Tuesday, November 6, 2012

There is no such thing as a vegetarian

I've been thinking about the fact that, as human beings, there really is no such thing as a vegetarian, or, more precisely, someone who's existence does not exist at the cost of other lives.  I don't care about arbitrary and nonsensical distinctions like vegetarian or vegan or ova-lacto-vegan and similar stupidity:  just being alive, your soul inhabits a shell that is covered with bacteria, good and bad, and that your own body is a bacteria-destroying machine from birth to death.  A bacteria is a living organism, just as much as a cow is, and simply by existing, you kill bacteria.  Your gut and digestive system daily kills countless microscopic organisms.  Just being alive, you destroy other lives.  And there's no way to be alive, and be human, without doing so, unless you were just a brain in a jug of chemicals, I suppose.

So really, there are just varying degrees of being carnivorous.  You can be on the low side, and be a living, breathing bacteria killer, killing countless microscopic organisms daily, or on the high side, like me, and enjoy BLTs for lunch while also subsequently having my body killing bacteria.

The point is this:  you can't be alive without killing something.  Depending on the plants you eat, like cabbage, you'd have to kill the plant to get the cabbage on your plate.  And even a fruitarian, eating only fruits that fall from trees, would have to kill grass walking to the tree, or kill bugs and organisms on the ground by walking, or driving, or just periodically snorting a fruit fly up the nose.
Our bodies are non-stop bacteria killers.  Bacteria is no less alive than a cow or a fish.  There is no such thing as a vegetarian.  We all take lives deliberately or in-deliberately, whether or not we like it.

1 comment:

  1. Good Writing, but one Error in Reasoning:
    The Point is not: Life survives by killing other Lifes.
    The Point is People are eating too much in general and Meat especially.
    Sure, Humans need Meat, but by far less than the „civilised“ World actually consumes. And by fact, Humans can survive at a long time without Meat, because the human Body is able to store Cobalamin (or Vitamin B12) for years.
    (Adult humans ranges from a filled custody of the liver, a lack of supply for several years to compensate.)
    [Beim erwachsenen Menschen reicht ein gefülltes Depot der Leber aus, um eine Mangelversorgung über mehrere Jahre hinweg auszugleichen.]
    But i agree with you in the point, that Vegetarianism is just plain stupid. But ok, it’s a private Decision, and i enjoy eating my Wiener Schnitzel anyway. Harhar.

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