Thomas_More
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That is lovely, and we therefore agree. So you know that every animal, including us, does what s/he does. Imposing rank is a human fallacy which originates from human class society. It should have no place when discussing the natural world.
” Sometimes we must use traditional concepts.” Why?
I disagree. Language must challenge erroneous concepts. Otherwise it only buttresses them. We must use language that makes people stop and think.We don’t say “Socialist Russia” or “Marxist Cuba”, do we? It’s quite right that we don’t.
Similarly, speciesist language must be challenged.
Why make a point of saying “inferior” when “other” is a simpler word that does the job without reinforcing the fallacious and outdated ladder/progressivist view of biological evolution?
Ego vs. Eco illustration.
I must dispute the adjective inferior. There is no inferior nor superior in nature, only diversity.
I know from the rest of what you say that you agree with me.
I also do not say animals and humans, which is as absurd as saying haddocks and fishes, or woods and trees. I say fellow animals, or at least, other animals.
It is also wrong to say apes and humans, because humans are apes: specifically African apes. We are African apes.When one protests against cruelty face to face with others, as I was doing back in 2008, you wouldn’t believe the sarcasm, ridicule and viciousness of many of the general public. Their urge to diminish the gravity of pain and death being inflicted on nonhumans is overwhelming. The urge to trivialise it, to make the protestor laugh with them at it, is unbelievable, it is so disgusting.
What you have said is apt for those to bear in mind who talk about paper books being bad for the environment, and who tell me to abandon books in favour of electronics!
” The word “black” was used strictly to mean dark, evil, or hidden, long before modern racial categories existed.”
In early and classic film melodrama too, villains of the piece wore black or dark colours, while heroes wore lighter colours.
Black too is the colour of death and funerals in the West. In East Asia it is white.
The Hallowe’en period sees many black cats throughout the world being seized, tortured and killed, because, in this 21st century, they are still associated with black magic.
Most here are punitive towards their fellow workers, especially immigrants and the unemployed, called “chavs”, whom they call scroungers. They support military conscription for the young, longer and tougher prison sentences, and would like to see the death penalty restored.
It’s a UK poll.
A poll today suggests so far that 95% of those polled want more welfare cuts and more military spending.
Those I have known wouldn’t think of themselves as capitalists. To be told they live on the labour of others would anger them immensely, even though it’s true. They lived on surplus value but the term wouldn’t have meant anything to them. One was aware. He owned a shipping company in East Asia. He liked my talk of socialism and agreed the word was misused all the time. He was fed up with the decades-long demonisation in Asia of Marx. He hoped more people would become real socialists. He became angry at anyone at the table who didn’t finish the food on their plate. He hated waste.
One could paraphrase Voltaire, replacing Locke with Marx:
Most people don’t read.
Of those who do read, most don’t read Marx.
Of those who read Marx, most don’t understand him.
