Inspired by the immediacy in the United States during the nineteenth century that demanded the immediate abolition of the slave trade and the recognition of their civil and political equality, they rejected the principles of gradualism (policy of "small steps" "). Hostiles towards the well-meant speeches and campaigns aimed at improving the daily lives of animal victims of slavery, loudly and clearly proclaim their rejection of the animal object and its exploitation by humans. They point out that the problem lies not in the way animals are used, but in the use of them. Farming, production of meat, milk, fur, wool, leather, honey, silk, etc., aquatic “shows”, hunting, fishing, bullfights, zoos, deportation, imprisonment, vivisection, genetic manipulation, domestication, confiscation, destruction and pollution of territories…: all of these crimes of speciesism that we are collectively collaborating in and that we have always turned a blind eye to.
Since we do not need animal products to live, we humans continue to unnecessarily enslave and massacre members of other species. The only reason we harvest and kill hundreds of billions of terrestrial and marine animals each year is that we like the taste of their flesh and their body-made products: eggs, milk, etc., just as we have always done. We love to put on their skin, their fur and their wool by habit.
This manifesto upsets our values and points to the good conscience behind which the followers of the «organic» and of a so-called ethical consumption of animals. Without detours or concessions, the authors claim that there is no "human" exploitation of others, nor is there any torture or "human" murder. They denounce the millennial concept of continuous consumption and defeat our alleged moral superiority, which is disproved by the way we treat other creatures who share with us the Earth - creatures we have enslaved, reduced to the state of means at the service of our own ends. To awaken the consciences, they do not hesitate to describe our behaviour as genocidal, quoting the famous sentence of Isaac B. Singer, Nobel laureate of literature: "When it comes to animals, all men behave like Nazis. "
Writers, philosophers, legal experts and lawyers agree to give a voice to these silent victims who, like us, have the right to life and respect. This book is a platform for women and men working intellectually, practically, peacefully for the animal cause. To work for animals means to put an end to their exploitation and not to regulate them; it means proceeding to their emancipation and not planning their slavery. It means working for a more just world that includes in the community of equals all beings endowed with sentience, by virtue of that very sentience. Such goals can only be achieved through the adoption of a vegan lifestyle, a practical application of the abolitionist theory and fundamental moral principle.
This book (the first devoted to abolitionist veganism to appear in France) is still a powerful tool to lead others to reflect on animal liberation and its implications. Finally, he hopes to contribute humbly to stave off the circle of violence that we initiated and of which we are tragically prisoners of.
Human beasts? For a vegan revolution (dir Méryl Pinque) was published by Autrement on March 11, 2015 in the collection "Universités populaires & Cie".
With, in alphabetical order, the contributions of: Gary L. Francione, Valery Giroux, Patrick Llored, Meryl Pinque and Gary Steiner.
Preface by Michel Onfray.
Comments 3
Reynajo | Tuesday 27 June 2017
squirikiki | Friday 16 September 2016
wettlé | Thursday 04 August 2016