An article, Minority Rules: Scientists Discover Tipping Point for the Spread of Ideas, reports: Scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have found that when just 10 percent of the population holds an unshakable belief, their belief will always be adopted by the majority of the society. The scientists, who are members of the Social Cognitive Networks […]
There is a tendency amongst some animal advocates to associate nonhuman personhood with animals, such as chimpanzees, dolphins, and elephants, who have more sophisticated–that is, humanlike–cognitive abilities. I would suggest that, for purposes of determining whom it is appropriate to treat as a replaceable resource, that is wholly arbitrary. Cognitive abilities may be relevant for […]
If you say that you are an “abolitionist” but support welfare reform as a means to abolition, you are using “abolition” in a fundamentally different way from the way in which I use that term. I use that term to identify a position that excludes regulation/welfare reform. Think about it this way: X and Y […]
On Saturday, June 29, I gave the plenary talk at the Animal Rights 2013 National Conference. You can listen to the audio here. The title of my talk: “The Abolitionist Approach to Animal Rights.” I understand that a video will be available at some point, which will allow you to see the PowerPoint presentation. I […]
I was recently in one of the two Whole Foods in my area. I passed by the meat counter and I saw the signs about how the animals whose corpses are sold by Whole Foods are so very well treated. I saw people buying “happy” meat. And I heard a shopper say to an employee […]
Our new book is now available. You can get it here. If people adopt a vegan diet for ethical reasons, everything changes. If they don’t adopt a vegan diet, they stay stuck with anti-fur protests and single-issue campaigns and nothing changes. ***** If you are not vegan, please go vegan. Veganism is about nonviolence. First […]
Animal welfare reform focuses on the supply side of exploitation. The idea is to provide a supply of more “humanely” produced animal products. The idea also is to make that supply more expensive so that consumers buy fewer animal products. But the theory and the reality are different. Even those who support welfare reform often […]
Yesterday, I visited Whole Foods and my purchases were placed in this bag: Think about the message: When an animal, a commodity, an “it”–is “raised right,” “it tastes right.” And just about every large animal organization in the United States expressed their “appreciation and support” to Whole Foods for its “happy” exploitation program: This is […]
As animal advocates, we oppose speciesism because, like racism, sexism, heterosexism, and other forms of discrimination, it uses a morally irrelevant criterion (species) to discount and devalue the interests of sentient beings. But our opposition to speciesism means that we do have a position on these other forms of discrimination. That is, we cannot oppose […]
I am critical of single-issue campaigns (SICs). I am often asked if promoting the adoption or fostering of homeless animals is a single-issue campaign. The answer is that it is not and the question indicates confusion about what an SIC is and why SICs are objectionable. Although all welfarist campaigns can be characterized as SICs, […]