I'm surprised I hadn't seen the crash course philosophy video earlier; it nailed home the core philosophical arguments for veganism, although I'm not particularly a fan of the word 'speciesist', as people tend to conflate it with animals being equal to humans.
Humans are, undoubtedly, a higher evolved race of beings but that is not a justification to slaughter animals for sensory pleasure or convenience.
Anarchism and veganism share many similarities. I interpret 'no rulers' to mean just that, no rulers for humans or animals. Why should we only apply the non-aggression principle to humans when animals, like us, desire to live their lives in freedom.
We are all progressing at our own pace and I appreciate you for posting this, Luke, especially as a meat eater. I find many libertarians/anarchists are a little too left-brained in their approach to philosophy, which is why I find great value in Mark Passio's material, who introduced me to the documentary Earthlings (I don't know if you've seen it).
Thanks for commenting!
No, I haven't seen it but I will probably check it out. I saw Mark Passio at Anarchapulco and it was one of the most amazing talks there for me. There's a whole bunch of his content I want to consume.
That's a really interesting way to phrase it. Many anarchists, I think, are very, very principled individuals (and I'm so glad they are!) but it can mean they have trouble recognizing most of physical reality is on a spectrum. What one person considers a convenience, another person considers a basic necessity. Our expectations vary widely. The consciousness level of animals also varies along with their ability to feel pain and pleasure in a meaningful way. Good philosophy tries to tackle these problems head on while also dealing with the realities of the world we live in as it is today. For example, would it be better for cows to not exist or to exist and have a pleasurable life which ends in them becoming food? We've essentially manipulated their evolution to serve us to the point where I'm not sure they could effectively survive on their own. These are examples of the trolly problem type hard philosophy that I'd enjoy seeing more voluntaryists tackle. The world is a complex place and simple answers to simple problems often doesn't map well to it.
I look forward to reading more of your content on this subject. Thanks.
Earthlings (available on YouTube), for me, was a game changer. If you do watch it, I will pre-warn you that it's VERY DIFFICULT to watch all the way through due to its violent nature.
Passio is a powerhouse! I've consumed so much of his content over the years, and he has opened my eyes to so many things I was previously unaware of. His understanding of the psychology of order following is unparalleled, in my opinion.
To answer your question about rearing cows for food, if I was given the choice of incarnating into a physical body knowing that I was going to be enslaved by a higher race of beings, I would choose not to. Regardless of how well they may treat me in the days leading up to my death, I could never choose to be someone else's slave knowing that I was pre-destined for slaughter. I would rather not exist.
To gain an appreciation for just how much these creatures value freedom (as we all do), check this out :-)