SWA #8

In Matthew Scully’s “Fear Factories” he discusses the issue of factory farming and the cruel ways animals are treated in America today. The first question on page 364 asks how Scully builds and supports his argument that cruelty to animals should be a conservative cause. On page 360 he mentions a website called factoryfarming.com where you can view pictures of these farming factories and the treatment these animals are receiving. The pictures are vile, the animals are injured, bleeding and obviously suffering all for human satisfaction. They are in small confined areas, blocked from sunlight and fresh air and laying in the sweat and urine of the animals surrounding them. The sight is revolting. Scully states, “You wouldn’t think that mean who are unwilling to grant even a few extra inches in cage space, so that a pig can turn around, would be in any position to fault others for pettiness. Why are small acts of kindness beneath us, but not small acts of cruelty?” (360). He proves his argument with the pictures from the website, then leads into why it should be a conservative cause by stating, “Conservatives are supposed to revere tradition. Factory farming has no traditions, no rules, no codes of honor, no little decencies to spare for a fellow creature” (360). I agree with this statement completely, in no way is factory farming fair towards animals, and based from the traditions that conservatives base their beliefs on they should do something to stop it. Scully also mentions how treatment of animals is portrayed in the Bible, which states that there should be mutual relationships between humans and animals. However, Scully mentions in regard to this, “Those religious conservatives who, in every debate over animal welfare, rush to remind us that animals themselves are secondary and man must come first are exactly right- only they don’t follow their own thought to its moral conclusion” (362). Using examples Scully leads the reader into seeing how conservatives have gone against their own morals to support something cruel and unjust.

Question number three asks where Scully stands on the “rights” of animals. Throughout the reading it is very evident that Scully believes that animals should be treated kindly, for they are living creatures just as us humans are and should be respected. He states, “we are told ‘they’re just pigs’ or cows or chickens or whatever and that only urbanites worry about such things, estranged as they are from the realities of rural life. Actually, all of factory farming proceeds by a massive denial of reality- the reality that pigs and other animals are not just production unites to be endlessly exploited but living creatures with nature and needs. The very modesty of those needs- their humble desires for straw, soil, sunshine- is the gravest indictment of the men who deny them” (360). He is stating here his basic beliefs that these animals are basically deprived of all of their everyday needs, simply to feed the desires of humans.

Lastly, we are asked if Scully addresses rebuttals to his claims and if he defends them. He mentions, “factory farmers also assure us that all of this is an inevitable stage of industrial efficiency” (361). This is saying that farmers are claiming that this treatment of animals is only so that they can get the meats produced at a fast pace in order to keep up with our fast paced economy. The crammed farming is only so that the factories can produce the most in the shortest amount of time, totally disregarding the needs of the animals. Scully responds to this by stating, “Leave aside the obvious reply that we could all do a lot of things in life more efficiently if we didn't have to trouble ourselves with ethical restraints. Leave aside, too, the tens of billions of dollars in annual federal subsidies that have helped megafarms undermine small family farms and the decent communities that once surrounded them and to give us the illusion of cheap products. And never mind the collateral damage to land, water, and air that factory farms cause and the more billions of dollars it costs taxpayers to clean up after them” (361). In my mind his statements there completely shut down any sort of rebuttal that tries to make factory farming seem just in any way. Scully’s argument in “Fear Factories” brings up a very important topic that should not be ignored. His writing presents all different sides to the argument while still sticking to his side that it is a very wrong enterprise that simply cares for itself and not the rights of animals.