ARCO's Abolitionists - A Vegan Forum

"What is World Day for the Abolition of Meat?

World Day for the Abolition of Meat is intended as a means of promoting the idea of abolishing the murder of animals for meat. Worldwide six million sentient beings are killed for their meat every hour! That figure doesn’t even count sea animals, which of course are included in the demand for the abolition of meat. Meat consumption causes more suffering and death than any other human activity and is completely unnecessary.

Many groups will mobilize to promote the abolition of meat (and other animal products). They will not only advocate vegetarianism and veganism to individuals but will call for society to abandon the practice of killing animals for food. We hope that this initiative will strengthen the animal rights movement over the years. It is important to address people both as consumers and as citizens – like the anti-slavery activists who, although only a small minority, not only sought a boycott of sugar produced by slaves but also clearly expressed the idea that slavery should be banned. It is important today to question society as a whole about the murder of animals for meat so that it can no longer avoid a public debate on the legitimacy of this practice.

On 31 January conferences, street actions, leafleting and information stands will be organized to spread the idea that the consumption of meat cannot be justified ethically and should therefore be abolished – just as human slavery was in its time.

Here is the video of an original action for the abolition of meat, made by Swiss activists in 2007 (other groups are welcome to use the same format):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-iUs0kaDB0

Your actions can be reported on this website: http://www.nomoremeat.org

We already know that activities are planned in Italy, France, Switzerland and Germany. Send us an email if you plan something in your country.

Feel free to inform all animal rights groups that you know about this international day. And don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any question.

We hope to see you raise your voice for the animals and participate in the World Day for the Abolition of Meat.


With best wishes

Committee for the promotion of World Day for the Abolition of Meat

contact: world.day.for.the.abolition.of.meat[at]gmail.com "



This event is an important advance for the Animal Rights Movement because it will express politically what we want to the whole society.

Anushavan

Anushavan is incorrect in saying that the video that he links to in his post was a demo for the abolition of meat.

The demo was a "mourning for the animals killed for food".

He knows also my view on the renaming of this video, which was originally called "55 billion", the renaming of which I deem to be a recuperation of an action for another purpose. I am sorry to see myself on a youtube video for a demo which I never went to. I went to a mourning action, not a demo for the "abolition of meat".

Hello Diana,

I have now changed the name into "mourning for the animals". Maybe when this action was made it wasn't named this way, but even if you call this "mourning for the animals" it remains an action against the murder of animals for food and so it is still an action for the abolition of meat.

Anushavan

Diana wrote:He knows also my view on the renaming of this video, which was originally called "55 billion", the renaming of which I deem to be a recuperation of an action for another purpose. I am sorry to see myself on a youtube video for a demo which I never went to. I went to a mourning action, not a demo for the "abolition of meat".

I find Diana's words very distressing indeed, as I know her to be a very dedicated, highly principled activist. She would not support a campaign advocating the abolition of meat but not dairy/eggs (and all other forms of exploitation).

Who made this video in the first place?

I thank Anushavan for changing the title of the video.

I do not mind that this movement for the abolition of meat gave a link to this "mourning for the animals killed for food" which was done a couple of years ago. If this action which I found extremely moving and worthwhile can inspire other people, why not? What bothered me was that the impression that was given that this mourning had been done within the movement for the abolition of meat. Which was not the case. (A mourning for the animals, is not the same as a demand for the abolition of meat. I don't agree with you, Anushavan, although I can of course understand what you are trying to say. But there is a difference, and in my eyes the difference is glaring).

And of course, I do not support this "movement for the abolition of meat" at all. I have opposed it from the start (I recall long discussions on this subject on ARCO!! They were kind of epic (understatement!!!!) Using the video however as a link, I cannot oppose. That video is out there on the internet for all to see. It's not like it's something private.

The video, panthera, was made at the time by one of the activists, and put on youtube (and maybe dailymotion too) with the title of "55 billion". It was an action to mourn symbolically for one hour all the animals killed for food in the world. (It was inspired by similar kinds of actions of the Black Sash movement in South Africa during the apartheid days, where women would protest silently with black mourning sashes against new apartheid laws, or new prisoners being locked up for political activity).

