Compassion, Moderation, and Becky

What do you see when you watch this video?

[1]

If you are like I was the first time I went to the circus, you are spellbound by the amazing tricks these animals are taught to do. You imagine all animals are like the ones found here, dancing and happy. You might wonder how exactly these elephants came to learn how to do such amazing tricks. But, having no experience interacting with elephants and seeing the ease with which they dance, you assume the transition from wild beast to circus animal is a fluid, easy one.

You are wrong.

Beneath the fancy lights and beyond a pair of dancing elephants sits a little man in the middle of this video, following the elephants with a bull hook. He has beaten these animals enough that they would rather climb on each other’s backs and balance their feet along a stool than be touched by his whip or his hook. This tiny man carries the show yet sits behind its curtain. But it is he who we should be most fascinated and appalled by – the most spectacular beast on stage.

Now, what do you see when you watch this video?



[2]


It took me three months of class in Animal Humanities and this movie to finally see the link between human compassion and animal treatment. I will never be able to forget the voice of the man cursing and beating at the poor, helpless elephant named Becky forced to do inane and unnatural tricks. Watching the video, I instantly knew this man had no compassion and certainly no sense of ethics. I did not need to witness his interaction with humans to know that. I knew from the tone of his voice, the violent crack of his whip, and his abusive treatment of a helpless animal that this man was worse than the worst kind of beast – he was a man without humanity.

These handlers have given the power they had as humans over to a bull hook and a sharp whip. I do not want to lead my relationship with animals by force like these men have. I want to lead my life with the power virtues bring, specifically through compassion and moderation towards animals.

Considering my daily routine, moderation seems the most challenging virtue I could reach for. This past week, I decided to write down daily about my interactions, either directly or indirectly, with animals. The entries are mostly brief lists, looking something like this:



I. shower – new shampoo and conditioner; animal testing
2.Cereal with Milk for Breakfast
3. Ordered Starbucks Latte
4. Wore leather belt and new leather wallet
5. Woman with seeing-eye dog on the bus
6. New “animal rights” posters hanging above Dottie’s desk (my boss), reading “We may be the only lawyers whose clients are all innocent)
7. Dottie eating a hot dog (ironic?)
8. Drove to the Yogurt Spot (car has leather seats)
9. Roommates make chicken tacos for dinner

Day after day, I had lists similar to these. But as the week continued on, they seemed to grow shorter and shorter. The milk I was drinking at the beginning of the week, in particular, came to give me a nauseous feeling every time I poured it into a bowl of cereal. Seeing these lists showed me that the first and most virtuous way I can treat animals is through moderation. The amount of consumption of animal products in these lists seems not only excessive, but also unappreciative.

I am, by no means, an animal rights activist or even a full-blown vegetarian. I have grown up my entire life eating meat and using animal products. The turn from thoughtless consumer to virtuous human has been a slow, almost excruciating process for me. I am beginning to realize, however, that learning to act ethically is a gradual and slow process consisting of these small decisions. These entries in my journal document not only my interaction with animals, but also decisions to act ethically or unethically. The lists grew smaller by the end of the week, but my number of choices remained the same. By the fourth day, my Starbucks’ “non-fat London Fog Tea Latte” became a “soy London Fog Tea Latte.” By the fifth, I was making black bean tacos for dinner. By the sixth, I purchased new shampoo and conditioner – ones that promised no “animal testing” on the backs of their bottles. By the seventh, I even turned down eating frozen yogurt at the “Yogurt Spot” with my roommates – my favorite spot for a snack. These choices, when taken individually, seem almost insignificant. But combined, they form a genuine shift towards moderation.

But moderation means more to me than just literally reducing my consumption; it means moving towards a larger respect for animals in general. Because these animals are essentially unable to communicate with us, we have deemed them entirely voiceless. Jacques Derrida writes that because of animals’ inability to “respond,” humans have been able to narrow a vast spectrum of living creatures into one category – “the Animal”(228).[3] The title seems to give humans entitlement to treat animals carelessly, consuming meat and animal products with no reference for the animals who suffered to provide such luxuries. Moreover, our extremely high demand for such products reflects the lack of importance we place on their existence because of this entitlement we have created. I am suggesting, therefore, that by emphasizing moderation, all animals be treated with more respect and consideration.

