Animal Rights advocates believe animals have the same right to be here as do humans.
Animal Rights advocates believe animals have the same rights not to be exploited, enslaved, or murdered as we humans claim for ourselves.
Animal Rights advocates believe the test of the value of life is not intelligence, reason, or speech, but whether or not one can suffer.
Animal Rights advocates believe all sentient life is equally valuable and should be protected.
What do we know?
We know that more animals are suffering and dying now than ever before in history.
We know that the Animal Holocaust is increasing.
We know that 60 billion animals are murdered in slaughterhouses every year.
We know that figure was 15 billion fifty years ago.
We know the human population is growing faster than we are recruiting animal activists and vegans.
We know that capitalism is the primary cause of animal exploitation, slavery, cruelty, and death.
We know most of the world’s governments are owned by capitalists and multinational corporations.
We know that socialist societies murder and consume half the animals per capita as do capitalist societies.
We know the average non-vegan indirectly is responsible for the murders of more than 300 animals per year.
We know that not a single government on Earth recognizes the rights of animals to not be enslaved, exploited, or murdered.
We know that Animal Rights activists are at odds with all human societies, most people, all governments, every major religion, and most of the minor ones.
What are we doing?
Unfortunately, almost everything we are doing has nothing to do with ending the Animal Holocaust or changing the world.
We jump from brushfire to brushfire, we try to awaken our friends, our families, our neighbors. We save a few animals. We call about legislation, we email, we sign petitions, we share Facebook posts and blog articles. We cross-post, we rescue, we foster, we transport, we beg, we cry, we pray.
What we do matters to those few we actually help, but for most of the victims of human cruelty, it is as if we Animal Rights advocates do not exist.
The animals keep suffering, They keep being murdered.
What should we do?
There is only one course of action open to Animal Rights activists. It is a long term project, but it offers the only hope for animals.
We should plan for revolution.
Only by bringing down our political, legal, and economic systems will the animals have a chance.
The enemy of animals is the status quo. The existing paradigm. The way things are.
The world’s religions. The world’s governments. The world’s legal systems. Capitalism.
Each feeds on the others, shores up and justifies the others, each is a prison bar for the animals trapped in the world’s food system. Each is a knife, a bolt gun, a bone saw.
The Animal Holocaust could not occur without the participation of, and cooperation of, each.
The religious doctrine of dominion over animals gives the world permission to consume and use animals.
Our legal systems allow for people to own animals, and do whatever they wish to them.
Capitalism rewards those who enslave and kill animals.
And our governments protect those who do.
The Animal Movement cannot succeed under capitalism. While we save the few animal we can, billions more are beyond our ability to save. And the number we cannot save keeps increasing. For animals trapped in the food system, it is as though there is no Animal Movement.
As long as capitalism exists, the Animal Movement is doomed. And so are the animals.
Armory Notes:
• I am unaware of any other blog with the Armory’s mission of radicalizing the animal movement. I certainly hope I am not alone, and that there are similar sentiments being expressed by comrades unknown to me.
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Armory of the Revolution 
I agree that extinction of our species is unlikely in the foreseeable future, but a revolution that would see capitalism collapse is unlikely to improve the lives of animals as long as people continue to multiply exponentially. I do think we are experiencing a revolution right now and, while not a violent one, it is giving rise to a lot of anger from those who profit from exploiting animals. While activists are not as militant as they were forty years ago, veganism is threatening to do more than any activist could hope for, without even breaking a law. But that is not enough to stop the escalation of animal suffering as long as we continue to overpopulate and the idea of a revolution that would liberate all animals from human exploitation is an ideal that animal activists can’t help but embrace: You say
“it should be the goal of every animal activist. It should be part of our political and organizational strategies, the ultimate objective of all who value the lives of sentient beings, the underlying justiication of all we do.it should be the goal of every animal activist. It should be part of our political and organizational strategies, the ultimate objective of all who value the lives of sentient beings, the underlying justiication of all we do.”
….which is great, but you don’t elucidate. What are the political and organizational strategies? If revolution can achieve animal liberation, why not in your lifetime, why not now, why wait? Don’t assume that because people dismiss revolution they have given up hope; as VGN4THM says “long overdue. Ready and willing.”
