Tuesday, May 12, 2015

How the agricultural business wants people to turn a blind eye


In this news clip, it is reported that the agriculture industry wants to create a law that would prevent undercover investigations into their practices which would allow them to continue their cruel practices. This clip shows graphic violence towards animals such as chickens which are thrown into a pit if they were deemed undesirable so they would die instead of putting them down in a humane way. The owner of the poultry farm justified his actions by saying that although the birds should have been killed in a much better way than what was done, that he takes care of his birds and much of what he saw on the video was not something he was aware of. However, this news story is more focused on the way these practices effect human food consumption than the actual cruelty experienced by these animals, epitomizing the current human-animal dynamics that exist in society today.  

This relates strongly to Spiegel's essay "In Defense of Slavery" because she points out that people often attempt to "brush over potentially unsettling reality" in order to make themselves feel better. This is exactly what the agricultural business is attempting to do so that videos of this animal cruelty can stop being created so they can continue their current practices without any consequences. The interview of the poultry farm owner also sounds a lot like the interview in her essay about the conditions of a chicken farm. Both of these people pay no attention to the cruelty these animals face and many people even go as far as to justify their actions to avoid taking any of the blame themselves. People not directly associated with the farming of these animals are often just as guilty because they avoid looking at videos of this cruelty taking place so they can pretend that nothing wrong is happening to these creatures. 

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