If pigs had wings ........ they'd probably flock together.
There's
a fascinating article in The Guardian today which gives me added ammunition when asked why I'm a vegetarian. Not that I need to justify this, of course, but being able to state that
farm animals are sentient beings with social behaviour does add flavour to my
tempé burger.
It's worth noting the evidence that
they are capable of learning associations suggests brains that are, at the very least, aware of what has happened in the past and of acting on it in future.
That awareness tends to engender respect in humans. It is the foundation of collaboration and mutual aid - for instance, knowing not to attack a familiar face. In animal communities, even unrelated individuals take care not to harm each other. Animals with sharp horns or big teeth, or weighing several tonnes, will move carefully so as not to damage others - an observation that, in the past, has been put down to their desire to avoid retaliation. Following the
brawl among the "barbarian" parliamentarians on Wednesday, perhaps PDI-P needs to adopt a new logo.
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