Clearly, this article appeals to our sympathy for other humans. However, it also reminds me of structural violence, a term used in anthropology to describe the ways in which people are kept at a social and economic disadvantage. The workers in the slaughterhouse are kept powerless in three ways. It all starts with the employers and those in power: if an employee gets injured in an accident, their employers threaten to fire them. This in turn discourages the employees from reporting their injuries, to the point where nobody even considers reporting injuries; they have just accepted this as the way things are. Lastly, the workers themselves conform to the violence by continuing to work despite the risks and discrimination they face. In the words of one factory worker:
They love you if you’re healthy and you work like a dog, but if you get hurt, you are trash. If you get hurt, watch out. They will look for a way to get rid of you before they report it. They will find a reason to fire you or put you on a worse job like the cold room, or change your shift so you quit. So a lot of people don’t report their injuries. They just work with the pain ("Killing for a Living").It truly is disturbing to hear about such things, ocurring right here in the United States.
Works Cited
"Killing for a Living." GoVeg.com. PETA. 04 Dec. 2008
1 comment:
Your introduction was insightful; however I would have like to have heard a little more about why you chose this topic. What about this cultural practice sparks your interest, and why do you feel it is necessary to investigate it. The list you provided about why people adopt a vegetarian diet is very fascinating and provides sensible information into why people participate in vegetarianism.
I feel as though your blog is a little scatted, that is to say, you shift from topic to topic a little too much. I like the first few blogs were you elaborated on the list you provided in your first blog. However, in the following blogs I think you focused a little too much on the animals themselves. I feel as though you should have focused on the vegetarians. Perhaps you could have talked about who is the typical vegetarians vs. who is the typical meat ether. How do their ideologies differ? There is no denying that being a vegetarian has a certain connotation to it. For example people who are vegetarians are seen as very liberal. How do these stereotypes play into vegetarian culture? Your blog on Human Rights is eye opening; however, I’m not sure if it’s relevant.
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