Being vegan is easy. Are there social pressures that encourage you to continue to eat, wear, and use animal products? Of course there are. But in a patriarchal, racist, homophobic, and ableist society, there are social pressures to participate and engage in sexism, racism, homophobia, and ableism. At some point, you have to decide who you are and what matters morally to you. And once you decide that you regard victimizing vulnerable nonhumans is not morally acceptable, it is easy to go and stay vegan
Gary L. FrancioneTags: veganism exploitation slavery nonviolence moral-obligation abolitionist speciesism moral-imperative
Any serious social, political, and economic change must include veganism.
Gary L. FrancioneTags: wisdom life education animals justice inspirational-quotes global-warming veganism health exploitation slavery racism nonviolence sexism extinction rights abolition ahimsa moral-obligation classism climate-change abolitionist sentience speciesism vulnerable peace-movement peace-on-earth heterosexism francione nonviolence-jainism peace-making moral-imperative ableist
We should never present flesh as somehow morally distinguishable from dairy. To the extent it is morally wrong to eat flesh, it is as morally wrong — and possibly more morally wrong — to consume dairy
Gary L. FrancioneTags: wisdom life education animals justice inspirational-quotes global-warming veganism health exploitation slavery racism nonviolence sexism extinction rights abolition ahimsa moral-obligation classism climate-change abolitionist sentience dairy speciesism vulnerable peace-movement peace-on-earth heterosexism francione nonviolence-jainism peace-making moral-imperative ableist calves
If we take the position that an assessment that veganism is morally preferable to vegetarianism is not possible because we are all “on our own journey,” then moral assessment becomes completely impossible or is speciesist. It is impossible because if we are all “on our own journey,” then there is nothing to say to the racist, sexist, anti-semite, homophobe, etc. If we say that those forms of discrimination are morally bad, but, with respect to animals, we are all “on our own journey” and we cannot make moral assessments about, for instance, dairy consumption, then we are simply being speciesist and not applying the same moral analysis to nonhumans that we apply to the human context.
Gary L. FrancioneTags: wisdom life education animals justice inspirational-quotes veganism exploitation slavery racism nonviolence sexism rights abolition ahimsa moral-obligation classism abolitionist sentience speciesism vulnerable peace-movement peace-on-earth heterosexism francione nonviolence-jainism peace-making moral-imperative ableist
We should always be clear that animal exploitation is wrong because it involves speciesism. And speciesism is wrong because, like racism, sexism, homophobia, anti-semitism, classism, and all other forms of human discrimination, speciesism involves violence inflicted on members of the moral community where that infliction of violence cannot be morally justified. But that means that those of us who oppose speciesism necessarily oppose discrimination against humans. It makes no sense to say that speciesism is wrong because it is like racism (or any other form of discrimination) but that we do not have a position about racism. We do. We should be opposed to it and we should always be clear about that.
Gary L. FrancioneTags: wisdom life education animals justice inspirational-quotes global-warming veganism health exploitation slavery racism nonviolence sexism extinction rights abolition ahimsa moral-obligation classism climate-change abolitionist sentience speciesism vulnerable peace-movement peace-on-earth heterosexism francione nonviolence-jainism peace-making moral-imperative ableist
An abolitionist is, as I have developed that notion, one who (1) maintains that we cannot justify animal use, however “humane” it may be; (2) rejects welfare campaigns that seek more “humane” exploitation, or single-issue campaigns that seek to portray one form of animal exploitation as morally worse than other forms of animal exploitation (e.g., a campaign that seeks to distinguish fur from wool or leather); and (3) regards veganism, or the complete rejection of the consumption or use of any animal products, as a moral baseline. An abolitionist regards creative, nonviolent vegan education as the primary form of activism, because she understands that the paradigm will not shift until we address demand and educate people to stop thinking of animals as things we eat, wear, or use as our resources.
Gary L. FrancioneTags: wisdom life education animals justice inspirational-quotes veganism exploitation slavery racism nonviolence sexism rights abolition ahimsa moral-obligation classism abolitionist sentience speciesism vulnerable peace-movement peace-on-earth heterosexism francione nonviolence-jainism peace-making moral-imperative ableist
We can no more justify using nonhumans as human resources than we can justify human slavery. Animal use and slavery have at least one important point in common: both institutions treat sentient beings exclusively as resources of others. That cannot be justified with respect to humans; it cannot be justified with respect to nonhumans—however “humanely” we treat them.
Gary L. FrancioneTags: wisdom life education animals justice inspirational-quotes veganism exploitation slavery nonviolence rights abolition ahimsa abolitionist sentience peace-movement peace-on-earth francione nonviolence-jainism peace-making
I am opposed to animal welfare campaigns for two reasons. First, if animal use cannot be morally justified, then we ought to be clear about that, and advocate for no use. Although rape and child molestation are ubiquitous, we do not have campaigns for “humane” rape or “humane” child molestation. We condemn it all. We should do the same with respect to animal exploitation.
Second, animal welfare reform does not provide significant protection for animal interests. Animals are chattel property; they are economic commodities. Given this status and the reality of markets, the level of protection provided by animal welfare will generally be limited to what promotes efficient exploitation. That is, we will protect animal interests to the extent that it provides an economic benefit.
Tags: wisdom life education animals justice inspirational-quotes global-warming veganism health exploitation slavery racism nonviolence sexism extinction rights abolition ahimsa moral-obligation classism climate-change welfare abolitionist sentience speciesism vulnerable peace-movement peace-on-earth heterosexism francione nonviolence-jainism peace-making moral-imperative ableist
To say that a being who is sentient has no interest in continuing to live is like saying that a being with eyes has no interest in continuing to see. Death—however “humane”—is a harm for humans and nonhumans alike.
Gary L. FrancioneTags: wisdom life education animals justice inspirational-quotes veganism exploitation slavery nonviolence rights abolition ahimsa abolitionist sentience peace-movement peace-on-earth francione nonviolence-jainism peace-making
There are some animal advocates who say that to maintain that veganism is the moral baseline is objectionable because it is “judgmental,” or constitutes a judgment that veganism is morally preferable to vegetarianism and a condemnation that vegetarians (or other consumers of animal products) are “bad” people. Yes to the first part; no to the second. There is no coherent distinction between flesh and other animal products. They are all the same and we cannot justify consuming any of them. To say that you do not eat flesh but that you eat dairy or eggs or whatever, or that you don’t wear fur but you wear leather or wool, is like saying that you eat the meat from spotted cows but not from brown cows; it makers no sense whatsoever. The supposed “line” between meat and everything else is just a fantasy–an arbitrary distinction that is made to enable some exploitation to be segmented off and regarded as “better” or as morally acceptable. This is not a condemnation of vegetarians who are not vegans; it is, however, a plea to those people to recognize their actions do not conform with a moral principle that they claim to accept and that all animal products are the result of imposing suffering and death on sentient beings. It is not a matter of judging individuals; it is, however, a matter of judging practices and institutions. And that is a necessary component of ethical living.
Gary L. FrancioneTags: wisdom life education animals justice inspirational-quotes veganism exploitation slavery racism nonviolence sexism rights abolition ahimsa moral-obligation classism abolitionist sentience speciesism vulnerable peace-movement peace-on-earth heterosexism francione nonviolence-jainism peace-making moral-imperative ableist
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