Vegan Anarchy: Is carnism a bigger evil than statism?

"Suggesting people can't live without government is like saying animals can't live without farms". - Unknown

Statism, the belief that government is a necessary evil and political authority can ever be wielded virtuously, is one of the most inherently violent belief systems in the world and has left a trail of death and destruction from the streets of America and Europe to the war-torn countries of Afghanistan and Iraq.

Government is, indeed, one of the biggest evils: some of most violent atrocities and cruel injustices have been carried out, and sometimes even celebrated, in its name. It causes otherwise good, decent people to abdicate personal responsibility and commit crimes of violent aggression in the name of authority, nationalism and so-called democracy. How many young, naive men, thinking they were fighting just wars were actually serving the interests of a political elite and used as pawns in 'foreign policy', having meted out aggression and untold acts of savagery upon their brothers and sisters in far away lands - or sometimes even in their homelands?

Soldiers 'just following orders' push buttons in military bases, resulting in mass loss of life in other parts of the world where the 'enemy' is left to pick up the body parts and missing pieces of their loved ones. How many more men, women and children will be incinerated in acts of war before people ditch their pseudo-religious belief in political authority and see Sauron's Ring of Power for what it is: a tool of supremacist evil which sews the seeds of pain, trauma and cruelty within the human psyche and threatens our very existence as a species.

As much as government is responsible for so much human pain and suffering in the world, there is an even bigger evil that has left a permanent stain on humanity's conscience: the belief in carnism, or human-animal authority.

Carnism: "Carnism is the invisible belief system, or ideology, that conditions people to eat certain animals".

Most people abhor animal cruelty and understand that is wrong to initiate violence against non-humans. A sane, moral individual would surely intervene if he witnessed an animal being savagely beaten or mauled to death on the street, but would turn a blind eye to the ceaseless crys and screams emanating from the many slaughterhouses of the world, where pigs, cows, chickens, goats and many other creatures are mercilessly butchered to satisfy a consumer demand.

Like the statist, the carnist is typically a decent, well-intentioned person with a good heart - only his thoughts and emotions are not aligned with his actions. The statist will say he is firmly against murder, theft and abuse but will condone and even support said murder, theft and abuse when it is carried out by the state in the form of war and taxation. The carnist, while claiming to 'love' animals, will happily pay for their execution when buying animal products from the supermarket. He will feast on KFC 'bargain buckets' and feed his children McDonald's 'happy meals' whilst guzzling fish bladders and beer with the dog sat on his lap. Statism and carnism are forms of mental malware infecting the minds of otherwise good people who, when pressured by cultural norms, abandon their principles and support widespread violence against other sentient beings.

Hundreds of millions of people have lost their lives in war and other forms of authoritarian abuse, but hundreds of billions of land animals are killed each year in slaughterhouses worldwide. Carnism cultivates evil on an unprecedented scale, and "there will come a time when men look upon the murder of animals as they now look upon the murder of men".

Have you ever wondered why it is that we universally detest those who harm children, the elderly and the disabled? It is because they are the most vulnerable members of society. The animals, however, those innocent creatures who wish us no harm, are the most vulnerable of all - they are completely at our mercy, and that is why carnism is the greatest evil.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” - Mahatma Gandhi

Both statists and carnists must address their cognitive dissonance in regard to humans and animals and come to the understanding that we are all members of one divine family. Only then, when we have shed our false and toxic beliefs, will we undergo a cosmic shift in consciousness and transform this planet for the better.

Thanks for reading, 'In Lak'ech

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