Remember Socrates: Don't Eat Animals
by John C. Champagne
Why
is it so hard, seemingly impossible, for our "responsible" press to convey
the kinds of concerns that Socrates raised as portrayed in Plato's
Republic:
Socrates: Would this habit of eating animals not require that we
slaughter animals that we knew as individuals, and in whose eyes we could
gaze and see ourselves reflected, only a few hours before our meal?
Glaucon: This habit would require that of us.
Socrates: Wouldn't this [knowledge of our role in turning a
being into a thing] hinder us in achieving happiness?
Glaucon: It could so hinder us in our quest for happiness.
Socrates: And, if we pursue this way of living, will we not have
need to visit the doctor more often?
Glaucon: We would have such need.
Socrates: If we pursue our habit of eating animals, and if our
neighbor follows a similar path, will we not have need to go to war
against our neighbor to secure greater pasturage, because ours will not be
enough to sustain us, and our neighbor will have a similar need to wage
war on us for the same reason?
Glaucon: We would be so compelled.
Socrates: Would not these facts prevent us from achieving
happiness, and therefore the conditions necessary to the building of a
just society, if we pursue a desire to eat animals?
Glaucon: Yes, they would so prevent us.
Today, the resources that are required to sustain this wasteful way of
living ("diet" is Greek for "way of living") include large amounts of
energy (read "oil") for fertilizer, pesticides, antibiotics,
refrigeration, water pumping, etc. So today we go to war to maintain our
access to oil supplies, but the point Socrates made 2500 years ago is
still relevant today. We do not hear about these concerns he raised so
many years ago. Why not?
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