Still, respect does not come easily when these titles of “man” and “animal” continue exist. How can I respect what I cannot understand or have been taught does not understand me? Here is where compassion takes on its central role, since it is defined as “suffering together with another." Following this virtue requires more than sitting on the sidelines, feeling a distant sympathy for animals. Compassion forces us to move beyond these barriers, such as speech, and suffer with the animals we have made to suffer.

But it seems easier to feel such compassion for certain animals in certain situations. When I watched Becky, the elephant from Earthlings, being beaten by her cruel handler, my eyes filled to the brim with tears. Never have I cried so quickly or so easily over an animal I have never interacted with. I knew then, at that exact moment, that I was capable of a level of compassion for animals I previously thought impossible. If I could feel Becky’s suffering, I thought, certainly I could feel the suffering of other animals. On the other hand, part of the reason why her suffering perhaps struck me so much is that it seemed needless. An animal being abused for purely recreational reasons, through such forms of entertainment as the rodeo or the circus, seems the least moderate and compassionate way to treat animals. These animals are tortured for the pure pleasure of the audience. Surely, if these people were exercising even slight moderation, they would see that any excess use of animals as mere toys disgraces the animal. More importantly, however, if they exhibited any form of compassion they would feel the animals’ pain instead of being entertained by it.

So what about the meat and animal products we use on a daily basis? Surely, if we are going to apply compassion and moderation to circus and rodeo animals, we should apply it to all treatment of animals. I do not support the violent treatment of innocent beings and yet, somehow I have come to rely on their suffering for my own comforts – milk, shampoo, leather clothing. To let go of such comforts is surely not an easy transition. Moreover, by suggesting complete abandonment of all these comforts, it seems more likely that people will give up on “animal rights” all together. There is an adequate compromise to be made here: a gradual transition into both compassion and moderation.


There is a group called the “Virtues Project” that offers “programs, training, and materials” designed to make all citizens “live by their highest values”[4]. More than just discussing broad virtues, they offer life-skill strategies for people seeking to improve their lives and themselves. I feel strongly that there should be a similar network and forum of discussion for virtuous treatment of animals. Such a program would serve to create a more informed and ethical community. Each choice we make is not only personal, but also a symptom of the society that surrounds us. It seems especially important, then, to create a moderate program that appeals to a broader audience. The program would not force upon citizens the immediate shift to vegetarianism or veganism, but rather offer suggestions to make a smoother transition into this new lifestyle. The program may include every aspect of becoming more animal-conscious, such as choosing products that are not animal tested and diet plans that stress moderation of consumption of meat and dairy.

As for me, I am starting small. Practicing moderation has proven to be even more difficult than practicing compassion. Becky from Earthlings and the compassion I felt for her may have ripped the blindfold from my eyes, but it is my choice now what to do with this new vision. “Animal rights” is perhaps one of the hardest topics to defend because their suffering has been so intricately and coyly weaved into our culture. Every time we sit down to eat, take a trip to Starbucks or the mall, or even wash our hair we are making decisions about animals. But the bigger issue is that we are making decisions about humans, as well. It is our compassion and our choice to consume in moderation, respecting the sources of these luxuries, that determines our virtue. Ironically, it is in finally learning to care for animals that I feel I am finally learning what it means to be human.

Word Count without Quotes: 1620

[1]"UniverSoul Circus - Dancin' Elephants," 15 May 2008, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTkLnn6qMuY (accessed 15 Mar 2009).
[2]"Circus Elephants: Training and Tragedy, 15 Nov 2007, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZF_KvjhL18 (accessed 15 Mar 2009).
[3]Derrida, Jacques. "The Animal That Thefore I Am(Following)." Critical Inquiry 28 (1997): 369-419.
[4]"Frequently Asked Questions." The Virtues Project. 2001. 27 Mar. 2009.