Speciesist or Specious?

I have just read an article by Joan Dunayer published in Vegan Voice #23 (Sep-Nov 2005) called "Reply to a Self-Proclaimed Speciesist" which was written in reply to an article written by Peter Milne called "Disagreeing with the Speciesism Theory" (2005), which was written in reply to an article called "Speciesism" (2004). I include this only so that you can look it all up if you want, and I freely admit I have not read the earlier to articles - this post is an opinion based solely on Dunayer's 2005 article.

Speciesism is, from what I understand, a political "ism" centred around the discrimination against lifeforms on the basis of species. In other words, a form of xenophobia. It has been likened in flavour to other "isms" such as racism and sexism. Specific definitions are still being formulated - it seems to be quite the flavour of the month with the animal liberation movement. Without making any judgements against Dunayer (whom I know nothing of) or Milne (who is an acquaintance) I thought I would add my two cents.

Dunayer's article is somewhat academically vituperative but intelligently written and makes sequential sense - except that it is based on a fallacy. She seems to have science confused with ethics, and while science should be governed by ethics, they are not the same thing.

She speaks often of the "right to life" of sentient creatures, in which she includes all of animalia, and excludes all flora, as being the basic principle upon which speciesism can be based, but what is the right to life? Who grants such a life? I would argue that no lifeform has any scientific inalienable rights - the concept is frankly ridiculous. "Rights" are an ethical and moral construct created by Homo Sapiens to justify their behaviour in the world - to themselves. There is no such thing as a scientific "right". According to Dunayer, it is speciesist to kill insects, with certain exceptions such as self defence, where one "right" to life is in conflict to another. This is on the basis that insects are sentient, and sentient beings have the "right" not to suffer unnecessarily. Since when? How does that stop it happening? What consequences are there to the individual who violates these "rights"?

I am a vegetarian and loathe cruelty to animals, but this is an emotional, ethical and moral standpoint. It is not scientific. Dunayer accuses Milne of a religious stance toward animals based on belief which violates the principles of non-speciesist behaviour, but in fact she is guilty of the same charge - there is nothing scientific in her argument. I also question her understanding of "Sentience" - realistically, we haven't gone beyond "I think therefore I am" and probably never will, because the subject is charged more with philosophy than fact. Has she ever talked with an insect? Communed with it's mind? Behaviour cannot be used as reliable evidence for sentience - modern scientists have observed self-organising "behaviour" on a molecular level, on a protein level - and on an insect level. Behaviour is functional - we understand only it's motivations and consequences, we do not understand its causes.

There is scientific basis for veganism, but it relates to land use and the economic (in terms of natural resources, not commercial) survival of our planet, and has nothing whatsoever to do with the "rights" of animals.

The ethical arguments are substantive, useful and compelling, because we are capable of ethical and moral viewpoints, they help define who we are. I simply object to an ethical argument being posited as scientific when it is clearly not. In short, the argument of what is speciesism seems to me to be a huge waste of time - It will not convince anyone to become vegan, and merely increases infighting amongst those who would like to see us take more moral responsibility toward the animals which are within our power.

Curiosity and the Etiquette of Death

In my other life apart from teaching, I work the graveyard shift in a service station. This is the part of my life that sucks, but I'm stuck with it for the moment. Yesterday, shortly after Midnight which is when I started my shift, some poor girl, probably drunk, tried to cross the highway and didn't make it. Because she crossed at a blind spot, and judging by the aftermath, she probably got hit by at least three vehicles. Firstly this pisses me off because any loss of young life is a huge fucking waste of potential, and although it probably wasn't the best place to cross, knowing this area as I do, and it being pub night, I sincerely doubt that the traffic was driving sensibly or within the speed limit. But I'm not in the mood to rage against the stupid morons who plague our roads. I spent the next few hours at work considering the nature of mortality and the faceless grief of the parents for whom tomorrow was not just another day, and whether or not she was aware of the pain that faced her in the moments before she was hit, whether she survived the first hit, the terror that must have overcome her, and was somewhat overwhelmed by the tragedy of the situation.
Obviously the road was closed for many hours following. Every single customer who had driven past had something to say or wanted to know what had happened. What is the etiquette in such a situation? I was getting pissed off, I didn't want to comment on the tragedy to every faceless customer, I didn't want to have to dwell on it every couple of minutes. I was the focal point for their morbid curiosity, their source of everyone's gory satisfaction. I wondered how many people who asked what had happened thought of how many times I had been asked that question, how many had thought beyond the satisfaction of their own curiosity to consider the human element. I understand that as a protective measure the human mind allows us to avoid thinking about certain things, or to think about things in an abstract way, but I wonder whether this ability is sometimes taken too far. Sometimes, we should reach beyond the curiosity and consider the tragedy. It's a good opportunity to see beyond our own squalid little lives.

