How is it that we are so fond of certain animals, while others are considered dirty and stupid? The American researcher Melanie Joy will shortly to Sweden to talk about karnism which she explains why we treat animals so different. How is it that we are so fond of certain animals, while others are considered dirty and stupid? The American researcher Melanie Joy will shortly to Sweden to talk about karnism which she explains why we treat animals so different. Dinner at the home of best friends. In the middle of the table is a fragrant stew. Could it be moose? Or lamb? You take a bite and feel the stew tastes as good as it smells. So are you saying loudly that the meat is really tender and asks for the recipe. The friends look proud at each other and say almost the same time that it is only taking two kilograms välmarinerat dog meat from a Golden Retriever and so ... Around the table there will be silenced. The bite has just been taken seems to swell in his mouth and its hard to swallow. advertisement: Why do we think of animals like dogs and cats, while we kill and eat animals like pigs and cows? The American professor Melanie Joy has its explanation. She tells karnism, if a system of invisible psychological mechanisms that cause people to eat some animals but not others. Since several years researching Melaine Joy of why we feel compassion for some animals, but are indifferent to the suffering of other animals - especially those who are slaughtered to end up on our dinner table. Today she is a professor of sociology and psychology at the University of Massachusetts in Boston in the Northeast. Like many Melanie Joy grew up with a dog that she cared deeply about. Even as a child, she had a strong sense of justice. - Still, I ate meat, eggs and dairy products without ever reflecting on that I supported an unjust and cruel treatment of animals. I stopped eating meat after I got me a bad hamburger. At the same time, I became more open to learning about how animals are treated, says Melanie Joy in a conversation with DN. The reality she discovered shocked her. Among other things, she found that each year are slaughtered sixty-five billion cows, calves, chickens, pigs, turkeys and other animals around the world. These individuals live and die in poverty, according to her. - Later I discovered that virtually all had similar experiences as me, and perhaps also had their own pets. They had the same contradictory attitude to animals that I had. People who eat animals need to use strong defense mechanisms to avoid feeling empathy for animals. Melanie Joy claims that we are forced to block our awareness and shut down our empathy to not be concerned with animal suffering and the poor conditions including many chickens and pigs live. She also believes that meat-eating leads to a range of human health problems such as heart disease. Recently, Melanie Joys book Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and dress up in cows published in Swedish (Carnival publisher). In it she points out that anyone who likes a bloody steak or a lamb stew rarely need to think through their behavior - let alone defend it. Vegetarians, and particularly vegans assumed alternatively have a well thought out analysis behind their choice to only eat vegetables. As it is wrong to kill other living organisms, to animals tormented when slaughtered and that we need to eat more vegetables if all people on earth to have enough food. Melanie Joy says that meat-eating is part of an ideological system that few are aware of. The term karnism which she launched, has its origin in the Latin word for meat. According to her, we are brought up to the carnivores. The norm is created and maintained by the livestock industry, institutions in society, and not least by the media. - Most Westerners today have direct contact such as cows only when we eat them or wear their skins on their feet. However, most Swedes and Americans about the same relation to dogs to humans. We give them names, playing with them and sometimes we share the bed with them. We go to the vet when they are sick and bury them when they die. Dogs can entice us to laugh and make us cry. - But we love dogs and eat cows or pigs is not because they are fundamentally different in particular. Just as dogs have cows and pigs emotions and consciousness. Since the book Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and dress up in cows came out in the United States four years ago has lectured Melanie Joy, both domestically and internationally. She likes to have noticed that more and more wake up to the truth about the animal industry. - I wrote my book for people to become aware and be able to make free choices. At the same time, I think it is impossible to have a genuine, objective and rational exchange of views on why we eat animals as long as we both thought and feeling supports a system where its natural to eat meat. How has your book been received in the United States and elsewhere? - I have met with a favorable reception. All people share common values such as compassion, justice, and want to develop the right to make free choices. Many welcome the opportunity to become aware that an invisible hand guides their behavior. They realize that they are actually acting against their deepest interests, but to reflect on why they eat meat. But why is it wrong to eat meat from animals that are treated well? - As my colleague James Mc Williams used to say: There is more inhumane to kill someone who has a life they want to continue to live and who may even have friends and a family. Stepping out of the system that allows us to eat animals can make us understand this. Imagine killing a healthy golden retriever without any other reason than that people like the way his thighs taste ... What is your message received? - Awareness is growing around the world and at the same time, the number of vegans abound. People wake up and say no to eating meat and thus regains his freedom to choose what they want to eat. At the same time increases their well-being as well as the realization that animals must be treated fairly. Two years ago, Joy Melaine visiting Stockholm. She had not been here before but had brought a positive image of Swedish society. - In the United States, Sweden is seen as a progressive, forward-looking country with the values we should emulate. Many Americans use your country as a social model. When I came to Sweden, I found that the picture was accurate. The people I met seemed very open to apply her strong sense of justice and rational thinking even on animals. It was nice to experience. On Sunday visiting Melanie Joy book fair in Gothenburg, where she was the same day also will give a presentation. On Tuesday and Thursday of next week she participates in meetings in Stockholm and Malmö.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 02:28:04 +0000