Carnism is the invisible belief system, or ideology, that conditions people to eat certain animals. Carnism is essentially the opposite of vegetarianism or veganism; “carn” means “flesh” or “of the flesh” and “ism” denotes a belief system. Most people view eating animals as a given, rather than a choice; in meat-eating cultures around the world people typically don’t think about why they find the meat of some animals disgusting and the meat of other animals appetizing, or why they eat any animals at all. But when eating animals isn’t a necessity for survival, as is the case in the majority of the world today, it is a choice - and choices always stem from beliefs.
I like the bit in the FAQs about witnessing. We used to get the JWs around a lot, knocking on the door, wanting to have a chat about Jesus... so how about a few of us get together, make a pamphlet for veganism and go bang on some doors with free copies of Earthlings and some pro-animal liberation literature?
*knock knock* "Hey there, we'd like to talk to you about the stuff that's in the door of your fridge today. Did you know that dairy cattle are..."
*slam*
Sounds way fun!
EDIT: I just bought her book. Along with "The Genealogy of Morals" by Friedrich Nietzsche, and "Answers to the question: What is Enlightenment?" by Immanuel Kant (my favourite philosopher).
I already know what the basic answer is... the introduction to that book was the first page in my ethics reader last year.
"Enlightenment is man's [sic] release from his self-incurred tutelage."
All very interesting stuff! Now I just feel like getting all these reads and podcasts, and just lock myself up in my room to just soak it all in … oh, it would be nice.
Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for the info! I found the website helpful and informative. A lot of my friends don't understand why i don't eat meat, i think the information here might help me ask them why DO you eat meat?
