Earthlings
Since we all inhabit the earth,
all of us are considered earthlings.
There is no sexism, no racism or
speciesism in the term earthling.
It encompasses each and every one of us:
warm or cold blooded, mammal,
vertebrate or invertebrate,
bird, reptile, amphibian, fish,
and human alike.
Humans, therefore, being not the
only species on the planet,
share this world with millions of other living
creatures, as we all evolve here together.
However, it is the human earthling
who tends to dominate the earth,
often times treating other fellow earthlings
and living beings as mere objects.
This is what is meant by speciesism.
By analogy with racism and sexism,
the term "speciesism" is a prejudice
or attitude of bias
in favor of the interests
of members of one's own species and
against those of members of other species.
If a being suffers there can be
no moral justification for
refusing to take that
suffering into consideration.
No matter what the nature of the
being, the principle of equality requires
that one's suffering can be counted equally
with the like suffering of any other being.
Racists violate the principle of
equality by giving greater eight
to the interests of members
of their own race when
their is a clash between their
interests and the interests
of those of another race.
Sexists violate the principle of
equality by favoring
the interests of their own sex.
Similarly, speciesists allow
the interests of their own species
to override the greater interests
of members of other species.
In each case, the pattern is identical.
Though among the members of the human family
we recognize the moral imperative of respect
(every human is a somebody, not a something),
morally disrespectful treatment occurs
when those who stand at the power end of a
power relationship treat the less powerful
as if they were mere objects.
The rapist does this to the victim of rape.
The child molester
to the child molested.
The master to the slave.
In each and all such cases, humans who
have power exploit those who lack it.
Might the same be true of how humans
treat other animals, or other earthlings?
Undoubtedly there are differences,
since humans and animals are
not the same in all respects.
But the question of sameness
wears another face.
Granted, these animals do not have
all the desires we humans have;
granted, they do not comprehend
everything we humans comprehend;
nevertheless, we and they do have
some of the same desires
and do comprehend some of the same things.
The desires for food and water,
shelter and companionship,
freedom of movement
and avoidance of pain?
these desires are shared by
nonhuman animals and human beings.
As for comprehension: like humans,
many nonhuman animals understand the
world in which they live and move.
Otherwise, they could not survive.
So beneath the many differences,
there is sameness.
Like us, these animals embody the
mystery and wonder of consciousness.
Like us, they are not only in the world,
they are aware of it.
Like us they are the psychological
centers of a life that is uniquely their own.
In these fundamental respects humans
stand "on all fours", so to speak,
with hogs and cows,
chickens and turkeys.
What these animals are due from us,
how we morally ought to treat them,
are questions whose answer begins
with the recognition of our
psychological kinship with them.
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