Having taken an interest in/ taken on ethical Vegetarianism/Veganism over the last few years, I am used to engaging in conversations with people about my justifications for this decision, and the pros and cons of this lifestyle choice.
Recently, during a conversation on this topic with a friend, she said something along the lines of: 'I understand the need for it, because cruelty towards animals is clearly wrong - but I think there are many more pressing issues to deal with in the world, that are more important'.
I understand that on a simple level this is just down to what you value, and whilst one person sees an issue as important, the next person won't, and that's their prerogative.
Caring about social injustices can be manifested in many different ways, but after seeing 'Human Flow' recently, a film by Ai Wei Wei, I realised that approaches to Veganism as a solution to many of the world's problems can be reductive.
I once saw a post on Instagram by a well-known Vegan influencer, who literally stated that world famine could be solved by employing Veganism, because instead of food being fed to livestock, it can be redistributed around the world.
I understand the intention of this goal, but how realistic and pragmatic is it? This problem doesn't have one simple answer.
In 'Human Flow', Ai follows groups of people who have been displaced from their own countries to escape from war, climate change and famine over the span of a year, covering 23 countries.
The film shows that most of the time, due to a variety of reasons including the borders into countries being closed; men, women and children are left without basic human rights. People risk their lives to get to safety and then risk further the consequence of being refused asylum, and can be left without a secure home, clean water, food, healthcare, and education.
There's clearly no way that I, coming from a comfortable position, can even imagine or describe this experience, nor can I say I really understand it, or have any hands-on experience in dealing with it. But I do think it's important to not shut my eyes to it, and in turn to stay informed, and learn what I can do about it, if there is anything I can do. Ai, himself, states that he couldn't find the solution to the problem, but highlights the importance of having awareness of the situation.
Something that struck me from the film is how Ai conveys human experience as extremely personal. So often Western mainstream media uses dehumanising rhetoric to describe the plight of refugees, using words such as 'illegal' and 'undocumented'. By standing back and allowing stories to be told first hand, Ai provides an insight to the terrifying reality of displaced people's suffering, profoundly reminding us that beyond their status as 'refugee', displaced people are human.
It made me realise how privileged the decision to consider animal rights over human rights can be. Not to disregard the former, I understand that the scale at which we consume animals has contributed to climate change, and how it has been correlated with a decline in human health.
But with the huge increase in people signing up for Veganuary, it seems that 2018 is the year for Veganism. I have no problem with this and of course I encourage it. But it makes me wonder how many of those people are jumping on the bandwagon for ethical reasons, and whether they have considered helping the over 65 million people across the world that are forced away from their homes in order to find basic safety.
I do realise that these issues are not mutually exclusive in any way, and that you can live consciously, as far as your means allow you to, in order to combat social injustices in different ways.
But I think it's important to acknowledge that many people don't have the option to consider fighting for animal rights, as they do not even receive basic human rights.
If non-human animals should be treated in the same way that human animals are, as Vegans endorse, then surely an equally pressing task is helping, as far as one can, the millions of people around the world that are desperately in need, vulnerable and being exploited?
In a review about the film, Michael O'Sullivan highlights the scenes in which Ai turns the faze from the flow of humanity to focus on an animal, and specifically the rescuing of one tiger from a zoo in Gaza to being released in the South African wild. He suggests that implicitly, 'Human Flow' asks 'why we seem to care so much about certain living creatures and not others'.
Currently in the West, there is an influx of people deciding to boycott animal products in order to tackle non-human animal suffering and wider issues such as climate change. But 'Human Flow' calls attention to the current severity of human suffering around the world, which is perhaps something that we should all be making an effort to acknowledge.
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