Ten years ago, organizers at the grassroots animal rights network Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) challenged our movement to think bigger: to achieve our greatest dream, animal liberation, in a single generation. We predicted that it would happen by 2055. The victory at Ridglan Farms this week shows we’re making progress that’s even faster and achieve animal liberation by 2040.
WAYNE HSIUNG: Ten years ago, I and other organizers at the grassroots animal rights network Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) challenged our movement to think bigger: to achieve our greatest dream, animal liberation, in a single generation. We predicted that it would happen by 2055. And the victory at Ridglan this week shows we’re making progress that’s even faster than I would have guessed. The fictional story I told in 2016 is coming to life. There are three reasons why.
First, institutions are transforming. As I set out in the talk, institutions often seem hard to change. But once change starts, especially when it comes to the expansion of rights, it’s very hard to stop. When I started as an animal advocate in 1999, there were zero state farm animal protection laws. Twenty years ago, there was exactly one. Now there are at least 44.
Second, culture is shifting. Twenty years ago, the vast majority of Americans supported medical testing on animals. Today, half are against it. Indeed, it is one of the few moral issues that has seen consistent momentum in one direction over the last 20 years.
Third, movement power is exploding. In 2006, when anti-vivisection activists were hit with lawsuits and serious criminal charges, the movement fell apart. We simply didn’t have the support and resources to take on the corrupt alliance between the industry and the state. Today, things have dramatically changed. We have lawyers, media connections, and (above all) the diverse grassroots support that a movement needs to take on powerful industries and win.
What this adds up to is rapid change — change that can happen in one generation (or even faster). I’m doubling down on my prediction from 2016 and saying we will achieve animal liberation even faster: by 2040, not 2055. SOURCE
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