be treated with respect and there would be no cruelty to animals. We do not live in a ideal world. Animals are involved in experiments to help benefit us. For some reason I feel it is OK to experiment on a rat rather than a Gorilla. I do not like to think of animal experimentation but I think it necessary to test the product. I have a lot of gray areas in this subject. I do think it is unfair to the animals that they have to be tested on but I would not want to a drug if it has never been tested before. This problem makes me feel selfish but is there a solution??
I think you're right that there is a balance that must be achieved and that compromises must be made. However, I think that knowing where you draw the line is important too. Some would have us compromise, and compromise, and negotiate and justify until almost anything is fair game. Often times, where the line is drawn is something you have to decide for yourself, but it's key to not allowing others force on you their values and thoughts on what's right and justifiable, and what isn't.
ReplyDeleteI could not agree more with the points that maggie emphised. We as humans need to be more protective of the animals that we share the earth with. We have destroyed nature so much that we are being forced to help the animals out. We have taken away many vital pieces of nature in order to build our large sky scrapers and buildings.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with your post. I think that Americans are very selfish with the way that we live. I myself can be included in this group. I think this selfishness rests on the pure fact that Americans are lazy. How hard is it to have a separate trash can for recycles items? Its not. But the majority of Americans do not recycle. For many Americans it is free to recycle, so what is the problem. But for others it is not. I have a friend that lives in New York, and they have to pay to recycle, so for those people I could see the hesitation in not wanting to start the process. Why pay for something that you do not necessarily have to do. I know that it obviously would help the environment, but I don't think I would pay to do this. However, if the majority of people in states that do not have to pay did recycle, it would still make a difference. I think that Americans should recycle to try and save our environment.
ReplyDeleteI also thought that the discussion about making compromises was interesting. In talking about animal suffering people usually just think one way or the other. They either refuse to consider animals and eat meat no matter how that animal was killed or on the other side, they become perfectionists about it and refuse to eat meat. In America I think that we need to make compromises about the situation. Like Maggie said Americans are not going to give up their meat but we should try to work together and compromise on less cruel ways to go about killing them. I feel it is difficult though to compromise because everyone is going to have different opinions about what is fair and uncruel for animals.
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