There are a few key reasons why someone might keep zombies locked up in a barn:
- Protection – Keeping zombies confined prevents them from attacking innocent people. A barn provides a secure place to contain them.
- Research – Scientists or government agencies may want to study zombies in a controlled environment to learn more about the disease, how it spreads, and if a cure is possible.
- Slavery – Some unethical people may try to use zombies as free labor on farms or other tasks. A barn provides a place to keep them under control.
- Entertainment – Sadistic individuals may keep zombie “pets” for amusement, charging admission for zombie cage matches or other macabre spectacles.
- Delusion – Mentally unstable people may believe their zombified loved ones can be cured. Keeping them in a barn prevents harm while searching for a miracle cure.
Of course, confining zombies raises major ethical concerns. Zombies were once living people, and some argue they deserve dignity even after death and infection. Additionally, keeping zombies poses risks if containment fails. However, in desperate times, pragmatism may outweigh idealism. Let’s explore the key reasons in more depth.
Protection
The most understandable and ethical rationale for confining zombies is protecting the uninfected. If zombies are roaming free, they will attack and infect innocent people. A barn can provide strong walls and locked doors to contain them, preventing harm to surrounding communities. This allows people to live normal lives without fear of zombie assaults.
Some governments even establish strategic “zombie reserves” in remote areas. This quarantines zombies far from population centers in case of an outbreak or zombie herd migration. However, bare minimums of food, water and shelter must be provided in ethical reserves. Guards keep watch over the area as well. This approach balances safety with humane practices.
Individuals may also keep loved ones turned zombie on their isolated property. By keeping zombies in the family barn, they eliminate the danger posed while avoiding the emotional distress of “killing” them. However, great precautions must be taken to prevent any escapes. The confined zombies should be provided with some level of enrichment as well to avoid distress.
Overall, protection is usually seen as the most acceptable reason for zombie confinement. However, it requires strict protocols and oversight to be ethical. The zombies must be properly contained and looked after. Protection must not be an excuse for cruel or negligent treatment.
Research
Medical researchers and government scientists often want to study zombies up close to understand how the mysterious disease originates and spreads. This knowledge could prove invaluable for developing a vaccine or cure in the future. Keeping zombies safely confined allows researchers to monitor them in controlled conditions.
Teams may observe behaviors, document physical changes, and even run medical tests on contained zombies. Having specimens housed nearby in a sturdy barn facilitates frequent hands-on research. Scientists can much more easily access them quickly in onsite facilities.
However, serious ethical concerns arise regarding the rights and welfare of the zombies themselves. They may be kept confined 24/7 in harsh barn conditions just to be experimented on at researchers’ convenience. Strict oversight and protocols are needed to prevent any inhumane treatment.
Some research options to consider:
- Minimum space requirements should be established per zombie in barns.
- Temperature controls, mental stimulation, and other forms of enrichment are necessary.
- Testing should be limited and only cause minimum suffering.
- Zombies used for research must be euthanized if a cure remains elusive after an appropriate time period.
With proper regulations in place, studying confined zombies can provide vital data to save lives eventually. However, their wellbeing and rights while containment must also be protected as much as possible. There are no easy answers with zombie research.
Slavery
Unfortunately, some individuals attempt to imprison zombies in barns to exploit them for free labor. Zombies can be compelled to perform manual tasks without pay, food, water or rest. Unscrupulous people may even try “training” them through abuse.
Farms are a common place for zombie slavery. They shuffle mindlessly in fields picking crops or hauling equipment like human pack mules. Owners can work them around the clock with no regards for their health or safety. Some may keep zombie “pets” to guard property or fight other captive zombies for amusement.
However, this slavery is unethical and deeply traumatic for the zombies. They still retain some human sentience and experience fear. Working them to destruction is cruel and barbaric. With proper rehabilitation, zombies may even regain some humanity over time.
Anti-slavery laws must prohibit all zombie ownership and exploitation. And the public should advocate against industries profiting from zombie labor as well. Consumers can boycott any farms and companies engaging in slavery practices. Together, society must ensure zombies are not abused as free labor under any circumstances, whether through legal bans or economic pressure. The only justifiable confinement is through strictly regulated government reserves.
Entertainment
With zombies having overrun much of the world, human entertainment options are now quite limited. Some opportunistic individuals have capitalized on this boredom by housing zombies in barns and charging for macabre spectacles. For example, they may force captive zombies to fight each other in �cage matches� for an audience�s amusement.
Zombies may also be kept in maze-like barns as targets for �zombie paintball�. Customers pay to stalk the building shooting paintballs at the zombies inside. Some particularly cruel promoters even set up �zombie petting zoos� where people can get close to zombies safely fenced off in pens. All of these businesses treat zombies as expendable attractions rather than the human beings they actually are.
However, exploiting zombies for entertainment purposes cannot be ethically justified. They experience fear and pain still. What appears as just harmless fun to spectators in fact subjects zombies to significant suffering solely for profits. When zombies stop providing entertainment value, they may even be killed and replaced with newer �performers�.
Laws should be enacted immediately banning all forms of zombie entertainment. Promoters must be prosecuted for these unethical practices. With zombies still human on some level, using them as attractions is unacceptable. Moreover, it fosters belief they are disposable monsters undeserving of basic compassion. Only by ending zombie exploitation can society progress ethically. People must find less barbaric forms of entertainment during these dark times.
Delusion
Some individuals simply cannot accept losing their loved ones to zombie infection. Despite all evidence, they stubbornly cling to the belief real people still exist somehow within the zombies. Out of desperation, they may lock up infected loved ones in backyard barns.
The deluded individuals feed and care for their confined zombies, talking or reading to them for hours. They are convinced doing so provides mental stimulation to draw out buried human memories and emotions. These distressed people adamantly believe they just need to uncover the right cure to �save� their spouse, parent or child still �trapped� as a zombie.
On the surface, this delusion may appear harmless if zombies are housed safely. Ensuring basic needs are met could even be considered virtuous. However, the zombies generally remain just as rabid and mindless as ever. Keeping them confined in false hope for a �miracle� cure ultimately benefits no one. It simply prolongs suffering for both parties.
Moreover, those �treating� these zombies rarely have medical qualifications. Their �cures� tend to be crackpot theories with no scientific merit. Still, they desperately experiment on loved ones, trying remedies like herbal tinctures, adrenaline shots or playing recorded messages. At best, these are pointless. At worst, they may inflict additional pain and distress on the zombies.
For their own mental health, these individuals must come to terms with the reality their loved ones are �gone�. Keeping zombies confined for fantasy reasons helps no one in the end. Those zombies still pose a threat if they ever escape as well. As difficult as it is, letting go is the right thing to do for everyone involved.
Conclusion
Zombies represent an unprecedented threat to humanity. But whether confining them in barns can ever be justified remains an ethical gray area. In desperate times, some compromise of ideals may be necessary for survival. Yet humane treatment must still temper pragmatism in any case.
Complete prohibition of zombie ownership is likely impractical. But strict regulations could help prevent the worst abuses, providing minimum care standards are enforced. Oversight would ensure containment adheres to core human values as much as possible.
With caution and nuance, societies could perhaps achieve an ethical balance. But there are no easy answers when dealing with zombies. The moral dilemmas raised will challenge humanity�s collective conscience for generations to come. Those decisions will ultimately illustrate whether zombies made us monstrous � or if retaining compassion proves there is still hope for us all.