Food Production

I’ve taken two MOOC’s — Dr. Yuval Harari’s Brief History of HumanKind and Dr.Peter Singer’s Practical Ethics — that deal with the ethics of food production. Both provided graphic examples of animal cruelty that could easily be avoided by changes in the food industry that can only take place if large numbers of consumers demand change.  

I was struck by the line in the PBS program “Now” from nearly a decade ago: “We grown millions of chickens that can’t stand up so that we can eat chicken McNuggets while we drive our car.” McDonald’s recently announced that its nuggets would soon be made from uncaged chickens.

Is there a balance to the universe that causes the amount of selfishness and cruelty and the amount of community and compassion to always stay equal to each other?

Reading this book, I find that this America is the same America I live in 100 years later. I’m rethinking my concept of history.  I think my generation believes that the arch of history blends toward justice. I’m no longer sure that’s true. Perhaps believing that the balance between good and evil must be constantly maintained,would produce a better result for the greater number.