Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, 1963, by Hannah Arendt, explains that Eichmann – a mundane person – who had been brainwashed was motivated to do awful things for a career promotion. Therefore, explains that a mundane person does not have to have an ideology or their own ideas about something in order to do those evil actions. It was the social conditioning put in place and the need for survival that evil things happened. There are clear cut examples of banal evil that still happen today. A “factory farm” is a large-scale industrial operation that houses thousands of animals raised for food—such as chickens, turkeys, cows, and pigs—and treats them with hormones and antibiotics to prevent disease and maximize their growth and food output. (dosomething.org). What makes this banal is that the ‘normal’ person is not made aware of the problems that come with factory farming, all because they want to save some money. The housing for the animals is crowded and filled with excrement and there are many catastrophic consequences following these horrible living conditions.

There are many deceptions about factory farming that have been influenced by the companies running them to make sure they still gain profit through this evil. For example, civilians think they are supporting local farmers, when they are supporting a big business. “In the United States, 99% of farm animals are raised on factory farms. In addition to this, studies show that despite only 1% of animals being raised on more humane farms, 75% of Americans think they’re purchasing cruelty-free meat, eggs, and dairy not realizing the factory farming cruelty that takes place” (Petpedia). By labeling the flesh of animals as cage-free or grass-fed, etc. in the large-scale stores they sell the flesh to, the big businesses are influencing the public to believe they are buying ‘quality’ food. These animals experience such a cruel way to live and are mistreated beyond what is thought plausible. “Animals on factory farms grow unnaturally fast, at a rate 3 times greater than if they were left alone. This is because they’re selectively bred and given drugs that cause them to get bigger. For example, a chicken grows to the size needed for slaughter 55 days before it should naturally” (Petpedia). Basically, these animals that should be raised naturally are growing at an above accelerated pace to keep up with the demand of the market. Along with the accelerated growth rate, factory farms put these animals into overcrowded spaces. Now, think of what happened in Europe with the bubonic plague, the plague was caused by human feces in overcrowded dwellings. Imagine being surrounded by that much fecal matter and no way to escape. To combat illnesses caused by being constantly surrounded by fecal matter, the animals are fed antibiotics to fight infections. “More than 80% of all antibiotics in 2011 were given to farm animals. However, some of these antibiotics risk inducing harmful side effects, even in the humans eating this meat” (Petpedia). However, this information is never disclosed on the packaging of the animal flesh in stores. The public will never truly see what they are consuming by choosing these products that have an incomplete ingredients list. “Animals are fed corn, wheat and soy that are grown through intensive industrial farming that use large amounts of pesticides, which can remain in their bodies and are passed on to the people who eat them, creating serious health hazards in humans” (dosomething.org). “80% and upwards of pigs are ill with pneumonia when they’re killed for their meat. The environment in which they’re housed in factory farms causes the livestock to become ill due to the lack of space, the manure, and large amounts of ammonia” (One Green Planet but found on petpedia).

In the satirical web series “Farmed and Dangerous,” industrial farms begin feeding livestock “petro-pellets,” animal food that is really concentrated pills of fossil fuels. While this outrageous practice does not happen in real life (…yet), it does highlight how heavily factory farms rely on fossil fuels to raise animals and grow crops. Synthetic fertilizers and pesticides are derived from petroleum, the majority of crops grown with the use of these chemicals are turned into animals feed – hence the comedic irony of cutting out the crop-middle man and just feeding animals straight petro. Between transportation, synthetic fertilizers/pesticides, and the incredible amount of energy it takes to run Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, factory farms uses about 5.5 gallons of fossils fuels per acre. The average farm in the United States spans 418 acres, meaning it will devour about 2,300 gallons of fossil fuels. Just think about how many thousands of farms there are across the globe…

Large-scale farming of monocultures depends on massive amounts of synthetic fertilizers to replace nutrients that are continually drained from soil. This practice also requires high levels of synthetic pesticides to stave off insects that are attracted to certain crops. If farmers did not receive subsidies for growing commodity crops, then crop fields could be populated with a diverse mixture of plant species that can naturally fix nitrogen into soil and control insects. (One Green Planet)

            The mistreatment of these animals is appalling. They are in cramped spaces, basically sleeping on top of each other, living in their own filth, fighting each other to survive and they are put through this to just be killed. “Worldwide, about 70 billion farm animals are now reared for food each year” (dosomething.org). The animals in the factory farms are just being bred and fed for consumption and if they die in the process, no one cares. This is another Holocaust, but ‘normal people’ do not seem to care because it does not directly affect them. Along with the killing of the 70 billion animals, they are constantly tormented to better service their captors. “The beaks of chickens, turkeys, and ducks are often removed in factory farms to reduce the excessive feather pecking and cannibalism seen among stressed, overcrowded birds” (dosomething.org). Along with that with other animals is “tail docking, hot-iron branding and dehorning” (Petpedia). All these processes are incredibly painful for the animals and they are not treated for their pain whatsoever. Another example of this kind of forced mutilation is with piglets. “[They] have their tails and testicles removed, and their teeth are clipped shortly after being born. The procedures are done without any pain relief medication being administered. The reason for the mutilation is to make it easier to keep multiple pigs in the same small place without them hurting one another or themselves. There are no factory farming laws that prevent this practice (Petpedia). With this knowledge, it is important to decipher that they are living in cramped spaces and there are no laws to protect these animals from this kind of evil.

