Coping with the cruelty

Question

Looking for advice on how to cope with feeling disgusted with your own species because so many are devoted to causing harm! It breaks my heart and makes me feel so low! Would like this forum to become a place where we can help and remind each other why we do this, and help keep each other positive!

happycowgirl · Answer

Hi Shereeox,
You're not alone. I feel the same way. How can so many people be blind to the cruelty we cause other species? A long time ago someone else on Happycow described it as feeling like an alien on your own planet. I thought that summed it up pretty well. 

I struggle to make sense of it. For example, sometimes I look at my cat. He doesn't think twice about catching a mouse, playing with it (torturing it) then killing it. He has no ethical problems with this horrific act whatsoever. But I still love my cat. I can forgive him & write it off as him "just being a cat." But when someone I know goes hunting, I don't have that same level of forgiveness. I suppose I hold them to my (human) standard and think if my brain can figure out the cruelty in hunting, why can't his?

Sometimes I think that animal rights and vegan folks are simply more evolved than the majority of human beings. Our brains have figured out that we no longer need to destroy nature, murder other species and dominate the Earth to survive (in fact the opposite is true). While most other humans are stuck in an 1800's and earlier mindset that we can endlessly pillage our planet and destroy other species with no repercussions.

GayleMG · Answer

I feel your pain. I get so upset when I see videos of animal cruelty. I end up seeing them because I am trying to watch lots of videos and read lots of books and websites to learn as much as I can about veganism. Those scenes pop up a lot of the time and I feel like now I am committed to veganism, maybe I don't need to watch them like I did when i was not there yet. The problem is that the people who really need to see them and to know what goes on are the very people who don't want to and deliberately turn away from it or justify it by saying,"That's an isolated case of cruelty. That's not typical." They won't believe it when you tell them it is typical. 
Our species has been eating meat and using animals for so long that it will take a very long time to get away from it. But people like us are leading the way the best we can, even if it seems like no one is listening sometimes. I think veganism is becoming way more common and accepted every year and we are getting to the point where people will have to notice.

ahimsa32fa · Answer

"Until we see what we are, we cannot take steps to become what we should be."
Charlotte Perkins Gilman

MirandaThompson · Answer

It is absolutely amazing how cruel people can be.The thing that helps me is looking at inspirational videos about people saving animals. Not everyone is a lost cause. This forum is a great resource because you don't feel like you're so alone. I get upset when it feels like I'm the only one in the whole world who feels this way, but I'm not. Connect with like minded people and see how you can help. Tell a coworker why he shouldn't be eating meat. Have a friend watch a documentary about Food Inc. One person can start a revolution and it's important to take action and to help in any way you can.

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