What It's Like
Think About What's On Your Plate & How You Dismiss What's On The Plates Of Others
Let’s go on a journey of imagination.
Remember, we are creating an imaginary world, so just go with this fully, to the conclusion.
In this imaginary world the serial murderer Jeffrey Dahmer has survived prison and has been legitimately rehibilitated to the extent that it is deemed safe to release him, and he is freed.
Further imagine that Jeffrey is a member of your family and you both care about and love him. Now that he has been released you want him to heal and grow as a person and be welcomed back into your family.
But there is a small quirk to his release. Even though Jeffrey is no longer a danger to others, he still retains a taste for human flesh. He loves it almost to the point, of it being a need for him. So, seeing no harm in it, the court made a condition of his release from prison, that it is ok for him to eat human flesh as long as the meat is purchased from morgues, so no one is purposely murdered for the specific intent of being prepared as food. This has been deemed a slightly disturbing but tolerable condition of his release.
Now, let’s finally imagine that you are at a holiday dinner and you and your whole family, including Jeffrey, are all seated around a colorfully and beautifully arrayed table happily eating, singing, laughing, sometimes debating politics (but not for too long) and Jeffrey is sitting directly next to you on your right side eating a deliciously cooked human thigh roast, which one of your other family members had the compassion to ethically prepare for him so he could be included in the holiday celebration and not left out.
Out of the corner of your eye, you can see his white shirt sleeve, as you hear him speak warmly to your mutual cousin, and as silverware festively clatters on filled plates and bowls all around. You smell a wonderful aroma of your favorite holiday foods in the gentle air surrounding you like a warm blanket.
With this scene in your mind, take a moment. Consider how you feel about it.
Now think about how a person who refuses to eat animals feels, sitting with someone they care about, who is, right there in real time with them, eating prepared pieces of animals killed to be consumed for pleasure on the holidays, or on any other day.
This parable is a gift to you.
And whether you realize or not…
It is.. a gift..
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Eric Brooks is a full time grassroots organizer specializing in the interplay of global capitalist economics and war, with energy policy, the climate and extinction crisis, and environmental justice. He has refused to use or eat animals for over three decades.