With the accelerated growth rates, hormones, antibiotics, debeaking, hot-iron branding and many other forms of torment, the lives of these animals are cut short for their consumption. “Dairy cows typically live to their third lactation before being culled. Naturally, a cow can live for 20 years” (dosomething.org). Veal is a delicacy for the tenderness of the flesh, but the story behind how it ends up packaged in the store is never told. The calves are separated from their mothers at birth, the males are killed for veal and the females kept in confinement to be raised as a dairy cow or to be bred. The emotional torment after having this done repeatedly throughout the mother’s life is excruciating. Dairy cows only rest for a short period of months between pregnancies. Dairy cows need to be pregnant in order to deliver milk. As a result, they spend most of their lives pregnant” (Petpedia). In order to have dairy milk, this is what must be done. “In 2007, it was worked out that dairy cows were used to produce 20,000 pounds worth of milk each year. Milking machines and selective breeding for the purpose of producing milk often result in a swelling of the udder glands, which leaves the cow in a large amount of pain. If you’re trying to imagine exactly what is factory farming, this is a good example of the treatment of animals in this practice” (Petpedia). Outside of the dairy industry, these practices are still in place for other animals, but in different ways. “Forced molting is a system where chickens are cramped together in the dark to encourage them to lay more eggs than they naturally would. Molting is when the chickens replace their feathers. This process typically takes place over 12 months, usually right before winter begins. However, this event can also be forced by starving the chickens for a period of time, which the factory farming of chickens facts show will lead to them producing more eggs” (Petpedia). This means that factory farms are forcing the reproductive systems of these animals to destroy themselves and to keep them in pain, just to keep up with demand.

Civilians continue to support this evil for many reasons, the flesh is cheaper than going to  a locally sourced farm, it is more convenient to buy these products than to locally source them. “There are more jobs available due to factory farming because factory farming is more profitable. Factory farming statistics from 2019 show that farmers can earn millions more than they would if they were farming in a more traditional way. Laborers can earn around $12 per hour for a general laborer position and more than $18 per hour for a manager position” (Petpedia). These people are taking these jobs because they are higher paying, but also because no one wants to do this. There have been videos come out on different social media platforms about what goes on inside a factory farm. If the general public does not even know what happens to their food before they buy it, then they probably should not be consuming it. The perpetrators of this evil can be described as “terribly, terrifyingly normal” because they are normal people. These people are looking to have these stable, high paying jobs so they can support their families – sometimes they don’t have a choice. We are complicit in these crimes because we have not called for change. We have not done anything to improve the living conditions of these animals and there is no humane way to kill something that does not want to be killed.

94% of people in the United States say they believe the animals raised to feed us should not suffer. However, if you look at the history of factory farming, the vast majority of animals being farmed experience pain and discomfort on a near-constant basis. This includes the animals being mutilated from birth to ensure that the animal isn’t damaged due to fighting or self-harm in the small space set aside for them to grow and live. (Petpedia)

94% of the US population says that these animals should not suffer as they die for human consumption. It is very surprising to know that number, such a high number, is infuriating to know since nothing has been done to put laws in place to protect these animals and the humans that eat them. Maybe this evil has continued because of the capitalistic aspect that society has become accustomed to. The flesh costs less and the factory farmers are earning more.

Arendt’s concept of “thoughtlessness” helps to explain the existence of evil today. The ordinary person does not think about their actions or wants having consequences. Large companies say that their products are good for the human body and that everyone who is healthy eats the flesh they provide. This comes with the capitalistic society through advertisements and persuasive messages. This thought process also coincides with the lifestyle choices the previous generations had made. If the generations are not thinking about making a change now, they are less likely to since that is the way they were raised. The Sexual Politics of Meat by Carol J Adams has a perfect definition for what has been happening with the consumption of animals:

Behind every meal of meat is an absence: the death of the animal who’s placed the meat takes. The “absent referent” is that which separates the meat eater from the animal and the animal from the end product. The function of the absent referent is to keep our “meat” separated from any idea that she or he was once an animal … to keep something from being seen as having been someone. Once the existence of meat is disconnected from the existence of an animal who was killed to become that “meat,” meat becomes an anchored by its original referent (the animal), becoming instead a free-floating image… (p. xxiv)

Basically, Carol J Adams says that humans disregard animals as being their own entity – we control them and we own them. These companies rely on is the consumer to not think for themselves about what they’re putting in their bodies, this goes along with Arendt’s concept of mindlessness. “The act of visual consumption is subliminal messaging, whether viewers are openly accepting the message or they are trying to ignore it, it still works. The intent is for consumers to be reminded of how well a product works when consumers see it on the shelf of a store. Regardless if consumers had previously used the product or not” (Susino). These big business companies need to be help accountable for the damage they have been doing to these animals and the people who consume them, but also for the damage to the environment.

