Human Nature vs. Mother Nature: The Fight for All Beings’ Right to Life
The dominant discriminatory ideology of speciesism is invisible to corporate and government power. The evidence is there, but we continue to turn a blind eye when nonhuman animals clearly have an interest in their quality of life and environment.
REINA EPHRAIM: ‘Humankind has been diagnosed with a sickening disease: speciesism. Peter Singer is one of the first to coin the term “speciesism” in his book widely considered a pillar in the animal liberation movement, Animal Liberation. He defines it as “a prejudice or attitude of bias in favour of the interests of members of one’s own species and against those of members of other species.” Let’s take the example of pain. In order to fulfill our own needs, humans are ready to acquire resources by whatever means necessary, even if that means killing or abusing members of another species.
The problem with this lies in our readiness to cause pain for the benefit of human interest. It’s hypocritical, considering we would not willingly afflict the same pain to our kind. As Singer says, “most human beings are speciesist in their readiness to kill other animals when they would not kill human beings.” He calls this “the sanctity of human life,” which pushes the belief that human life is sacrosanct, which is in itself speciesist.
Marion Achoulias has taught courses on cultural studies and comparative religion, with a focus on the cultural aspects of speciesism and anti-speciesist advocacy at Concordia University. An activist herself, she has volunteered at farm sanctuaries in Quebec like R&R Refuge and SAFE, taught courses, and developed teaching materials for children. “To justify such extreme violence, we must turn a blind eye to the needs and interests of animals,” she said. “Such discrimination based on species-membership and body/cognition/ability divergence is called speciesism.”
When we consider this, one thing is clear: The dominant discriminatory ideology of speciesism is invisible to corporate and government power. Moreso, “France, Canada, even Quebec [more specifically] are among some of the most speciesist societies,” according to Carl Saucier-Bouffard, professor of Animal and Environmental Ethics at Dawson College. There is no limit to what we as humans can do, even the most inhumane of things. To paint a picture, let’s take the concept of pain affliction on animals to the slaughterhouse.
Did you know that some species, mostly mammals and birds, react similarly if not exactly the same as humans when faced with danger? Behavioural traits include writhing, facial contortions, moaning, yelping, and appearance of fear. Physiological traits include rise and fall in blood pressure, dilated pupils, perspiration, and many more. There is even research that suggests that animals share similar emotional traits as humans, which are located in the cerebral cortex…
The evidence is there, but we continue to turn a blind eye when nonhuman animals clearly have an interest in their quality of life and environment. Now apply these reactions to what a slaughterhouse might look, sound, or smell like. Worse; imagine being one of those creatures, who have only been bred to end up slaughtered… The killing of animals for the food industry is a large contributor to the climate crisis we face today…
According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, the two main sources of these emissions are the production of fodder (45 per cent of all emissions) and the processing of fermented animal-based products (39 per cent of all emissions). 10 per cent of the emissions are linked to the storing of manure…
To make matters worse, spilling of animal waste in lagoons “consists of blood, bedding, antibiotic residues, hormones,” among other things. One report mentioned that chemical releases from animal waste contains phosphorus, nitrogen, and ammonia. These chemicals can create dead zones in oceans “caused by algal blooms which deplete oxygen and choke out marine life.” Take that, climate change deniers. You can take your ignorance and shove it.
Animal cruelty for the sake of human interest continues to be forgotten in the policies and mitigation strategies for tackling climate change. If this goes on much longer, we will continue to give in to our speciesist mentality and as a result, climate change… The boxing match between human nature and Mother Nature is no longer neck-and-neck. Mother Nature is down on one knee, and the other will give out sooner rather than later if nothing changes. The fight is on, so let’s place our bets on the latter, shall we?’ SOURCE…
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