Let’s assume that we’re all the function of two variables
Life = X / Y
X = The Beef; our unique genetic, biological, and physical design & dispositions
Y = The Bowl; or natural, social, cultural and ecological framework for existence
What I’m trying to do is sound wise and point to a phenomena that’s far from unique nor original, but refers to our position in life. Nature x Nurture, Environment x Evolution, Mind x Matter, External x Internal worlds–Beef x Bowl.
What’s my point about this dualistic presupposition of existence?
Quite simply..
None.
Just imagine with me for a second.
You visit a restaurant and you ask the waiter, “Can I get the beef soup?”, to which he responds “You may.” The waiter returns to the kitchen & communicates your desire for a beef bowl to the kitchen staff. Upon this message’s receipt, the individuals in the kitchen take action to procure the bowl, fill it with steaming animal soup, submerge ingredients & chunks of carcass into the mixture, and soon returns with the beef in beef bowl–just the way you expected.
You got the beef in the beef bowl, but don’t you ever wonder how each organic ingredient of the beef found its way to be in front of you at that particular moment? Let’s just think about a couple of things.
Somewhere, some individuals have designed a system of capitalizing on cow carcasses by harvesting its internals to be sold.
These individuals arranged for the deceased cattle pieces to be transported to another location.
Somebody is responsible for successfully transporting the deceased cow to its destination. Think Deutsche Reichsbahn for livestock.
The cow is no longer living, but its not forgotten. Its life and death are valuable resources to us. After death, its physical body is fragmented and frozen until appropriately consumed by other life or fabricated into other useful items (boots & wallets!)
The individuals working at the restaurant have, after some coordinated effort to efficiently receive the carcass, developed a process to further fragment the cow’s physical form and repackage it to everyday consumers.
Often times, they will even publish a picture of one cow to show consumers how their specially prepared dead cow will look!
Finally, after the order is fulfilled, you can see, smell, and taste the flavor of the cow(s) that once lived. This is the flavor of death. Smells beefy, huh?
My point is, life has value even after death. We are the beef chunks–we fill up & flavor the contents within the bowl. It’s odd to think about the supply chains that provide us the capacity to survive, from the baby cow that was once born, milked throughout its lifetime, and slaughtered later for you to eat beef in a bowl.
Back to our equation. Why do you exist? Are you also yet another natural product of supply & demand, where eventually your death will become the beef in a bowl? Indeed.
X (you) were poured into Y (the bowl) and served by your parents to the world.
We’re all going through the ringer. We’re born to consume and when the value of our death exceeds that of being alive, to the slaughterhouse we go. But what of all the milk, leather, and bone for which we’ve enslaved a species to produce - is it worth it in the end if we all share the same fate regardless?
Isn’t life beautiful?