The Judas Sheep Leading America to Slaughter

Our political systems are leading us to self destruction. Can animal rights solve the problem?

A Judas Goat leading the lambs to slaughter. Sheep and goats are both trained for this purpose.

The worst form of betrayal is by those we’ve sought out to protect us. 

That is why the so-called “Judas Sheep” are an ethical monstrosity. The Judas Sheep are the rare animals at the slaughterhouse who are not marked for death. Instead, they are trained, through chin scratches and treats such as cigarettes, to betray the other sheep. When little lambs are trucked into the slaughterhouse, they are terrified after being torn from their families. They are desperate for the protection of an adult. The confident Judas Sheep walk up to the lambs and earn their trust. 

“Do not fear, little ones,” they say. “Come with us. You are safe.” 

The babies follow. And the Judas Sheep lead them straight down the chute where their throats will be slit. DxE’s recent investigation at Superior Farms in Denver shows how it unfolds. 

The concept of the Judas Sheep, however, has implications beyond the walls of Superior Farms. Like the lambs taken to slaughter, Americans are being taken by our political leaders down the path to self-destruction. 

Take climate change. We just experienced the hottest summer in recorded history, and deadly extreme weather events such as Hurricane Helene. Yet both major political parties in the United States have effectively ignored the climate crisis. Instead, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris fight with one another for the mantle of “most pro-fracking” – notwithstanding public opposition to the practice. Our leaders say they are fighting for the people; then they watch as the people drown. 

Floods devastated North Carolina in the wake of Hurricane Helene.

At a local level, the Denver Democratic Party has used every dirty trick to block a grassroots initiative from banning slaughter in the city, at the behest of the agribusiness lobby. When the Party presents its position to the public, it claims to be against the slaughter ban because of the “racism” of the activists, whom they say are targeting workers of color. Conveniently ignored is the fact that slaughterhouses have been described by the Bureau of Labor Statistics as the most dangerous workplaces in America, and ones where illegal child labor is common. The voters have no idea that they are being falsely led to support slaughter. 

These are just two examples, however, of our political leaders taking us down a self-destructive path. From housing to food safety, politicians talk about how much they care about the people. Yet when you look at what they do, they too often serve only the powerful. They are the Judas Sheep of America. 

So what can be done?

The first answer is awareness. Too often, well-meaning Americans have allegiance to one party or the other, often under the belief that their preferred politicians are the lesser evil. This belief is misplaced. Under both political parties, financial and political power have become concentrated in the hands of a tiny number of Americans. The result is a society that is experiencing record levels of inequality. Bernie Sanders pointed out in 2017 that the 3 richest Americans held more wealth than the entire bottom 50% of the nation (i.e., around 170,000,000 people). That is a level of inequality that has probably never existed in human history; even the Pharaohs of ancient Egypt did not have more wealth than 170,000,000!

And the problem is more than 3 billionaires. While we have seen tremendous economic growth in the last 40 years, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that only the ultra-wealthy – the top 5% of Americans with a “very high wage” – have significantly shared in this prosperity. 

Source: Economy Policy Institute.

Data like this should alarm anyone concerned about democracy. It suggests that, for many decades, our system has falsely claimed to represent the people while actually representing only the powerful. Populists such as Trump, who seek to burn the system down, are the natural result of this betrayal. 

But then doesn’t the answer lie in better democracy? Suppose we ended corporate contributions to elections, banned lobbying, or made other reforms to the democratic process. Wouldn’t the problem of the Judas Sheep be solved? The answer is no. The problem goes deeper than specific democratic structures. After all, economist Thomas Piketty has demonstrated similar dramatic increases in inequality in nations with very different (and better) democratic structures. Piketty’s own country, France, bans corporate donations in elections yet has still seen dramatic increases in wealth inequality. 

The problem is that, no matter what democratic structures we have, if we exclude the powerless from consideration, those structures will be used to enact injustice. We take it for granted that even the best democracy in the world will fail if marginalized humans – the working class, people of color, women, etc. – are excluded from consideration. The system inevitably collapses on the weight of its own hypocrisy, a process that I have described as “the law of social entropy.” The same is true for other marginalized sentient beings, including animals (and perhaps eventually, sentient AI robots). A system that claims to protect everyone will be seen for what it is – a betrayal – unless it considers the interests of everyone who has interests, even those who have no power. And that question, of who to include for consideration, is ultimately a question of values, and not structure. 

In the slaughterhouse at Superior Farms, the interests of the lambs are excluded from consideration. The result is an ethical monstrosity: the betrayal of innocent lambs, who are tricked into walking to their own demise. 

In the city of Denver, the interests of the people and the animals are excluded; only the powerful agribusiness lobby matters. The result is another ethical monstrosity – a betrayal of the Democratic Party’s supposed values under the guise of “fighting racism.” 

And in nations across the globe, the interests of most of the sentient beings on this earth are excluded from consideration. The result is, once again, an ethical monstrosity. Ten thousand years ago, when we first domesticated dogs, chickens, and pigs, we promised to protect them from suffering. Instead, we have created a system that, in the scale and severity of violence, is the worst betrayal in the planet’s history.

Take this one simple fact. We promise the animals “humane” care, yet even the industry’s own numbers show that billions of animals in slaughterhouses are improperly stunned – and therefore eviscerated or scalded alive on the slaughter line. Imagine this happening to your dog; now imagine it being repeated billions of times in an endless loop of horror. This is the nightmare that we have been taken to by our leaders. 

Solving this problem can only come from a transformation in human values. We must see, and push our friends and neighbors to see, that, by ignoring the interests of those who are most vulnerable, our leaders are leading us down the path to self-destruction. 

I don’t know if Trump or Harris will win. And, in truth, I mostly don’t care. What we need is a new class of leaders, who represent the interests of all sentient beings, even those who are powerless. Only then will our 10,000-year-old betrayal end, and the future for all life on this earth be secured.

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What’s up this week?

• We released a teaser of a broader investigation and report today on the animal cruelty funding the MAGA movement. One of the many reasons I’ve lost confidence in our political leadership — and indeed our entire political system — is the corrupt ties between industry and government. Give the teaser a watch, and stay tuned for more.

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• Consider joining a pro-animal election viewing party. The best place to watch the election is a viewing party in Sonoma County, California, or Denver, where important ballot initiatives will be decided. But I’ll also be organizing a small election viewing party in San Francisco, and might even consider hosting a Zoom party. If you’re interested in the Zoom option, let me know! I’ll also be making some election day predictions over the weekend, and having another debate with Vegan Gains. So stay tuned for much more on the election.

• Animal rescuer Zoe Rosenberg’s felony trial has officially been scheduled for May 2025. Zoe is one of the most tremendous activists of this generation, and one of the largest poultry corporations in the nation, Perdue Farms, is hoping to punish her for exposing their crimes. I am legally forbidden from being within 100 feet of her, due to my own conviction, which occurred almost exactly one year from today. But we should all show her lots of love and support. Here are more details about her trial — and the rescue that led to the commencement of the charges.

• Follow my YouTube show or podcast if you want audio and video versions of the content in this newsletter. I know a lot of people prefer to listen or watch, perhaps while you’re commuting. I’m still a written word guy, but make sure to subscribe if you’re interesting in following these stories in a non-written format.

That’s all for now!