martes, 7 de marzo de 2017

Vegans versus humanity | MercatorNet

Vegans versus humanity



Vegans versus humanity



Vegans versus humanity

An international campaign seeks to make animals honorary humans
Michael Cook | Mar 7 2017 | comment   



The concept of “consensus” is used to strong-arm the public into accepting climate change, or gay rights, or transgender bathrooms, or evolution, or the safety of genetically-modified foods, or global warming. Given the power of the consensus on these issues, don’t we need a consensus on whether human beings are radically different from animals?
Because, to judge from a world-wide advertising campaign, a good number of people do not believe that we are.
For four weeks in August and September last year, a gigantic billboard campaign in Times Square in New York promoted veganism – the idea that we should live without animal products of any kind, for cosmetics, footwear, research, entertainment and especially food. The key message was “different but equal” – that animals have exactly the same feelings and relationships as human beings do.
Actor Joaquin Phoenix said that the campaign, “encourages us to consider that our core similarities are far deeper than our surface differences. Now, more than ever, the world needs to hear this message.”
Why now more than ever? When thousands of innocent civilians are dying in wars in central Africa, or drowning in the Mediterranean, or being bombed in Syria, why now more than ever do we need to protect cute-looking animals?
The campaign, run by a vegan outfit called Be Fair Be Vegan has now moved from the Big Apple to the Apple Isle, the Australian state of Tasmania. Once again, the images on billboards in Hobart, the state’s capital, are starkly beautiful in black and white. Many people, especially young students, might find them persuasive.
“They value their lives like we do... we play ... we grieve ... we wonder ... we feel ... we are aware ... we think ... we value our lives ... we raise families ...”
Knowing what animals “think” or “feel” is a notoriously difficult philosophical problem. But it is nothing like human capacity for reasoning. The sheep, turkeys, calves and pigs on the billboards cannot visualise the future, compose music, decide to diet, add 2+2, or lobby for the rights of endangered species.
Protecting animals from brutal treatment in abattoirs or battery farms is not the point. One can support animal welfare without believing that Madagascar is a documentary and not a fantasy. We don’t have to accept cruelty as the price for believing that there is an essential difference between humans and animals.
Paradoxically, the “argument”, such as it is, of the billboards is that if animals look like human beings, they are honorary humans. But where does that leave animals who don’t look like humans? A squid? A rattlesnake? A tarantula? Why aren’t they on the billboards?
Actually one of them is. “Different but equal” are the words at the top of the billboard. Below them are images of a goldfish and a girl aged about three with a huge red equals sign between them. “We value our lives” is the slogan.
Tell me, would you allow the person who created that billboard to babysit your 3-year-old daughter? If she thinks that the life of a child and the life of a goldfish are of equal value, could she be trusted to save the toddler if there is a fire? Mightn’t she empty the fish tank first?
The fact is that people who think that animals should be treated with all the respect and tenderness due to human beings will end up treating human beings like animals.
Michael Cook is editor of MercatorNet. 
- See more at: https://www.mercatornet.com/conniptions/view/conniptions-vegans-versus-humanity/19454#sthash.w4IxeIvG.dpuf



MercatorNet

The English philosopher Roger Scruton yesterday published an article on the New York Times contending that humans are different from animals. "Almost all people believe that it is a crime to kill an innocent human, but not to kill an innocent tapeworm," he writes. Humans are special. 
The comments ran about 100:1 against Scruton and human exceptionalism: "my dog is much smarter and kinder than most people I know ... People who look for differences between humans and non-humans remind me of the racists who look for differences between blacks and whites ... The only thing special about human beings is our stunning arrogance and self-importance ... Grow up. Get over it ... Anyone who has lived with a dog knows that the other animals are just like us" and so on. 
It's quite a good article. I recommend it. And by coincidence we deal with the same topic below, using the occasion of a Vegan campaign to convince people that they are nothing special. 


Michael Cook 
Editor 
MERCATORNET





M-Pesa Kenya – Where Money is Mobile
By Nicholas Bunstead and Javier Aranguren
First time visitors to Kenya are greeted by the ubiquitous green ads 'Here M-Pesa'
Read the full article
 
Vegans versus humanity
By Michael Cook
An international campaign seeks to make animals honorary humans
Read the full article
 
The importance of stories in the euthanasia debate
By Margaret Somerville
The risks and harms to vulnerable people outweigh any possible benefits
Read the full article
 
The mother situation
By Michael Cook
An Australian short film about euthanasia is a comic hit.
Read the full article
 
Our divorced-scarred youth value marital fidelity
By Laura Perrins
But protecting marriage is your job and mine.
Read the full article
 
Refugees already ‘extremely vetted’ should be welcomed
By Sheila Liaugminas
New policy must take care to avoid humanitarian crises.
Read the full article
 
Montana came SO close to closing the door to assisted suicide
By Michael Cook
The status quo remains unchanged
Read the full article
 
Radical individualism is at the heart of gender theory
By Michael Cook
What does this mean for democracy and the family?
Read the full article
 
Facts of Irish infants’ burial remain uncertain, despite outrage
By Caroline Farrow
A commission's report, however, fuels a different campaign.
Read the full article
 
UK to become Europe’s largest country
By Shannon Roberts
But it will be an older, more diverse UK.
Read the full article
 
Abortion groups pledge $250m to ‘help’ the world’s women
By Rachael Wong
There's nothing like a threat to abortion rights to make some governments generous.
Read the full article
 
Boy’s wish to disappear comes true
By Jane Fagan
Have you ever wanted to just blend into the background?
Read the full article


MERCATORNET | New Media Foundation 
Suite 12A, Level 2, 5 George Street, North Strathfied NSW 2137, Australia 

Designed by elleston

New Media Foundation | Suite 12A, Level 2, 5 George St | North Strathfield NSW 2137 | AUSTRALIA | +61 2 8005 8605 

Vegans versus humanity

No hay comentarios:

Publicar un comentario