The Modern Savage: Our Unthinking Decision To Eat Animals

McWilliams (The Politics of the Pasture) argues passionately for empathy toward animals and a radical shift in the way that Americans view eating meat. The author wastes no time laying out his argument, which is pretty straightforward: to kill and consume animals is not tolerable in the modern economy. He contends that the macroanimal slaughter system will continue to mistreat animals even if consumers attempt to buy meats conscientiously, because it will always be the cheaper option. The author is a purist, delving into the subtext of the most outspoken voices criticizing our modern relationship with food. He critiques Jonathan Safran Foer (Eating Animals) and Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma) alike—Foer previously expressed disapproval of Pollan in Eating Animals—as well as Eric Shlosser (Fast Food Nation) for being too tepid. McWilliams stresses that animals are more sentient than we realize: "They may be even more emotionally open to us than our fellow humans, unburdened as animals are by the arts of denial and suppression." Several anecdotes of livestock owners with chickens, cows, and pigs, as well as painful descriptions of slaughtering animals, illustrate this point.