A Language Older Than Words, by Derrek Jensen, tells the story of a man whose perception of reality was shaped by the abuse he suffered in his childhood. Jensen puts focus on the abuse inflicted onto the planet and all living things that inhabit it – drawing parallels between this abuse and his own. The author makes the case that most individuals are blind to the damage inflicted by others because people ignore and create lies to cover up facets of humanity that they don’t want to believe exists. To break free of this culture of denial society must first work on it’s intercommunication between all species and a have a renewed realization of our interdependence on the entire world and all that is on it.
Jensen believes that the structure of humanity contributes heavily to violence and abuse that is inflicted across the globe. These structures he terms, “cultural eyeglasses” are imposed on individual’s through larger agencies, such as, Christianity, public education or the government. Jensen States, “Perception is of course intimately tied to preconception. I have, as is true for each of us, a pair of cultural eyeglasses that will determine to greater or lesser degree what will be in focus, what will be a blur, what gives me a headache, and what I cannot see.” These glasses, that are inflicted onto unknowing eyes, center the focus of mankind on the self-interests of man as
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Jensen provides the example of Tyson factory, one of the nation’s largest meat producer and suppliers, to further develop this idea. Tyson has faced much criticism for their treatment of livestock