So Roland, if you have a manifesto, bring it on.
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The very first step toward revolution is the belief that it is necessary. All revolutions begin with a small, hardcore, devoted, band of radicals who enthuse others to follow. The great difference between our mission and others is that it ours is by proxy for the animals, and all revolutions in history have been waged by those themselves who were oppressed. For our revolution to succeed, or even to occur, we must join with other social revolutionaries with their own complaints against the status quo.
Most animal activists are comfortable in their belief that they are making a difference and changing the world, albeit very slowly. In fact, continuing on our present course of action is dooming billions upon billions of animals to death. We are not changing anything at all.
We save a few animals here and there, but in the scheme of things, we are pissing into the wind. We make aa difference to those very few creatures we save, but for the vast majority of animals it is as though the animal movement does not exist.
I repeatedly observe that all the animals saved by the animal movement over the last fifty years is fewer than the number who will have their throats cut in the next 8 hours.
We, as a movement, must change course. We must recognize that our goal has to be ending the system that exploits and murders animals. To that end, this blog’s mission is to radicalize the animal movement. At present, it is a voice in the wilderness. I know of no other Animal Rights blog expressing similar sentiments, although I certainly hope I am not alone.
I urge all my readers to follow this blog, to share our articles, to drive traffic here, to encourage others to subscribe, to help wake up our friends and comrades.
I wish I had a more compelling manifesto, but this is the only vision I have for the future of the animal movement. Unless we change our strategies, animals will be doomed to torture and death forever.
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I figured out about 12 years ago that capitalism was counterproductive, especially to the welfare of animal’s and the rights of animal. It encourages greed, competitiveness, arrogance and materialized the “me” generation. There doesn’t appear to be any resolution for the near or distant future. I thought veganism was expanding but evidently any growth is cancelled out by the powers that be. Perhaps more media blitzes of animal atrocities to the mainstream would be helpful. I rarely observe any mainstream footage of animal atrocities; the only people viewing these footages are already vegan. We need to appeal to those that are non-vegan. I realize there are films such as Cowspiracy, etc. out there which are great, but again it appears that it is viewed by mostly already vegans. And yes, chaos too would be a great activity to behold as stated earlier in that wonderful article. I think whatever it takes!
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I know the feeling of feeling powerless but I don’t think “bringing down” the systems is the answer. I’m for changing them! But it is true that this is a slow process, with battles won and battles lost and in the time it takes to do that many innocent animals keep dying. And I can’t help but wonder if the change will come on time for our planet that is suffering greatly. 😦
But revolution and bringing down the system without having a good alternative will only bring forth chaos and violence. And even if one has a good alternative, there will still be countless of people that don’t agree, because they do not have the awareness, the morals… of animal rights activists and they will resist any way possible. Which again will lead to chaos and violence. Those people won’t be happy with activists bringing down the only systems they know and will blame activists for all the chaos following.
I can understand the anger, feeling powerless, wanting to change it all in one blow. If I had magic powers, no animal would ever have to suffer again! But I don’t, so I will go one with saving one animal at a time, changing my own behaviour and continue to try to raise awareness a few people at a time. And I will support any organisation trying to change the system by debating, protesting, raising awareness on a bigger scale… And I will cry and pray and be ashamed for the whole human race for all those animals who are being abused and murdered. Their deaths must not be in vain but must be shown to the world, not to be ignored.
Also: be aware that there are laws against animal abuse in certain countries, however lacking they still are, which also prevents a lot of abuse. Those will be brought down too if you bring a whole system down… Which is a step back. Bringing down something is easier then building up something. You might end up creating a much worse scenario then before…
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One cannot envisage a human society more antithetical to animals than presetly exists.
The scope of the horrors we perpetrate upon animals defies comprehension.
Every TEN MINUTES we murder as many animals as the Nazis murdered Jews.
Chaos would be a welcome respite for the animals. Anything that would disrupt the killing would be an improvement over the status quo.
Saving one animal at a time is wonderful for those animals that we save, but it ignores the billions upon billions who continue to suffer and die.
