#75: What’s Morals? (PART 7)

【We Can Reduce】
In Part 3 – 6 of the series What’s Morals?, we’ve covered the fact that our meat-eating and fish-eating customs are morally wrong.
 
Yet, it’s quite understandable for those who’ve known me personally to rebut, “That’s a bit too much.” To be fair, I used to eat meat until just a year ago – nearly at every meal – and regrettably, I still eat fish at times.
 
My reasons for occasionally eating fish are We go out for sushi once in a while and Canned-tuna and fish-cakes are well preserved so won’t be wasted.
 
Nonetheless, those reasons don’t make it right to argue for the moral correctness in my fish-eating habit. The truth is, as cited two posts ago, they don’t alter the fact that it’s morally wrong.
 
Therefore, I must face the guilt and accept the truth, that I’m killing many fish to eat.
 
And once I’m there, the next step is What can I do from here on out?
 
Here, one viable answer may be Let’s reduce as much as we can.
 
Make no mistake, less killing doesn’t make it right. Any killing must be stopped as one killing is one too many. On the other hand, to most of us who’ve been eating meat and fish for decades ever since weaned off milk and baby-food, taking it Down to zero at once may prove to be unsustainable.
 
Because for every variety of customs and norms, it’s naturally a challenge to stop in most cases. It’s even more so when it comes to our eating custom.
 
Against the backdrop of this challenge, suppose we dare to suggest “every other day” to a person who eats meat every day. If s/he does, then s/he alone will eliminate the killing of 5 land animals on average every year.
 
Suppose we go further and muster the courage to suggest “one day eat, two days hold.” If s/he does, then s/he alone will save on average 7 animals every year. If sustained for 10 years, 70 lives will be saved.
 
As for our marine animals, “every other day” will eliminate on average 75 killings, and “one day eat, two days hold” will eliminate the killing of 100 fish every year. If sustained for 10 years, 750 – 1,000 lives will be saved.
 
With one person’s open-mind and action, we can actually in reality save many lives.
 
And if everyone in the world gets on board, then we can eliminate the killing of 36 – 48 billion land animals every year. We can save 600 – 800 billion lives of marine animals every year.
 
To put this in context, the human population is nearly 7.8 billion today, which means that we can save the lives of several to 100+ multiples of ourselves in just one year. And if sustained for 10 years, imagine the incredible magnitude of lives we can save.
 
Now, even if not everyone in the world – even if we only get one person on board at a time, we can save many lives with every open-mind and action coming together. Each of our influence may be limited, but each of us aren’t powerless. While we may not be able to do everything, we can surely do something.
 
The terrible truth is that we’re almost mindlessly killing animals and fish in the secluded corners of our cities. Yet, even if we may not be able to take it Down to zero at once, we can reduce in a meaningful way. Let us have the heart to start where we can, with hopes that it will lead to zero.

Read Next: What’s Morals? (8)【Vegetarian】
Read Previous: What’s Morals? (6)【Avoiding Change】
 
Complete Series: What’s Morals? (1)～(8)
[1]   [2]   [3]   [4]   [5]   [6]   [7]   [8]   
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Read Theme: Morality