Ignorance is bliss?

Sometimes day to day life overtakes us and with ever busier schedules, more and more of us just seem to 'exist' as it's easier, less tiring and cheaper.

Every now and then I like to take a good, wide eyed look at the world around me. I don't always like what I see.

As I write this I have the national news on and am watching a report about a spanish woman who threw herself off a balcony as she was being evicted because she couldn't afford to pay her mortgage. Meanwhile a man who did his job pretty badly for 57 days is getting a half a million pound payoff. There's more to each story I know but the end result is the same....wrong!

Those with no voice and very few rights anger and upset me the most. I took a personal decision at the beginning of November not to drink milk nor anything containing cows milk. It wasn't an easy decision for someone who absolutely adores milk and drinks at least a glass a day. I used to eat meat up until about 12 years ago - I still remember the wonderful taste of some meats and have no problem with people eating it. The reason for my decision is that I have a very big problem with how some animals are reared, farmed, transported and slaughtered. My eyes were opened to some real horror stories and I chose that my conscience couldn't live with itself if I carried on putting things in my mouth that had endured pain, suffering and fright. I'm not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. I still eat eggs despite knowing what happens in the egg industry. I still eat fish despite knowing what happens in the fish industry. Food is a personal choice but I do just wish and hope that people wouldn't remain so ignorant as to how their food got to their plate.

In this world that seems to be getting more harsh, inconsiderate, ruder and violent can't we retain a shred of humanity and treat those around us with compassion and respect? And I don't just mean the humans amongst us.