I also had not realised that it was Anushavan who had made the change to the title of the video. If I had realised this, I would have contacted him directly instead of posting on this topic here and at VeggieBoards. Anushavan is someone who I have a lot of time for. (Although we have our differences, as all activists do at times.)

And panthera is right that I would not participate in an action which directly calls for the abolition of meat.

I don’t know if the male chicks killed after their birth in the eggs industry are counted in the numbers that were showed on the video. The important thing is that if you abolish the meat industry you also abolish the eggs and dairy industries because it is the same one.

What I am sure about is that it wasn’t an action against the exploitation of dogs for the blind, so we can say that it wasn’t an action for the abolition of ALL exploitation, but maybe only for the abolition of 97% of it. Nevertheless this is still a very good action.

When the white women from the Black Sash movement who were againt the apartheid made this action it wasn’t against ALL exploitation, they didn’t even mention nonhuman animals, so it wasn’t even for the abolition of 0. 1% of the exploitation, but it was also a very good action. Do you agree ?

This video was made by a guy named « bouzet » but I copied it from his youtube account (yes I am against copyright especially for activist purposes) and have put it on another account so that more people can see it, on this account I changed the name because for me « Demo for the Abolition of Meat » sounds much more powerful than the incomprehensible « 55 billion ».

Anushavan

Actually, one could “[stop the consumption of] meat”, but that would not necessarily stop the consumption of eggs and milk and the killing of animals for those products. Animals can be (and are) slaughtered without consuming them. We could live in a world where 90% of the human population is lacto-ovo vegetarian.

The harm caused by meat consumption is intuitive and obvious. What is much less obvious to most people is the harm, killing, and torture of the egg and dairy industry. This helps explain why lacto-ovo “vegetarians” outnumber vegans about 3 to 1 (or something like that). We need to shift the focus away from “meat” and toward eggs and dairy. When people “get it” regarding the egg and dairy industry, the meat industry comes automatically.

Someone emailed me to support the “International Abolition of Meat” campaign. I said I might mention it on my blog (but did not say that, if I did mention it, I would criticize the “meat” part for the reasons stated above, while suggesting that an “International Abolition of Animal Exploitation” campaign would be worth strongly supporting). At this time, I don’t know whether I’ll mention it or not, but if I do, it will be primarily to criticize the focus on “meat” and suggest a focus on “exploitation”.

I think that if we create a public debate in the society about the legitimacy of killing animals for meat, this public debate will then automatically include eggs and dairy industries because they also involve the killing of animals without necessity. It is just much easier to start this public debate when you talk about the abolition of meat because like you said everyone knows that it involves the killing of the animals, but they don’t know that it concerns also eggs and dairy. Moreover if we don't talk about the consumption aspect, (of course people can eat eggs without eating meat), but about the abolition of the practice aspect, it is clear that the eggs and dairy industries will be destroyed if there is no meat industry.

When I talk with ovo-lacto-vegetarians I tell them that when they buy eggs or dairy they are giving their money to the people who will eventually kill the chicken or the cow, so if they don't eat meat because they are against the killing of these animals they should stop giving their money to those who send them to the slaughterhouse and stop buying these products. I often also talk about the cruelty aspects and that these animals are used like a resource, but I like using the concepts and knowledge that people already have to question a practice. It is much more simple for them and that’s a great strategy.

The same strategy is used by the movement for the abolition of meat, you use concepts and knowledge that people already have and with which they can agree easily (it is wrong to kill an animal if it is not necessary, we kill animals for meat and meat isn’t necessary). If we begin to talk about the use of animals and their exploitation, we will be using other concepts with which people have more chances to disagree, so we will have less chance to create a public debate on the practice and eventually less chance to abolish it.

If we now start demanding the abolition of all animal exploitation the majority of people won’t understand what’s wrong if policemen use dogs, or if we use rats to find land mines (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.h ... A9629C8B63 ).

