The video by Jeremy Rifkin that we watched in class a few days ago was one of the most thought provoking things I have come across this year in school. However I feel as though so many people are only seeing the main point, that empathy is necessary for us to survive, as a support for their animal rights belief. I cannot fathom how these people can support animal rights so strongly, yet show so little empathy and compassion for fellow human beings. Rifkin states in the video that we must start thinking as an "Extended Family." Meaning everyone together. He goes on to say we must extend our identities to our fellow humans as a race. Only after that does he include other creatures and the rest of the biosphere. He says Humans first, meaning we have to empathize with, and have compassion for each other before we start defending animals.
Okay great there are rules for pigs to have toys so they don't fight with each other. There are crows who can fashion hooks out of wire. There's even a gorilla who can use sign language. Fish feel pain. Great apes have rights in Spain. Why is it that we put those matters over the importance of humanity's well being? We have people who put the importance of their dog before that of other people. There are individuals who are passionate about the fact that testing of medication of animals is horribly wrong, yet have most likely benefited from said medications in the past, or will in the future. There are millions of dollars being donated every year to animal rights. There are commercials from the SPCA that allow people to adopt a dog by sending money to take care of it. And yet there are still starving, homeless, and needy people everywhere. There are people who have hit hard times and have no homes, no jobs, no one to care for them. Yet some people will gladly invest their paychecks in animals rather than in those people in need.
Yes, Empathy is needed. Yes, there are animals that need help, but when did those animals become more of a pressing matter than Human Beings in our communities who are in need? I think empathy is plentiful, it is just ill-spent.
I agree with you when you say that we need to focus on humans first before we can get to animal rights because how can we treat animals fairly if we can't even treat another person right. But, I also disagree because I feel that animal rights are ignored by most people in the world. I understand where the people who strongly support animal rights are coming from because how I see it is that as much as I care about human rights, humans can speak up for themselves, while animals can not. This leads to animals being abused all over the world just because they can not speak up for themselves. Also, I agree that animals being used to test medicine is wrong because I have done a research paper on the subject and have found many things that are completely inhumane about it. To begin with, animal research is barely even necessary anymore because there are many new technologies that can replace animals and are more accurate than using animals. Also, if they want to test out something that will help with deafness they purposely make the animals deaf, which I find extremely cruel. Those were just a few of examples of how cruel animal testing is. Furthermore, from my experience humans think of themselves as way more important than any other living creature on this planet. While it is important that we don't ignore human rights, we shouldn't completely toss animal rights out the window. The fact that only a few countries have a ban on experimenting on apes is sad to me. That still barely gives animals any rights, since there are still millions of cats, dogs, rats, and other animals that are stuck being tested on. Lastly, yes it is very saddening that there are so many homeless and starving people in this world and not a whole lot is done about it, but many more animals die everyday inside labs and pounds and even less is done to change anything about it. I think empathy for animals isn't plentiful, and if people just gave them a little more time something good would come of it.
ReplyDeleteYes. Yes. Yes. I have been thinking this same exact thing. So many people worry about animals before they even worry about a human. Did you know that there have been people that have left money to their pets before even thinking about leaving it to a family member? That blows my mind because that is so stupid to me. What is an animal going to do with money. Nothing. A family member could easily benefit from that. And if someone doesn't have family members, give it to SOMEONE. Empathy is super important. It's not even about just animals anymore though. Humans need to have empathy for each other. That was super random but it related.
ReplyDeleteAnd then also I read Jasmines comment and I wanted to kinda reply to that. Some of the stuff they do to animals is actually RIDICULOUS. Maybe people should put a little bit of effort into establishing animal handling techniques. Then again, there's only so much people can do, and I don't really see anything changing drastically in our lifetime.
I love this. I agree with you. I am for animal rights but when you said that there are homeless people living on the streets starving and begging for money we need to Raise awareness more towards them than animals. Regardless if these people on the streets are drug addicts or just cant afford a place to stay a human is a human. We should start raising money to open up more shelters than we already have for the people in need, rather than animals. Although it's a good cause people should be getting as much attention and focus on these rights that animals do. People are what run this world. I love this post. Love love love.
ReplyDeleteI just love comments on my posts. I can't even describe it.
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