יום שבת, 10 בנובמבר 2012

About the project that demands to end ALL slavery and about extremity (without quotation marks, without apologies)


On October 2nd, three Animal Rights’ activists shocked the web with an extraordinary, bold sacrifice, organized by Alex Bojour:
They all were branded as a symbolic act of identification with the animals used by the human species, conveying the message of animal equality - the blood is the same blood, the pain is the same pain, the suffering is the same suffering.
These activists, extreme by their own definition, extreme without apologizing for it - got surprisingly positive feedback from all over the world, and a huge number of views on YouTube - tens of thousands on the very first days. The above linked viral website, a big international tattoo event of identification with “269”, was launched on November 1st, in order to amplify the animals' silent cry, and now
 the next international 269 tattoo event is being launched, for those who didn't make it to the first one.

It will symbolically take place on December 18, the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, conveying the message that non-human slaves are still waiting for their liberation; that their slavery has yet to be abolished. The organizers and the participants were trying to express by this act their hope the lessons of human slavery are learned and that people realize that legs number, skin texture, or the shape of the os sacrum, are equally insufficient reasons as skin color is, to abandon sensitive beings to the mercy of their tormentors; that the question should be neither “Can they reason?” nor “Can they talk?” but “Can they suffer?”

The first international tattoo event was held simultaneously by people from the USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, The Netherlands, France, Italy, Sweden, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Israel, Australia, India, Nevada, Turkey, South Africa, Ethiopia. Photos from their respective events were posted on
 their page and updated by the hour.

This time they are expecting more than 800 confirmed participants worldwide and they "have room for more".


I had the honor and pleasure to take part in publicizing this project and to say a few words about what I think about it and about Extremity.

In A World Where the Worst Deeds Are Mainstream, Adopt Extremity

A word that is repeated over and over in the context of that demonstration is “extreme”, a term that conveys far negative connotations far more than it does its literary meaning: “behavior that is different from the mainstream”.

The standard response of the Animal Rights movement for this identification with extremity is:
“The demonstration is not extreme –reality is”.
And it’s true.
Humans brand over 1.3 billion calves a year worldwide.
As bad as this practice is, it’s only a symptom of a deeper radical problem:
We treat 150 billion animals worldwide as though they were barcode numbers, trade them or their organs (flesh) and secretions (eggs, milk, honey) as though they were property.
It's reality that's extreme.

I don’t think we should strive for moderation in order to get legitimacy, in order for our activities to be viewed as legitimate, honorable, or admirable.
In a world where the worst deeds are mainstream, extremity is a good thing.
We don’t want to be half-committed, conditionally committed, sitting-on-the-fence, or committed-when-it’s-comfortable.
Wherever there is cruelty, we want to be on the opposite side.

The set of equations that many of us adhere to is as follows:
A sacrifice by humans for the sake of other animals is extreme,
Extreme is wrong,
Therefore
A sacrifice by humans for the sake of other animals is wrong.



















Philosopher, jurist and Animal Rights activist Tom Regan wrote on the Animal Rights’ approach (but his quote is relevant for everything that is said to be extreme):

The position we hold is often said to be “extreme,”
and those of us who hold it are said to be “extremists.”
The unspoken suggestions are that extreme positions cannot be right,and that extremists must be wrong.
But I am an extremist when it comes to rape — I am against it all the time.
I am an extremist when it comes to child abuse — I am against it all the time.
I am an extremist when it comes to sexual discrimination, racial discrimination — I am against it all the time.
I am an extremist when it comes to abuse to the elderly — I am against it all the time.

The plain fact is, moral truth often is extreme, and must be so, for when the injustice is absolute, one must oppose it — absolutely.
Justifying an act by claiming that it’s not extreme misses the point.
The point is that moderation and extremity are not good or bad by themselve; rather, as Tom Regan implied, they depend upon the nature of the actions described as extreme or moderate.
Justice must be total.
Do we want to be moderate in our demand for rights?
Definitely not!
Do we want to be moderate in our intolerance for injustice?
Definitely not!









Eli Wiesel, a holocaust survivor and esteemed writer, is quoted (in the opening of Charles Patterson’s “Eternal Treblinka”):
“We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”
In other words, moderation serves those who hold power.


                               






From the page "Words of Wisdom" in the site "Why Cultured Meat"


The Pessimistic Internal Message To The Movement

Martin Luther King wrote in a letter from jail:
I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner,but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice;who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice;who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek,but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action".

It’s almost unnecessary for me to adapt his message for the AR movement.
All I can say to the AR movement is: learn from him –choose positive peace over a negative one.


In Conclusion

It’s my hope that one day such acts of commitment, acts of sacrifice made by humans for the sake of other animals, won’t raise brows anymore.
This day is yet to come, and until it comes, I applaud these activists for bringing us closer to it and setting a new standard.
The easiest thing is to be neutral and the most comfortable thing of all is to be moderate.
But only few are willing to do whatever is needed, even if it’s neither easy nor comfortable, to end animals’ suffering.

To the December 18 local 269 Solidaity events worldwide.