We are abolitionists. Meaning I acknowledge that animals are sentient and entitled to their own livelihood. Therefore, it is immoral to use animals for human needs. Period. Full stop. End of story.
To these ends I do not believe in supporting anything that does not meet these ends, it just doesn't make any sense to me. And would be speciesist to do so.
See it's simple.
That's why I can't support something like California's Prop 2 that is giving legitimacy to the use of animals.
And what welfarists don't undestand when they say abolitionists are divisive, is that we are not even working on the same cause. You will not reach abolition by supporting things that are not abolitionist. We all need to be out there promoting veganism in whatever way we can.
Abolitionist veganism is simple and logical: it's not ok to use animals AT ALL.
Things that have helped me to come to this conclusion:
Abolitionist Approach
Peaceful Prairie Sanctuary's Letter
Posts
2 comments:
It's funny I was just thinking about this. A few days ago I came across a blog that also didn't support prop 2. I don't live in California, so I never really thought about how I'd vote on the issue. I actually had to figure how I, as a vegan, stood on it. The other blogger's argument made sense (as does yours) but it makes me feel guilty to think I wouldn't vote yes. It feels like the only hope the animals have and in a realistic sense they may never be free of the slavery. That said, I think that by voting yes, your accepting the lowest offer, like we've given in and are settling.
Most welfarists I know claim that it takes baby steps to eventually get what we want. I don't know which is a better method. Maybe there isn't one.
I appreciated this post, I enjoy intellectual posts like this.
Thanks for replying. I really appreciate your comment. It was a post I felt a little nervous about posting, but I really needed to say it.
Anyway, I felt just like you at first (I also don't vote in California), a little guilty to not want to vote yes. This article helped me to understand the issue better. http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/?p=165
I don't think you need to feel guilty considering Prop 2 does basically nothing to help animals and doesn't even go into effect until 2015. I think our time and resources would be much better spent educating people on veganism.
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