It's Time To Start Acting Like A Pig

8/21/2020

Why is it that humans seen necessary to first domesticate animals before raising them on a farm or as a pet? The answer is simple. Control.

A hiker crosses a cattle guard. Cattle guards are used to deter cattle from crossing streams and other areas.

Wild. Why does the word bring about negative connotations? Isn't something that is wild, actually living or acting naturally?

Since the dawn of time all living creatures, including humans, existed in a natural state, this natural state is what we today call "wild." With this being the case, the condition or state that we are currently living in is not natural, we have been domesticated.

Domestication is defined as a noun- the process of taming an animal and keeping it as a pet or on a farm. In other words when we want to control an animal as a pet as a food source or as a means of labor we domesticate the animal by taking it out of it's natural state and placing it in an unnatural state or condition. Domestication is not natural.

Why is it that humans seen necessary to first domesticate animals before raising them on a farm or as a pet? The answer is simple. Control.

Animals in their natural habitat do not desire to be constrained or controlled. They prefer to roam where they choose, eat what they wish and procreate as they please. They naturally take what they need and rarely exceed what their area provides, they defend their food and their lives when threatened and kill primarily for food as opposed to hate. It is in their nature to do these things. This is what we call "wild."

Consider the number of animals that have been domesticated by humans. Whether it be a family pet or a farm animal, the way we view and think of many animals as being normal is anything but normal. For example on our farms we have taken the cow to the point that cows rarely exist anywhere in the wild. The cow has been domesticated to serve humans and is a very docile creature , the fact that it is so docile is evident to how rudimentary its mental capacity actually is. This makes the cow easier to control. Another farm animal, the pig , is likewise a very domesticated animal. Somewhere along the way, humans decided that these animals were good for food but highly difficult to capture or kill in abundance. Hence the desire or need to domesticate these animals became a practice .

When humans began domesticating animals it probably did not take long for small clans to realize that controlling these animals and containing them came with great difficulty. Over the years, through a process of trial and error ,humans came to realize that the offspring of these wild animals were easier to control than full grown animals . By separating the young from the adults the young feral animals were domesticated with much more ease than the adults.

The younger animals were fed and constantly cared for by the humans until the young grew to not only trust the humans but to also rely on the humans for nourishment and care. Consider a full grown feral pig in the wild, it is very difficult and near impossible to domesticate, however, if the young of a feral pig is separated from its parent(s) it is easier to domesticate them and create a more docile animal. An animal that instead of acting naturally, would instead act contrary to it's own nature as well as it's own best interest.

The pig would eventually become obedient and responsible to the very prey that plans on eating it. It is important to note that removing the feral young from their feral parents prevented the parents from training the young in the natural actions of the adult., it prevented them from undermining the domestication efforts of the farmer.

Despite domestication, there are some animals in nature that can revert back to their feral nature in a short period of time. Factors ,including level of domestication and mental capacity make it easier for these animals to revert back to their natural instincts. Let's compare two common farm animals., the pig and the cow. Both animals are commonly seen on farms and are considered domesticated animals. However, how both respond to domestication is a point of interest that everyone can learn from.

For example, the cow has been domesticated for so long that it is practically incapable of living in nature free from its human counterparts. The cow relies on the farmer to feed, water and shelter it, the cow is easily taught to come when called and is a creature that unknowingly has a greater purpose, to serve the farmer for milk and eventually for meat. The cow is easily trained and will rarely ignore its boundaries. Something as simple as an electric fence can be highly effective in containing a cow, even when the fence no longer works.

Cows are often contained by cattle guards, a bridge or passage that has a cattle guard, makes it difficult and uncomfortable for the hooves of a cow to cross, when detected a cow will change direction and retreat. Interestingly enough, one can paint black lines on a surface and merely seeing the lines reminds a cow of the grates on a cattle guard and can effectively be used as a restrictive device. Cows are easily manipulated. Cows make good farm animals.

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The pig however is not so easily domesticated. When containing pigs, farmers often use electric fencing or wooden lots or rails. If and when a pig realizes that an electric fence no longer works or when it realizes that there has been a break in a fence, they immediately do what is natural, they roam free. Pigs are much quicker to return to feral behavior than would a cow or many other domesticated animals. Pigs quickly revert to scavenging and can survive outside of domestication. Pigs are not easily manipulated. Pigs do not make for a very cooperative farm animal.

Why all the talk about domesticated animals?

Because, we humans have all been domesticated to various levels or degrees. If you refer back to the definition of domestication, you are reminded that it is all about control. It is all about getting you to act unnatural. We know that the farmer domesticates animals for the purpose of labor or food. So, in this scenario, who is the farmer and what is the purpose of domesticating humans?

Have you ever questioned authority, have you ever shared an unpopular idea? Have you ever realized that there was a break in the fence? If so, you might be thinking like a pig.

Freedom is natural. Domestication is unnatural. Human beings are creatures of nature. Have you ever considered that your idea of freedom , roaming around in a farmers field, really isn't freedom? Have you ever considered that the farmer needs you to work daylight to dark? Have you ever considered that the farmer needs your kids away from home 8 hours a day? You have been conditioned, you have been domesticated, it is up to you if you will follow the path of the cow or that of the pig.

Don't you think it's time to slip through that break in the fence? If not why not?