That is why we have to use strategy if we want a real change for nonhuman animals, especially when we know that the greatest part of animal exploitation is because of this industry.

Anushavan

First, I have found it just as frustrating or more so to persuade lacto-ovos to go vegan as I have in getting omnivores to go vegan. This is largely because they weren't told the whole truth or an adequate philosophical base for veganism from the start.

Second, your argument sounds a little too much like the "low hanging fruit" argument that I criticized in the following essay:

http://unpopularveganessays.blogspot.co ... wrong.html

Trying to sell veganism piecemeal, without the underlying philosophy to support it (i.e. exploiting animals is wrong), often leads to very flimsy, half-baked "vegetarianism" or veganism.

Third, as a matter of principle and pragmatics, I would rather tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, right from the beginning rather than trying to con someone into buying something with partial- or half truths. There's often MORE suffering in a plate of eggs than in a plate of chicken and more suffering in a glass of milk than in an 8 ounce steak. Why should that not be stated loud and clear right up front?

Thanks for this great essay! I like the way you use the Low-Hanging Fruit metaphore to destroy it.

The huge difference here is that like you said "The root, trunk, and at least 97% (in numbers killed) of all animal exploitation is in animal agriculture" and this means that if you eliminate the meat industry (which is also the dairy and eggs industry) you don't eliminate just a fruit but the 97% of the tree!

I don't have any problem to say that I am for the abolition of meat, dairy and eggs, since it is the same industry, even if I think that it is easier to start a public debate with meat, the important thing is to clearly express that we are for the abolition of these practices and not just for their boycott. Actually that is what my animal rights group said when newspapers discovered that some people eat cats and dogs in Switzerland. We had sent this communiqué to all newspapers:

in french:

"Viande de chien et de chat : LausAnimaliste prend position

Suite aux révélations de ces derniers jours indiquant que certaines personnes en Suisse mangent du chien et du chat, et aux nombreux e-mails que nous avons reçus nous demandant si nous allions entreprendre quelque chose contre cette pratique, nous tenons à faire part de notre position via ce communiqué.

Nous sommes évidemment contre le fait de tuer des chats ou des chiens pour les manger, car il est injuste de tuer les animaux sans nécessité, mais exactement pour cette même raison nous sommes aussi contre le fait de tuer des cochons, des vaches, des poules, des kangourous ou des poissons dans le but d'en consommer la chair.

Ces êtres sensibles ressentent aussi la peur et le stress, tout comme nous, et sont doués d'une certaine vie mentale, par conséquent nous devons arrêter de les considérer comme une ressource. De ce fait nous sommes pour l'abolition de tous les produits d'origine animale comme toutes les sortes de viande, les œufs et les produits laitiers, et sommes donc pour un mode de vie végan, car une poule pondeuse ou une vache laitière finissent aussi à l'abattoir et acheter n'importe quel produit d'origine animale revient à donner de l'argent aux personnes qui contribuent à l'exploitation et au massacre des animaux.

Dans ce sens, nous adhérons à la récente résolution du mouvement mondial pour l'abolition de la viande."



In english (translation by google):

"Dog and cat meat, LausAnimaliste takes position

Following the revelations of recent days indicating that some people in Switzerland eat dogs and cats, and many e-mails we received asking us if we were going to do something against this practice, we wish to express our position through this release.

We are obviously against the killing of cats and dogs to eat them because it is wrong to kill animals if it is not necessary, but exactly for this reason we are against the killing of pigs, cows, chickens, kangaroos or fishes in order to consume their flesh.

These beings also feel fear and stress, like us, and are endowed with a certain mental life, therefore we must stop considering them as a resource. Therefore we support the abolition of all products of animal origin like all kinds of meat, eggs and dairy products, we are for a vegan lifestyle, and a laying hen or a dairy cow is eventually sent to the slaughterhouse and buying any product of animal origin is tantamount to giving money to people who contribute to the exploitation and slaughter of these animals.

In this sense, we support the recent resolution of the global movement for the abolition of the meat."


Anushavan