why we love dogs eat pigs and wear cows by melanie joy

“The carnistic schema, which twists information so that nonsense seems to make perfect sense, also explains why we fail to see the absurdities of the system. And the system that constructs our schema of meat equips us with the means by which to do this.” As long as we neither value unnecessary animal suffering nor stop eating animals, our schema will distort our perceptions of animals and the meat we eat, so that we feel comfortable enough to consume them. It is around this third option that our schema of meat is shaped. In order to alleviate this discomfort, we have three choices: we can change our values to match our behaviors, we can change our behaviors to match our values, or we can change our perception of our behaviors so that they appear to match our values. Our values and behaviors are incongruent, and this incongruence causes us a certain degree of moral discomfort. “But why must the system go to such lengths to block our empathy? Why all the psychological acrobatics? The answer is simple: because we care about animals, and we don't want them to suffer.

Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism What could cause an entire society of people to check their thinking caps at the door- and to not even realize they're doing so? Though this question is quite complex, the answer is quite simple: carnism.” If we choose to support this industry and the best reason we can come up with is because it's the way things are, clearly something is amiss. Our choices as consumers drive an industry that kills ten billion animals per year in the United States alone. Yet most of don't spend any time at all thinking about what species of animal we eat and why. Many of us spend long minutes in the aisle of the drugstore mulling over what toothpaste to buy. It is absurd that we eat pigs and love dogs and don't even know why. When our attitudes and behaviors towards animals are so inconsistent, and this inconsistency is so unexamined, we can safely say we have been fed absurdities. We send one species to the butcher and give our love and kindness to another apparently for no reason other than because it's the way things are. Take a moment to consider this statement.

Why we love dogs eat pigs and wear cows by melanie joy