Paul Hansen's Blog – August 2012 Archive (5)

Modern institutions like to euphemize their worst habits, and nowhere is this more evident than in the meat industry. Animals have been reduced from sentient individuals to material commodities that contribute to the production of capital. Hence, they are captured, caged, raised, poached, trapped, skinned, traded, or sold as “exotic” pets or for their fur, body parts, or supposed medicinal value.

The semantics of meat-industry terms is itself revealing. Such terms as “poultry”,…

In reality, the meat industry is interested NOT in animal welfare, but in maintaining its “market share” or bottom line—and that means substituting euphemistic labeling for true ethical reform and getting anti-cruelty laws compromised. Read this essay by James McWilliams: …

It has never been a “level playing field” between humans and wildlife, especially where profit is at stake. The pressures of smuggling, poaching, and abuse continue. Here’s one more example from Thailand.

Yet another example (among hundreds) of animal cruelty and oppression. Click on http://www.thepetitionsite.com/216/630/739/bear-dancing-is-cruel-not-cute/?cid=Facebook_petition_bear-dancing and watch the live footage.

Dr. Wesley J. Smith is a senior fellow of the Discovery Institute in Seattle who directs a newsletter site called “The Human Exceptionalist” (see http://support.discovery.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=4143.0&dlv_id=9642). Smith and his colleagues—understandably—are concerned about “increasing attacks on free will” and the…