Stupid Shit Students Say

As a teacher of English and Drama I feel it necessary to pass on to the general public the amusing utterances of our ill informed youth. This will probably be a periodical post, and may one day evolve into a book.

1. Why does everyone have to study English when we already talk it?
Year 9 Student

2. I have a bigness inside me.
Year 11 Student

3. I think he has a 5th sense.
Year 9 Student

You have to laugh or you will cry.

Sick of Sex

I was at rehearsal today for Droughtbreaker, which opens at the Parramatta Riverside in late September. This has absolutely nothing to do with this post, but during our lunch break a conversation was struck up which inspired me to make another febrile entry.
Our society is saturated with pointless, meaningless sex, and it sucks. If you are a guy, you are probably giggling because I said meaningless sex. Fuck off, this is serious. Particularly in our music. For example - Pussy Cat Dolls - "Don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me?". No. Eat shit and die slut, because MY girlfriend has a brain and even a modicum of self respect, and if we ever have kids, she will be a great role model for them, on account of the fact that a close up of her arse cleavage has never graced the screens of Australia's television viewers. We have eight year old girls who show up to eisteddfods and sing "Oops I did it again" in fishnets and heels, and then cry to mummy, why, mummy why? why did the nasty judge say that this song is inappropriate for my age and that whoever let me do this number should be ashamed of themselves? As one person said today, we are creating an environment that encourages pedophilia by churning out under age sex symbols and then we cry out why, oh why are we stricken with such evil? Wake up Fuck Head! It's like the Governments stance on smoking - we'll make it really expensive and put gross pictures on the packs. That way, everyone will still smoke, so we'll make lots of money, but we'll also appear to be doing something about people's health. If it's bad, ban it, or stop whinging you freaking morons! The examples are countless of music today which is completely concerned with sex, physical appearance, and a lack of any emotional connection to one's sexual partner.
Now don't get me wrong. I love sex. A lot. Every guy does, If they say they don't, they're either lying or doing it wrong. But what the media and the pop scene tells us today is a fantasy that people buy into, and it fucks up people's REAL sex lives by creating incredibly unreal expectations on both genders, so they are either so fucked up with inadequacy issues they can't perform, or their view of what sex should be is so skewed that they'll fuck anything with a pulse, and the people who against all odds still try to walk the line are labelled and become social outcasts. Back in the eighties, we still had songs about sex, but most of them were about love as well, and when we sang them, we fucking meant them!

Kosher my Arse

If you read Cameron's Blog (creamycameron.blogspot.com) you'll know that he recently made a deal with Cath to become vegan if she quit smoking, and I agreed to quit also to support Cath. In order to inform Cam of the ethical ramifications of his choice she showed him a Doco voiced by Joaquin Phoenix called "Earthlings", which I have been steadfastly refusing to watch on the grounds of already being a vegetarian, and not needing to see the sick fucked up shit that people do to animals. Well, now I've seen it (sort of, I was hiding behind my laptop at the time), and my opinion that the vast majority of the human race (with the exception of people who read this blog - some of you anyway) are fucked up sick pieces of shit has happily been confirmed. I am not evangelistic and don't particularly want to become a crusader, but my god some of the things the human race is capable of makes me feel literally nauseous. That's not a metaphor - I am seriously having to make an effort not to hurl. If you are interested in seeing just how despicable people are, Cam is disseminating the film. If you want to leave comments, feel free, but if you are trying to justify the behaviour of the various animal industries - fuck off, you're not worth my time. PS I'm allowed to piss on Jews because I am one.

In the Beginning...

Well, I'm not going all the way back, partly because I wasn't there, and partly because if I was there, I must have had a really goood time, because I don't remember any of it. I have started a blog. Or I am currently starting it, as I type, which will be in the past when you read it but is currently in my present. The reasons are many, varied, and not at all thought out. I have friends who blog. My girlfriend blogs. You cannot post comments on her site unless you blog. I type therefore I blog. I find the etymology of the word Blog interesting. It comes, as many of you know, from Web Log. I wonder if in italy they call them Wogs? The blogs, not the people. The people are italians. You racist bastard. Maybe we should just call them Lebs. I mean Wegs.

Anyway, I shall endeavour to post nothing of importance and only minimal entertainment value. I hope it really pisses you off, because then I will feel like I have had an effect on people.