Saturday, June 2, 2012

Animal rights advocate

I am going to say something which will probably insult, or anger some people and I have to stress that isn’t my intention at all. Expressing my opinions is my intention and I will continue to do so regardless of people’s reactions. And I am not writing this post to establish higher moral ground. I don’t believe that I hold higher moral ground by advocating veganism. You just have to think logically and you will probably come to the same conclusion.

If you use welfarist campaigns in your advocacy like advocating for different methods of killing other animals, you are not an animal rights activist, but welfarist and I am not using that term as an insult. That will probably seem too harsh to some of you. Usual response to advocating veganism is that we need to do something now, ignoring that advocating veganism does something now, it creates more vegans. Advocating for welfarist measures which take decades to implement does nothing now. Let′s go to the human rights movement. Would you say it's logical and sane to advocate racism to end racism? That campaign couldn’t succeed. Why, because racism cannot end racism. But some claim that welfarist approach which doesn’t want to end use of other animals will end that use. That’s insane. If you would advocate racism to end racism you would called racist. Same reasoning isn’t applied to animal advocates. You want to be called an animal rights advocate without actually advocating for rights. And you would probably get angry if you said that to you. Just to make myself clear I am not saying that weflarists are racists.

Social change as this one, use of other animals which is seen as normal as you get will not come quickly or ever come. You have to ask yourself if end of use of our fellow sentient beings will never end why not use welfarist campaigns to improve the treatment of other animals. Those campaigns cannot help due to the several facts, the industry will only accept those measures which increase their profits and target of those campaigns are practices like current method of killing chickens (You know what is that method but I cannot write that, it makes me sick) which will be gone because the new proposed methods are more profitable.
And abuse in animal use cannot be abolished because all use involves abuse. And any campaign you devised in attempt to improve their treatment will fail way short in recognizing their fundamental right of not being used by humans. On the other hand if the use of other animals can be ended it would be better to send a message that the problem is use not the treatment and advocate veganism. Either way by advocating veganism, there will be more vegans, less other animals will be used. I believe that use of other sentient beings can be ended, but we need coherent message.

When you advocate for rights of other animals, for abolition of use of other animals, for veganism unequivocally you are an animal rights advocate. You are speaking your mind to other people and don’t care if you are labeled radical. Some will say I want that end of use too. Because other people are not mind readers you have to say to people and act accordingly otherwise they will think you have no problem with use, only with treatment. You cannot blame the people for that. They are just listening to you.

So many positive things would come from follow from people doing unequivocal veganism advocacy and speaking with one voice that use of other animals is the problem not the treatment and that use must be abolished not reformed. More people will become vegans who will help others became vegan too. General public will no longer think of us as people with hidden agendas.

I forgot to say that not being animal rights advocate doesn’t take away your care for other animals, you just to follow those intentions and advocate for rights, for veganism.