Research Animals 2

During the reading on "White Coat Welfare", a specific passed jumped out at me. "Money is the reason that animal experimentation exists. Whose money is this? Yours." (Greek 83) Once again I am filled with such a helplessness, and an immense frustration. I've done everything I can, in light of the information this class has given me, to refrain from behavior that would not condone or ignore the animal cruelty that goes on every day. Although I felt powerless at this time to truly make a difference in alleviating these issues, I at least felt that I was doing what I could, when I could. It filled me with a small sense of hope, that maybe some day in the future things will be different. But now I'm told that "We Americans foot the bill for animal experimentation every time we buy a drug, every time we pay our insurance premiums, every time we visit a physician or a hospital or a clinic." (Greek 83) Just like when I learned about the meat industry, I realized I'd honestly never thought about it. A familiar pang of shame and anger welled up inside me. I feel as if I am being forced to accept something I don't agree with. My Insurance premiums? Health insurance is a necessity for my survival. So once again, I am directly choosing to value my life over thousands of other animals', and I can do nothing about it. 

But I digress. What I really wanted to talk about, is how these readings have altered my opinion on the necessity for animal testing. Before, I would've said I thought it was a necessary evil. But the more information I'm given, the more I've come to realize that there isn't a lot of data supporting the transferability of the results procured by such means. Animal testing is a legal precedent for human testing, yet its usefulness stops there. It is a security blanket for humans, the knowledge that a lesser being has been subjected to the new drug or cosmetic so that I'll be safe. Seriously? How ludicrous is that? We are comforted by animal cruelty. I feel like no matter what I do, somehow I will be contributing to vivisection, and to cruelty and death in general.

I'm not ordinarily a conspiracy enthusiast, but it feels to me that our social norms are specifically designed to allow the continued use of these tactics. If I were to voice these views to a layperson, someone who didn't have the information I'd been given, they would think I was an extremist and immediately write off anything I had to say. And this is why until now the horrors of vivisections and animal cruelty have hidden in plain site. They're a social taboo, and anyone who voices their concern is ostracized. "Antivivisectionism became a fringe movement, appealing to an assortment of feminists, labor activists, spiritualists, and others who did not fit easily into the established order of society." (611) I've experienced this personally with vegetarianism, and I'm sure animal research opposition would be met with even more disagreement. So what are we to do? I have no idea. I'm angry, helpless, and feel more than anything like throwing  my hands up. I think I'll just go live in the wilderness, grow my own food, and pretend society doesn't exist. That's all I've got.