The use of animal testing, research and experimentation is a direct reflection of the state of humanity now. There is a so-called ‘debate’ over the ethics of all of this, but I call this mere distraction from the facts.
We live on a planet where supposedly highly evolved human beings are creating a system in which a vast proportion of the human population is dying for want of food and water. Humans are dying because they do not have access to clean water and are therefore riddled with diseases that they have no medicines for and not enough nutrients in their bodies to fight.
Medicine. Who gets it? We do. Us. The first-world. Here in England we have the NHS, and complain as much as you will about its inefficiencies…at the end of the day if you are sick you get free medical assistance. If you have asthma you can get medication. If you have pneumonia, you can go to hospital for free. If you have HIV you can get the latest medicines in development.
My ethical argument against animal testing goes like this: the people who benefit from animal testing and animal research are generally not the people who most need it. The vast majority of medicines developed through animal research are sold in pharmacies in developed countries and serve to plump the pockets of the pharmaceutical executives.
Even more saddening is the fact that what the second- and third-world need most urgently is simpler than medication. It is food. And water. Food and water. We spend all this money on animal research when what is more urgently required is easier and cheaper to provide, and would be money better spent.
Food. And water.
The World Health Organization estimates that one-third of the world is well-fed, one-third is under-fed one-third is starving. That means that 66.6% of the world is in want of food.
However radical it may sound, I propose that before we even consider animal testing for ANY purpose, let us feed our fellow man. Let us ensure as a species that we take seriously our ‘highly evolved’ brains and make sure our brothers and sisters around the world can live with basic human rights. Surely this is much higher on the priority list than any form of animal research?
Food. Water. Shelter. Dignity. You can’t medicate that. Animal research cannot help with that.
This brings me back to the first line of this entry: Animal testing, research and experimentation is a direct reflection of the state of humanity now. It is not even something we should be engaging in if we are as highly evolved as we like to think we are. We should be feeding the starving masses and effecting change to minimise the suffering inflicted on our own species every day. But we don’t. We turn a blind eye and manufacture gooey colourful things to plaster our faces and bodies with to make us feel more attractive and JUSTIFY animal testing because we don’t want to put anything toxic on our persons and Nurofen is great for a hangover.
We are out of touch with what we are doing and why we are doing it and what really matters. We mindlessly agree with the mass opinion and do not look at ourselves and they way we live and at least take responsibility for our small part in this world.
