Strange though it may seem…

…but you may bring in any number of animals to be slaughtered: It’ll be all right for the vast majority of people. One million, one hundred million or a billion animals. It’s all right. As long as the corpses of all those animals will be eaten up by humans it’s no problem.

Now reveal yourself as an antinatalist suggesting it would be ethical to sterilise a billion sentient animals in order to reduce suffering. People will be flabbergasted calling you immoral.

In a similar manner people are prepared to sacrifice own children to life’s imponderabilities and to lingering illness at the end of their lifes, while they are not prepared to consider abstention from procreation.

When slaughtering is all right, sterilising animals remains taboo

The other day I offered a short introduction into Karlheinz Deschner’s antinatalism when I was accosted by somebody who said:

‘For the sake of stringency you’d have to endorse mass sterilisation of animals, too, since they are pain causing agents.’

Explaining the point of view of an all-encompassing antinatalism I said that he was definitely right. Some of the people who were disgusted to hear this were just having dinner for the preparation of which body parts of massacred animals had been used.

Antinatalism after The Plague?

In his short story AFTER THE PLAGUE T.C. Boyle deals with the literary topic of ‘The last of the race’. As a rule stories on the last of the race will end with a man and a woman meeting thus making sure mankind will continue. Boyle’s plot is rather spicy since his couple among the last of the race won’t match at all. Nonetheless he’s uttering:

‘…and I think you know what I’m talking about… Procreation I mean. If you look at it in a certain way, it’s – well, it’s our duty.”

Will she, who doesn’t like him – and vice versa – give in on behalf of the duty? Not at all:

‘I had my tubes tied fifteen years ago.’

Soon afterwards the male hero is to meet another woman with Boyle keeping us in the dark on the future of humankind.