Comments - Five fatal flaws of animal activism - Animal Rights Zone2024-03-29T07:55:43Zhttp://arzone.ning.com/profiles/comment/feed?attachedTo=4715978%3ABlogPost%3A5204&xn_auth=noI think one of the most fatal…tag:arzone.ning.com,2010-03-11:4715978:Comment:61382010-03-11T13:02:17.000ZAndres Grijalvahttp://arzone.ning.com/profile/AndresGrijalva
I think one of the most fatal flaws of animal rights activism is focusing our efforts in attacking those organizations that are trying to help, no matter how small or different their help might be, instead of focusing our efforts on changing the legislations and organizations that need to be changed.<br />
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I have heard many attacks from so called "animal friends" on PETA, WSPA, etc. These attacks will only make those that fight against animal rights even stronger. If PETA or the WSPA do not meet…
I think one of the most fatal flaws of animal rights activism is focusing our efforts in attacking those organizations that are trying to help, no matter how small or different their help might be, instead of focusing our efforts on changing the legislations and organizations that need to be changed.<br />
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I have heard many attacks from so called "animal friends" on PETA, WSPA, etc. These attacks will only make those that fight against animal rights even stronger. If PETA or the WSPA do not meet your moral standards or expectations, it does not mean that you should consider them your enemy. Take the following analogy as an example. If a person that eats meat tells you that he's willing to join you in the fight against animal testing, but not willing to stop eating meat, would you then start an attack on that person for not joining you the whole way or would you welcome his efforts against animal testing and continue to encourage that person to adopt a vegan lifestyle? I think the answer is clear, you would welcome this person's help and even praise that person for their decision to fight against animal testing and to make a difference, a difference that might not be the ideal one in your eyes, by a good decision none the less.<br />
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We shouldn't be attacking those that are willing to make a difference, no matter how small it might be. I disagree with some of the tactics that PETA have used in the past, but should I start an attack on them or would my efforts be better channeled by making an educated and polite suggestion to make them improve in their efforts to save animals. PETA and the WSPA may not be perfect, but common sense tells me that attacking these organizations will not save animals and it will not help in our fight for animal rights. If this organizations don’t meet our moral standards then by all means let them know and I’m sure your suggestions would be welcome, but trying to bring them down is not the answer to achieve what we are trying to achieve.<br />
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I completely agree that you need to know what you’re fighting for and what results you expect to get in order to achieve them. The fight for animal rights should have an organized strategy. People that fight for animals rights should focus in educating and persuading others to join us in the fight in a manner that will appeal to them, you won’t get the results you want from one day to the other and you won’t have the response you want from all the people that you target, but if you make this decision to fight for animal rights look appealing to them, some changes will happen and once this small changes happen, we can start working on the rest. It would naïve to think that we can change other to adopt a vegan lifestyle as we present our argument. What I’m trying to say is that small changes in the right way are better than no change at all. If PETA can encourage a designer to stop using fur in his/her line of clothes, but hasn’t managed to stop them from using leather too, should we then not be happy that a change has been made, that animals have been saved? Or should we instead attack PETA and the designer for not meeting the guidelines of our moral philosophy and stop the use of leather too? No! We should praise what has been achieved as it is a step forward towards our goal. We should praise them, but not stay stagnant and satisfied with this result. No! We should continue fighting and encouraging this designer and others too to stop the use of all animal products in their clothing. With this praise and encouragement for the good decisions that they make as an example, they will be more open to making other further changes and all these changes make a difference for the animals that we are fighting for. Animals need our help we have the duty to have their best interest in mind in our efforts to save them.<br />
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This basic morals philosophy you mention will be possible for everyone to grasp, it is something that people are not willing to easily accept it as it means that they have to change their lifestyle, something that they have know all their lives and have never taken some time to question if it’s morally correct or not. This is why most people won’t join you in the struggle for animals’ rights all the way and not all of them will meat your moral standards, but the little help they offer should always be welcome.<br />
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I find that some animal rights activists are not free from the arrogance and this arrogance will not help the fight for animal rights. An animal rights activist should always have the interest of animals in mind before their pride. We too often ask people to open their minds to change and moral progress, but we too should keep our minds open to see and find the best way to help these people become more compassionate and find solutions and not only questions for their actions. It is all well and good telling people to stop the seal hunt in Canada, but what we need to do is help these people change it, come up with alternatives. These people won’t react well to our requests if we don’t help them make the changes that need to be made. Unfortunately this is the way it is and whilst some of us hope that everybody realized that animals are not ours to use, abuse, eat, etc. It won’t happen unless we help them realize and we can only do this by keeping our minds open to what they have to say. We need to give them solutions and not demands. In my opinion, Mr. Schonfeld…tag:arzone.ning.com,2010-02-19:4715978:Comment:52212010-02-19T17:06:15.000ZBrenda Trericehttp://arzone.ning.com/profile/BrendaTrerice
In my opinion, Mr. Schonfeld may be adding to the 'noise'. He refers to animal welfare organizations as animal rights organizations. Also, vegetarianism is a plant-based diet [no animal by-products]. Hence his above discourse reinforces both masquerades and adds to the confusion.<br />
As a side note, I think of animal welfare 'organizations' as animal welfare corporations.
In my opinion, Mr. Schonfeld may be adding to the 'noise'. He refers to animal welfare organizations as animal rights organizations. Also, vegetarianism is a plant-based diet [no animal by-products]. Hence his above discourse reinforces both masquerades and adds to the confusion.<br />
As a side note, I think of animal welfare 'organizations' as animal welfare corporations.