To kill a mockingbird

“...remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird“. Mockingbirds they do no harm, they only fly and sing... bringing people pleasure. Why should any living creature be killed if it does no harm? Oh yeah, because we humans – being on top of the food chain and masters of the universe – desperately need animals for food, clothing, medicine, furniture, entertainment, science, and so on and so forth. It is natural, it has always been like this, they were here to serve us, help us, and at the end give us their whole body for us to use. Not deliberately of course. But that’s just how it had to be for us to survive. Humans and animals lived in synergy for centuries.

Thousands and hundreds of years after a lot changed. We still need them though. But we need them more, quicker, bigger, and in huge numbers. And we need them subdued. We need to dominate. We no longer want to live in synergy. We conquered the world, act like self-appointed masters, and ignore the fact that we do not own the Earth – we are its guests, inhabitants, just like them.

The way animals are treated in this century however, does not resemble the classical concept of synergy at all. Capitalism and mass production (overproduction to put it more accurately) caused that animals became a mere product, an object of our demand. A THING. And just like mass production had a negative impact on the quality of other goods, meat industry is not an exception. On the contrary. If you’re an optimist you might think: aah it cannot be THAT bad. The answer of a realist slash pessimist is: it is even WORSE. Worse you have ever expected.

Talking about animal abuse could take for hours and hours, but think about this: Where did GRATEFULNESS go? Where is respect? We lock them up in cages, give them crappy food all their lives, deprive them of green grass, fresh air, and sunlight, force them to do things that are against their nature, take their children, mistreat them and beat them, and don’t even show them the last act of kindness we could possible show, and that is to kill them quick. To end their miserable lives without any more pain. And then this random guy, who works in a meat factory, who beat up several living creatures today as an everyday routine, comes back home from his shift for supper and stuffs himself up with a beef steak, or a roasted pork, or a chicken leg. Shouldn’t he be grateful? That he could fill up his stomach by taking some other living creature’s life? This is our idea of a thank you for providing us everyday nutrition? And you don’t need to work there to be aware of it. You witness it. And you support it. Be the change you want to see in the world (in case you want to see any change... Gandhi modified).

They do no harm, they only help us, serve us, feed us. Instead of beating, hug them. Instead of locking them up, give them freedom. At least for the time being. And when the time comes for them to walk their way up to the slaughterhouse, be kind enough to not let them suffer. Please be grateful.

And something to think about:

"Closing your eyes isn't going to change anything. Nothing's going to disappear just because you can't see what's going on. In fact, things will be even worse the next time you open your eyes. That's the kind of world we live in. Keep your eyes wide open. Only a coward closes his eyes. Closing your eyes and plugging up your ears won't make time stand still." 

(H. Murakami - Kafka On The Shore)

To Kill A Mockingbird

I dream about a land where

A sunrise can conceal the torment

A guilty one becomes the innocent

A cynic turns into a believer

And a taker comes to be a giver.

I fantasize about a space and time where

Rousseau at last finds his peace

Nothing plagues him in necropolis

Where people instead of using force

Will apply their instinctive remorse.

I’m at the interchange of life where

It is a sin to be blinded by choice

Be able to hear, not hearing their voice

A knowledge comes along with pain

And ignorance is imprisoned in chains.

I believe to live in a world where

It is a sin to kill a mockingbird

Morality is a virtue to be honored

Love a commodity for an exchange

A lone one against all can bring a change.