HERD ABOUT IT?
by Ana Agrarian
I’ve read a few articles now on the concept of genetically modifying livestock so that they do not feel pain. Unhappy with the treatment that livestock get in Factory farms – there’s a solution to that. No, we’re not going to treat them more humanely. We’re going to mess with their brains so that they don’t know they are suffering!
Hmmm. What about the other problems associated with overcrowding ? Not feeling pain won’t solve the problems of animals injuring each other. It won’t solve the problem of rampant disease that can spill over into the human population, like MRSA or Sinw or Bird Flu. It won’t solve the problem of water, air and soil pollution due to the excess manure.It most likely will increase all of these problems because we will be able to crowd ever more animals into smaller spaces.
It will not solve the problem of farm workers working in environments that are toxic to the health of mind and body. It will make their workplace more dangerous.
Will the next step be modifying human workers? Maybe not genetically engineered ….. yet. Maybe there’s a chemical that can be pumped into the factory that will make us docile yet energized, ready to work longer hours without bathroom breaks or the need for food. It’s OK if we aren’t aware of it …. isn’t it?
In another article commenting on the new research there was a reference to Douglas Adams’ “The Hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy” in which the dilemma for vegetarians is solved by genetically engineering a creature who wants to be eaten or else feels pain.
(ah, we could produce choir boys who want to be sexually molested, and women who love to be beaten, … just think of the possibilities!)
One thing puzzles me. I’ve read that part of the problem of leprosy is that nerve damage causes the reduction of the sense of pain in the extremities, so that, people injure themselves without being aware of it. Won’t that be a problem in pain – less livestock?
We’ve had such an excellent record of proving we know more how things should work than Mother Nature /God / the god(dess) / etc – Haven’t we?
This reminds me a little of the southern bullies who beat up blacks or other minorities and used the rationale that it wasn’t the same as beating up a white person since they didn’t feel pain the same way whites did.
I’ve heard the Pentagon would like to — secretly, of course — genetically build a soldier, really a human robot, who would follow orders without question, was incapable of disloyalty, and would feel less pain than unmodified people. I wonder if these experiments with ‘painless’ animals are part of that program?