Most of us are, or were, “meat” eaters. Some even proudly proclaim themselves to be carnivores and predators. Yet the reality is that human animals lack the speed, strength, stamina, claws, and fangs to hunt down their prey, slaughter them bare-handed, and immediately devour their raw flesh, blood, and muscle tissue. We are more akin to scavengers or necrovores. Like vultures and raccoons, we consume rotting flesh from nonhuman animals who have been dead awhile before their tissue enters our mouths, sometimes for months since we enjoy the technological “advantage” of refrigeration.
Many amongst us have few misgivings about factory “farming” billions of sentient beings (thereby condemning them to “lives” of abject misery) and violently murdering them to mass produce ton upon ton of decaying tissue upon which omnivores feast. However, despite the malevolence of this genocide, the fact that “meat” production is causing myriad environmental horrors and wasting tremendous amounts of grain and potable water, and the fact that we waste tons of human animal flesh each day as we bury or cremate those who die, our cultural taboos prevent us from even considering the possibility of employing necro-cannibalism as a part of the solution to our Animal Holocaust, ecocrisis and growing food shortage.
Necro-cannibalism, as opposed to homicidal cannibalism, would ultimately provide us with “meat” from human beings who have already died. Since those who still consume flesh are necrovores anyway, this would not be a significant departure from their eating habits. Cultural tradition, which dictates that we revere the “sacred” species barrier and the absolute sanctity of human life (Dick Cheney or your dog–you have to choose—who are you going to sacrifice and eat?) is all that is holding us back from implementing a simple solution that would mitigate intense anguish and torment.
We pledge on our driver’s licenses to donate our organs to those who need them after we die; why not our flesh as well?
That slab of ribs you’re craving is as close as your local morgue……..
Notes:
i. And probably according to the mores of a number of other cultures, but let’s focus on the hegemonic paradigm of Western civilization for the purpose of this little commentary.
Jason Miller is a relentless anti-capitalist, vegan straight edge, and animal liberationist. He is also the senior editor and founder of Thomas Paine’s Corner and the blog director for The Transformative Studies Institute.
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