The effects of factory farming on the environment are severely detrimental. Putting so many animals into such a confined space with all of their waste built up is a lot for the surrounding land. This creates air, water and land pollution. “The pollution from animal waste causes respiratory problems, skin infections, nausea, depression, and even death for people who live near factory farms… Hog, chicken and cattle waste has polluted 35,000 miles of rivers in 22 states and contaminated groundwater in 17 states” (dosomething.org) These are serious health hazards for the surrounding area, yet the mundane person does not realize that these things are happening and will persist unless something is done. Yet, in places like Flint, Michigan, where there has been no fresh water for over five years, they’re not able to drink water from their own homes.

Industrial agriculture sucks up 70 percent of the world’s fresh water supplies. To follow up that staggering number, the EPA estimates that 75 percent of all water-quality problems in America’s rivers and streams. Water polluted with agricultural run-off can destroy whole ecosystems and be toxic, if not lethal to humans and animals alike. Industrial livestock farms, known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (sounds warm and fuzzy, right?), contain massive cesspools that store animal waste. These “factory-farm lagoons” have been known to leak into adjacent waterways. Nitrates, dangerous microbes, and drug-resistant bacteria run rampant in these lagoons. When these by-products get into local water ways, they cause toxic algae blooms which lead to “dead zones” and massive fish kills. High levels of nitrates in drinking water can cause spontaneous abortions and blue baby syndrome and bacteria outbreaks from agricultural water pollution is responsible for several disease outbreaks across the United States. (One Green Planet)

The water that goes toward the farm agriculture is for the crops grown to feed the animals. As a nation, the US should be using this water to help places within its own borders like Flint and other places that have serious drought. Having these serious underlying health issues are not worth the cheap product civilians can buy in stores. In addition, the deforestation that has occurred because of this pollution is just some of the smallest percent of what is actually happening. “14,400 acres of rainforest are cut down each day to make space for cattle farming.  That’s one acre destroyed every six seconds” (Petpedia), three million for land clearing in Brazil to grow chicken feed is responsible for the destruction and 100 million hectares of forest are cleared for soybean farming (One Green Planet). In the US alone, 260 million acres has been cut down for crops fed to factory farm animals and livestock grazing is also a major reason that several unique species of plants are becoming extinct (petpedia).

In general, the parallels between Eichmann and those who are responsible for this evil today is the mindlessness of their actions. “With the killings of Jews I had nothing to do. I never killed a Jew, or a non-Jew, for that matter – I never killed any human being. I never gave an order to kill either a Jew or a non-Jew; I just did not” (Arendt 49). The mundane people that participate in factory farming can say the same. They never killed the animals, they never said to kill them, but they actively do not stop it from happening.

“And the German society of 80 million people had been shielded against reality and factuality by exactly the same means, the same self-deception, lies, and stupidity that had now become engrained in Eichmann’s mentality… But the practice of self-deception had become so common, almost a moral prerequisite for survival… it is sometimes difficult not to believe that mendacity has become an integral part of the German national character. (Arendt 79)

What is the difference having a crime be in retrospect and just enforcing a social norm that is no longer needed? The fact is that if something is so unnecessary, why continue it? The animals are basically in internment camps, not having any freedom whatsoever, they barely see sunlight and fresh grass – it is horrific. “The legal experts drew up the necessary legislation for making the victims stateless, which was important on two counts: it made it impossible for any country to inquire into their fate, and it enabled the state in which they were resident to confiscate their property” (Arendt 144-145). There is no difference with this passage. The horrific things done to the Jewish population in Europe during World War II is happening in almost every country on the planet. No one checks on these animals and no one cares besides a small percent of the population. There are no laws protecting them, they have only themselves and those around them. It must be terrifying to go live through that.

The banality of factory farming is what makes it evil. These animals are tortured, bred for consumption and live through things so horrible that we promised other humans we would never do it to them again. Why are animals different? The consequences of this far outweigh any of the benefit that is listed. The damage to the ecosystem’s water, land and air and the damage done to the bodies of humans in the same area as the factory farms. We need to stop factory farming for the health of our planet and people.

Works cited

Adams, Carol J. The Sexual Politics of Meat. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2015.

Arendt, Hannah. Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report of the Banality of Evil. Edited by Amos Elon, 6th ed., Penguin, 2006.

Good, Kate. “5 Ways Factory Farming Is Killing the Environment.” One Green Planet, One Green Planet, 23 Jan. 2019, http://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/factory-farming-is-killing-the-environment/?_sf_s=factory%2Bfarming.

Jessica, Jessica Edgson, et al. “36 Dreadful Factory Farming Statistics to Consider.” Petpedia, 28 Feb. 2020, petpedia.co/factory-farming-statistics/.

Multiple authors. “11 Facts About Animals and Factory Farms.” DoSomething.org, http://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-animals-and-factory-farms.

Multiple authors. “11 Facts About Animals and Factory Farms.” DoSomething.org, http://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-animals-and-factory-farms.

Susino, Isabella. “The Sexual Politics of Meat.” Free Spirited Journalist, 22 Mar. 2018, isabellahsusino.wordpress.com/2018/03/31/the-sexual-politics-of-meat/.