Does Justice Need Love To Survive?
Sometimes I try hard to find a species of animal cute or loveable. I see posters and images from vegan organizations or blogs comparing a household pet to an animal that isĀ commonly exploited. They ask, why love one but not the other?Ā Oddly enough I can feel myself getting anxious, even angry sometimes, when I see these photos and read these heartfelt pleas. Itās an agitated feeling in the back of my mind that I canāt ignore if Iām being completely honest with myself. Because, you know, there are animals I would not let in my house. There are animals that I would not want to take care of. There are animals I know I would find unpleasant over time, or would annoy me with how they sound or smell. Some animals I just donāt feel a huge connection with.Ā
What I thought made me feel anxious about this, at first, was the idea that maybe one day I would give up being vegan because of these feelings - that if I secretly harbored some sort of distaste or animosity for any species, I might one day again be okay with having them harmed so long as I didnāt have to personally witness it, or cause it with my own hand. I mean, Iāve been vegan for about 7 years now, but thereās always some family member or friend hoping itāsĀ ājust a phaseā, right?
But really, the issue is this: the idea that love is the sole motivation for not killing someone is absurd to me. Whether I find an animal cute being the basis of my judgement is absurd. Being able to love a creature really isnāt a stable basis for whether or not they deserve to live free from unnecessary harm. And I really think we need to be vocal with this concept.
Thereās the lingering perception that people give up the use of animal products because they are welling with sympathy for all animals. That they tear up over seeing an animal harmed. Thereās nothing wrong with loving every animal, for wanting to cuddle up next to every species or personally care for them. Being emotional isnāt bad. But what if you donāt love every animal?Ā āWell, I just donāt love animals the way you doā is so often cited as the reasoning behind why we pet a cat but kill a pig, play fetch with a puppy but forcefully impregnate a cow. Why we treat animals differently, and why we think itās logical. If we chose to have the same reasoning anywhere else, weād be called insane.
You donāt like your boss. Will you kill them? You donāt like willow trees. Will you chop them all down? You donāt personally like a certain TV show very much. Will you petition to get it cancelled? You donāt love these things, but maybe you know someone who does. Even if you donāt, you likely see no need to cause harm to them. Chances are you might even go out of your way minimally not to cause harm to them, or to make life easier for them.
Some people will sayĀ āthe reason I donāt kill my boss is because I would get caught; itās illegal to kill another person and if I did that my life would be worse. I could get sent to jail, or people wouldnāt like me any more. Itās just in my best interest not toā. We do on many occasions consider the personal benefit our moral actions will hold. Praise, compensation, co-operation. Even just bragging rights.Ā Itās a significant factor, but itās not really the only factor, is it?
Most know that, given the opportunity to kill someone we do not really care for, we would not do it, could not do it. Thereās no reason to do so. We would not be acting out of necessity but out of a temporary desire - one that we know very well will hurt someone else. Laws may keep us more aware of ethical boundaries, but it is the moral code in ourselves that will enforce it even when we have the chance to commit an unlawful act and get away with it. In fact, there are moments in life where one may feel compelled to break a law because they feel morally right in doing so, proving that at least for a sizable audience of people, the moral compass is stronger than the legal punishment.
When no one is watching, the average person still considers themselves a moral agent. When we meet people without this behaviour in our society, they are more often the criminals, the ostracized, those deemed malicious or harmful. Sometimes we even consider it an illness if someone cannot,Ā over an extended period of time, act like a moral agent without the promise of personal gain. This is someone who continues to act maliciously to others whenever it appears they might get away with it.
I think there are enough people who realize that the majority of harm is unnecessary, but are continually tricked by both sides of the argument into believing that you must feel strong emotions (towards a cause, like a movement, political stance or religion) to act on that knowledge. To see justice as a reasonable outcome does not require us to love those being harmed. It simply requires us to ask ourselves what we believe is fair, and to furthermore ask if that answer coheres with our other believes and actions.
This is how we can love one, but not the other - and still understand that it isnāt necessary to harm either.
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