monkeyhott:

socialistscum:

Before I begin to explain why I feel that speciesism is a false concept and doesn’t exist, I ask that people just allow me to get my words out with a civil respect shown towards my knowledge on this issue. I am not trying to align myself against the vegan community. I am trying to explain why…

If humans have human privilege then how is it possible for humans to be equal to all other living things? The very existence of a privilege would give that species dominance over all other species, a reality that most vegans choose not to acknowledge. Lets look at another form of privilege, shall we? Racism. We acknowledge that white people have privilege over people of colour but we also acknowlege that we are all equal so where is the difference with humans and other animals? 

And who created this dominance and privilege? The answer is no one. Science created this hierarchy of the species through years of evolution. Humans have evolved throughout the years to become the species we are. We have technological intelligence, and moral supremacy over the other species based simply upon the biological growth we have made since the beginning of human existence. First off, the term ‘moral supremacy’ makes me feel really gross. I don’t quite understand how science created a species hierarchy through evolution but people have been killing and eating animals for much longer than modern science has been around. [Also, you seem to really dig science which I find pretty problematic seeing as the ways in which ‘intelligence’ has mostly been researched is through experimenting on shitloads of animals.]

The very idea of speciesism is so disturbing because it takes all we have learned about the last 7 billion years of evolution and throws it aside to fulfill an ideological fallacy. I don’t understand what you mean by this? And why is it so threatening to learn new things that challenge our worldview? Isn’t that what anarchy is all about, questioning the world around us that we are sold daily and figuring out what we actually want?

The truth is humans do have superiority over the rest of the animal order, and it is because of this superiority that we have a moral responsibility to our planet to make sure that these animals can continue to flourish within the ecosystem we all inhabit. I don’t believe that we are superior but I do agree that we have the ‘moral’ responsibility you describe which sounds alot like an argument someone who’s against speciesism might make!

Another problem I seem to have with vegans is the fact that most vegans adhere to a pacifist and theoretical nonviolent approach to protest. Have you heard of the ALF? 

So when a vegan who believes in speciesism tells me I must condone rape because of cows being force inseminated to preserve the milk industry I scoff their statements, because in reality, I do not condone these actions. In fact, I condone them far less than these vegan thinkers because I actually target the real problem, enterprise, not the made up social construct, speciesism and human privilege. For sure, capitalism is a major part of the problem but without it people would still exploit and kill other animals, just not on so large a scale and I think it’s pretty arrogant of you to say that you are targeting the problem more than vegans because you aren’t in actual fact doing anything about the problem if you still contribute to the industries that make the suffering happen.

Some additional thoughts:

If speciesism is a concept “created” by an ideological group (vegans to resist discrimination against animals), how is sexism or racism also not “created” by women/people of color to resist their discrimination?

I think OP contradicts himself in the first paragraph by affirming humans are moral agents but then saying their privilege over other species is justified by “science,” which is amoral. So I don’t think that applies. Also misunderstanding the vegan perception of human supremacy—humans will always have this “privilege,” but that’s still not a justification for exploiting and treating animals differently. And “speciesism is not a social construct and is not a material system of oppression”? I think OP demonstrably disproves this himself in his argument by considering animals lower than himself (guess what, speciesism) and it would follow he probably does eat them (I can’t imagine how contributing to killing animals isn’t materially oppressing them).

OP is right about pacifistic and consumeristic vegans (a good post on pacifist protest being white supremacist). But this is only one part of the vegan population. Look at all the XVX Tumblrs around here and probably 90% of them are anarchist/anti-capitalist/pro-ALF to some degree.

Also, rejecting speciesism because it is a “guilt complex to make us feel bad for being on the receiving of the benefits bestowed to us by evolutionary science”? This is scary because someone could be saying the same thing about racism and sexism, and people used to. Hmm. And the sentence about consuming dairy but being more effective than vegans by “attacking enterprise”—wrong because many vegans are“attacking enterprise” and because how do you contribute to a group’s suffering but not condone it? Like saying a misogynistic husband could abuse his wife while “not condoning it” yet still rally with the feminist cause—don’t think that makes him any less misogynistic. Hmm.

Overall just a weird post. Mostly invalidly attacking the concept speciesism but still de facto upholding speciesism. Saying you love animals and support animal rights but totally denying the existence of the belief system that oppresses them is really messed up. P.S. Sorry if I seem rude, at the beginning I tried to be chill but all the inconsistency near the end of the OP gets annoying.

(via enterkylexvx)

1. likeipad2 liked this
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4. hawkandhandsaw-az reblogged this from socialistscum and added:

   know what you’re talking about. That’s cool. But...dissagree. It’s true

5. arilou liked this
6. vegspiration said: Thanks!
7. dontbescaredofthefall reblogged this from vegspiration and added:

   tofujesus has a great page on their blog with a list of documentaries, and books about speciesism.

8. vegspiration reblogged this from lukexvx and added:

   This is a really interesting debate. I wish I had time to take classes on this subject so I could make a more informed...

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13. ebullientxvx reblogged this from enterkylexvx and added:

    trigger warning: sexual violence...true and you don’t know what you’re talking about....

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15. lukexvx reblogged this from enterkylexvx and added:

    Some additional thoughts: If speciesism is a concept “created” by an ideological group (vegans to resist discrimination...

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24. monkeyhott reblogged this from socialistscum and added:

    Lets look at another form of privilege, shall we? Racism. We acknowledge that white people have privilege over people of...

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31. socio-huxley-campus-trash said: Having intelligence does not make us “superior”. We are simply different. Speciesism does not rest on the principle that humans are no smarter than non-human animals, it rests on the principle that we all deserve a basic respect of our autonomy.
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36. lions-and-roses reblogged this from socialistscum and added:

    absolutely perfect. 100%

37. socialistscum posted this