I am very passionate about life, and as a contributing member of this planet I have sought many paths towards making a positive contribution to this earth.  The value of a quality, fulfilling life, in my belief, extends well beyond the boundaries of Homo Sapiens.  Those who are near to me, know that in the last three years I have undergone a life transformation which for me has been one of the most fruitful and fulfilling I have experienced.  I am a vegetarian.  My intention is not to imply that a universal principle regarding morality exists, moreover, it is neither my intention to convince you or anyone else of my interpretation of any conclusions I may have arrived at morally.  I am a concerned member of the global village, as as such, I have discovered an important issue at hand, one which is pertinent, relevant, and in dire need of attention.

Speciesism was a term popularised by a keystone of the animal rights movement, philosopher Dr. Peter Singer.  In short, speciesism is the act of assigning specific values or rights to a being based upon its biological species.  As humans, every day we purposefully and inadvertently assign these values upon members of our living world through animal testing, biological manipulation, and death.  Many members of the animal rights movement choose to eliminate the eating of animal flesh, while abolishing animal testing.  Others believe that under specific conditions it is morally permissible to kill an animal for sustenance, particularly in times of life and death or the unavailability of alternative food sources.  Furthermore, others choose to participate in animal testing for the prevention of diseases in order to help maintain a healthy human population.

Dining on the flesh of animals is a physically unnecessary action to ensure the human will survive and flourish.  Interestingly enough, vegetarianism by large groups of people who otherwise clearly have the option of eating meat, is a new movement for humans, beginning only in the early to mid 1900's.  Pigs, cattle, and chickens are more intelligent than the house dog.  The pig is actually astoundingly clean, and avoids at all cost contact with its waste.  In raw intelligence, the pig is smarter than a three year old human.  We, as practitioners of speciesism, simply disregard this with the notion that a humans "raw potential" is greater than that of which a pig, cow, fish, or chicken will ever accomplish.  Each of these animals are self aware, intelligent, curious, loyal beings with close ties to their immediate family.  These are creatures with personalities, lives, and patterns of existence predating the human. 

Why then, do we choose to dine on the flesh of animals?  They taste delicious, I know, because I ate their flesh for two decades.  But when we stop and ask ourselves why we choose to engage in this behavior, we find that we are willing to sacrifice the life of an individual, just to have an unnecessary meal.  After spending three years as a vegetarian, I can tell you that the transition was not hard.  Many times I sat in a restaurant parking lot fighting the temptation to go in and order a hamburger, but, through remembering the origin from which these animals came from, I was able to fight this temptation.  There are psychological factors at play in the food industry which work to separate us from the food we eat.  Pig is called "pork," cows are called "beef," and they are all packaged in white styrofoam, seran-wrapped containers.  When the word "steak" is mentioned, we think of a cut piece of meat on a barbecue, rather than the cow from which it came.  There is an astounding array of meat-free substitute foods available, not to mention the variety of vegetables and delicious dishes which are only heightened by avoiding the typical chicken dinner.

Many people often say, "well, the chicken is already dead, I might as well buy it."  660,000 animals are killed each hour for food in the US alone.  It may seem that there is no conceivable difference you can make.  True, if you choose to put down that chicken, it may be picked up and purchased by someone else.  But that person would have purchased it anyway.  Imagine if you never purchased that product again; imagine how many potential orders of meat you will have eliminated over the course of a lifetime.  Thousands: thousands of animals which, in the future, will not be unnecessarily murdered.  People often say, "I'll only buy a Chevy, because it's made in the US and I want to support our workers."  This utilizes the same concept--the truck has already been manufactured, and the people have already been paid--why do you still by it?, because you know that your purchase of the product will IMPACT THE INDUSTRY.  This same princple, if you think about it, can be applied at the singluar level to eleminate the IMPACT of taking another inocent animal life--If you buy it, you support the industry, if you don't buy it, you do not support it--it's that simple.  It now becomes clear that through the work of one individual, a significant impact can be made.

One of the primary reasons I support the abolishment of certain forms of animal testing, is simply because their usage is, in my view, largely unnecessary.  For instance, most major cosmetic companies test their products on animals to ensure they will be safe for use on the human body.  Eye liner, for example, is often tested on the eyes of rabbits because their pupils function similar to that of a human.  They essentially rub the eye liner on the rabbits' eyes until the rabbit goes blind, thus giving them bearings as to how their consumers own body would react.  I find this morally unacceptable, because eye liner is completely unnecessary on this earth.  Its function is purely that of a cosmetic, aesthetic purpose, and therefore, causes undue harm to the rabbit.

In some cases, particularly in the effort of preventing once incurable diseases, animal testing has ensured generations of humans liberation from life preventing, and debilitating diseases.  In performing animal testing we have worked to ensure the longevity and physical well-being of our own species, which significantly improves the lives of literally billions of humans, while harming only a small number of animals.  Depending upon your own point of view, this may be a rational alternative to the rabbit example.

I love this earth, and as a member of it I work hard to make sure that my footprints do not leave such a negative impact for future generations.  Speciesism is not the clearest path towards justice for a rich and diverse world.  No jouney into morality is without exception, and each circumstance opens a dialogue which may bring each one of us closer to defining our own views on the world.  Please, if this small bit of information sparked your interest in this important subject, please review these links as a starting point to a new path:

Peter Singers Book "Animal Liberation"  The most popular work of philosophical literature on the animal rights movement.  Click here 

Goveg: A great site with clear and concise information.  Click here 

Humane Society of the United States: A non-biased organization dedicated to the betterment of animals.  Click here 

Vegetarian Restaurants in Seattle: A terrific and tasty list!  Click here