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The root of all evil done by humans to non humans is anthropocentrism. If we get rid of that, exploitation of non humans (and humans) will disappear. Simple as that. To achieve that we need (r)evolution of the human mind. As daunting as it sounds, clearly some of us are capable of viewing non humans as equal to humans, so (majority of) humans have that ability, asleep but it’s there. How do we awaken it in others? With information. Don’t let them be comfortably unaware. What we SAY, when we explain why we’re vegan, (I do this probably once a day at least) is incredibly important, it has greater impact that we realise. Speak up, share, explain, argue, however you do it don’t be silent.
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I agree with this! Couldn’t have said it any better.
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But I must add one thing 🙂 This is a very optimistic kind of view. It starts with the idea that the majority of humans have the ability to see that humans aren’t better or worth more then animals. I myself believe in this view, but I’m still young(-ish). The most people in my surroundings that ridicule me for my believes are my parents, grandparents, parents-in-law… All those who are a bit older and have formed a strong opinion. I’m not saying that older people can’t have the same believes vegans have or that they can never change their believes but certainly not the majority and it won’t be easy either. I think we should target the younger and the next generations.
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Reblogged this on Species and Class.
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Absolutely agree…
And the “religion” component drives most of the others, IMO…
As a (senior) cruelty-free vegan atheist whose dogs are rescued, I can only disseminate information and continue to do the least harm possible…
And hope…
I wish I could live long enough to really see “what happens”…
Animals are my *heart*…
and I do prefer their company to humans ♥
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Succinctly and very well stated, as usual. I’m on board with all these views except for attributing the primacy of the problem to capitalism with the implicit view that a switch to socialism would put us on the road to solving it. The root of the problem is not capitalism, capitalism being but the most vulgar manifestation of human selfishness. The latter characteristic, I would argue, being innate, hard-wired into people’s brains. A few people, a very few, are able to rise above this instinctive predisposition to greed by virtue of extreme rationality and empathy. These would be the animal rights proponents of whom you speak. The majority of people, however, because of their inherent irrationality, intellectual laziness and/or weakness of character cannot and never will. Just as you correctly maintain in a past essay that “education is not the answer because ignorance is not the problem”, socialism is not the answer because capitalism is not the fundamental problem. Folks on the left seem to have a hard time accepting the genetic basis of much of human behavior. They believe that all human behavior is malleable and that selfishness can be overcome simply by the application of proper incentives and quality upbringing. What else CAN they believe if their whole belief system for a just and happy future is ultimately based on the perfectibility of human nature. Just as idealistic communists in Russia, the “true believers”, believed in the cultural evolution of an altruistic, self-denying “Soviet man”, leftists in the West think that people will shun greed and selfishness if only there is universal social justice and equitable distribution of the fruits of labor. (At the risk of being presumptuous, I’d ask you, Roland, to state your views on whether or not there is a sociobiological basis to human behavior or else deny it like other leading left-wing ideologues?). At least conservatives have the right idea about one thing: their fundamentally pessimistic view of human nature and behavior. A heavy dose of that sort of realism is badly needed by many of those on the Left.
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Couldn’t agree more. Selfishness, greed, indifference of the needs of others (particularly nonhumans) has been part of our nature since our early hominid days. Virtually all religions (with the exception of Jainism) have fallen short of considering the well-being of animals. However, even the major religions that focus on the exceptionalism of human beings and their supposedly special relationship to God have not been able to live up to their own versions of the Fifth Commandment, “Do Not Kill.” Look at the world today–wars raging and growing. The past is no exception. In a excavation from 49,000 years ago in a tunnel called El Sidron in Spain, archaeologists found the remains of 12 Neanderthals who had been killed and their bodies apparently cannabalized. Even finds of earlier Homo species seldom had sound skulls without signs of violence. Our history has been one of unremitting war, torture, and death of each other and the innocent creatures who have the misfortune of sharing this earth with us..
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Great and very articulate comment. If the predisposition to so much ugly behavior weren’t hard-wired in, maybe religion would have produced results besides so much undesirable behavior in its own leaders and adherents.
