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“Often, vegan advocates assume that a person's defensiveness is the result of selfishness or apathy, when in fact it is much more likely the result of systematic and intensive social conditioning.”
― Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism
― Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism
“Becoming aware of the intense suffering of billions of animals, and of our own participation in that suffering, can bring up painful emotions: sorrow and grief for the animals; anger at the injustice and deception of the system; despair at the enormity of the problem; fear that trusted authorities and institutions are, in fact, untrustworthy; and guilt for having contributed to the problem. Bearing witness means choosing to suffer. Indeed, empathy is literally 'feeling with.' Choosing to suffer is particularly difficult in a culture that is addicted to comfort--a culture that teaches that pain should be avoided whenever possible and that ignorance is bliss. We can reduce our resistance to witnessing by valuing authenticity over personal pleasure, and integration over ignorance.”
― Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism
― Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism
“We love dogs and eat cows not because dogs and cows are fundamentally different--cows, like dogs, have feelings, preferences, and consciousness--but because our perception of them is different.”
― Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism
― Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism
“Think about it: virtually every atrocity in the history of humankind was enabled by a populace that turned away from a reality that seemed too painful to face, while virtually every revolution for peace and justice has been made possibly by a group of people who chose to bear witness and demanded that others bear witness as well.”
― Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism
― Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism
“But why must the system go to such lengths to block our empathy? Why all the psychological acrobatics? The answer is simple: because we care about animals, and we don't want them to suffer. And because we eat them. Our values and behaviors are incongruent, and this incongruence causes us a certain degree of moral discomfort. In order to alleviate this discomfort, we have three choices: we can change our values to match our behaviors, we can change our behaviors to match our values, or we can change our perception of our behaviors so that they appear to match our values. It is around this third option that our schema of meat is shaped. As long as we neither value unnecessary animal suffering nor stop eating animals, our schema will distort our perceptions of animals and the meat we eat, so that we feel comfortable enough to consume them. And the system that constructs our schema of meat equips us with the means by which to do this.”
― Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism
― Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism
Dana’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Dana’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
2,976 books
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196 friends
182 books
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93 friends
706 books
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27 friends
197 books
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104 friends
8 books
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61 friends
272 books
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13 friends
91 books
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189 friends
716 books
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1,283 friends
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