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I take exception. Animal exploitation exist, in fact all exploitation exist because of the people at grass level. Look no further. Everything is a ramification of the proles; everything grows from ground up. Slaughterhouses exist because of the demand of the people, not the other way around. Capitalism exists for the very same reason; everyone wants and supports cheap shit, hence Wal-Mart, Shell, Coca Cola, Monsanto, and the likes. Governments too are an outgrowth of the people they govern; and in every instance, the people have or will soon have the government they damn well deserve. Every single person has an ability to choose, and they choose not to. Easier and safer it is to blend with the herd, to believe what they read, what they see on TV, what others think (they think) instead of thinking individually. It is a choice people make, not capitalism, not government those are merely the bitter fruit of their action, inaction, and despicable desires.
Therefore, any revolution is destined to fail and ill advised. Governments are replaced by yet more governments, greed by more greed. Ask and you’ll find most people can’t, not even vaguely imagine a world without government, and religion for that matter. They have this incessant childish need for a parental god-like authority figure to guide and instruct them. They’re no different from the children they rear, except that they exceed in contemptibility in that they support and promote authority upon more authority; oppression upon more oppression.
Until people realize their own autonomous power – and I doubt they ever do – will any change begin.
I’ll conclude by saying that the situation has gone too far to reverse, although we should and can’t help but to try it doesn’t help to fool ourselves. In that way at the very least, we know the enemy and what we’re up against. When forest and brush grow thick, it must be burnt to the ground that new life may begin, and often happens by nature itself. And apathy and selfishness grow thick with each passing moment, and the fire is nothing more than grass root desire.
Forgive me if I sounded rude and ungrateful for your writing and efforts, which is certainly not the case. Your work is most refreshing to read for its matter-of-fact-in-your-face that most should find eye opening.
Although I don’t know you, it sounds as though our differences aren’t that far apart, perhaps in syntax only, and for that we’re on the same side, I think.
Peace, strength, courage.
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“Autonomous power.” What is this? You may have supposed autonomous power to do evil,if you wish.
Now, what ensues this called-for radical revolution so many alleged disciples of this blogger clamor for? Population attrition? No more than 2 or 1 offspring per human? Do we put a limit to the number of animals we own, because so many people are inspired to own a dozen canines? Do we restrict housing square footage to, say, 200 square feet per person; therefore, one individual would be prohibited from owning and living in a 3,000 sq. ft. house? Do we rid the world of automobiles and airplanes and instead replace them with bicycles and solar-powered boats? Do we reduce the standard work week from 40 hours to, perhaps, 24 hours or less and have 2 or 3 months of annual vacation? Maybe we can celebrate Christmas every two or four years and eliminate gift giving from this affair. Should we restrict the number of clothes, including shoes, any man or woman might own? What do we permit on the internet, because the continued expansion of this technology plays a part in the further destruction of the rainforests? Is everyone prepared to take inventory of all his possessions and discard the truly trivial junk he has acquired? (I am pretty confident most of the commentators on this site own stuff they don’t need put will sentimentally defend owning it, including their preferred pets–yes, you own your pets!)
I’m not a defender of capitalism, but economic disparity isn’t monopolized by it. We–the people–could easily reconstitute the infrastructure of our economic lives without government involvement, but we don’t want to. NO, professional baseball, football and, now, basketball have the undivided attention of half the people in this country. The fall barbecuing of animals is in full swing. Did anyone watch a professional sports game yesterday? If so, why?
Professional entertainment is one of the grossest expressions of economic disparity in this country, but we love dancing with our stars.
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Revolution is unrealistic and the best we can hope for is that the meat and dairy industries will diversify into non animal foods as the burden on the planet and on human health becomes more than either can tolerate. Or perhaps a better alternative would be the extinction of our species – I’ll go with that 🙂
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Human extinction would be the far greater alternative for the animals, but extinction is substantially more unlikely than is revolution.
Revolution my not happen in my lifetime, or yours. But it should be the goal of every animal activist. It should be part of our political and organizational strategies, the ultimate objective of all who value the lives of sentient beings, the underlying justiication of all we do.
Anything less than the collapse of the capitalist system means billions of animals dying every single month, year in and year out, into the future.
To dismiss revolution is to give up hope.
And is to doom animals to a never ending Hell.
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most anyone can read and comprehend what Roland’s shares in all of his articles…….very educational and much appreciated.
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AMEN. Long overdue. Ready and willing.
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