where science and ethics intersect with politics
Empathy rests on the assumption that we are more likely to feel empathic with those with whom we share similarities. What about the empathy of difference? Not everyone is going to look into the eyes of a rattlesnake and be able to see from the eyes of the rattlesnake. Assuming sentience and therefore, being empathic, underlies the Humane Party’s “ecosystem-neutral” philosophical approach to the environment.
The federal Wildlife Services program killed 2.7 million animals in 2016. In its annual “kill report,” the agency data shows that 1.6 million of the 2.7 million deaths were of native wildlife species. Wildlife Services maintains that it “manages the damages” caused by so-called invasive species, yet less than half of the animals in the report are actually considered invasive. The Center for Biological Diversity asserts that of the almost 3 million animals killed yearly, many are unintentional kills that include household pets.
Jeb, a service dog in Michigan, was accused of killing a neighbor’s dog. DNA testing was used to prove his innocence. Without the DNA testing, Jeb would have been destroyed (i.e, killed) as a legally “dangerous animal.”
A brand is unlike the eyes of the other, those of our own or any species with whom gazes are exchanged. There is no Thou here. There is only I, I, I. The eye comes smack up against flat surfaces. There is no space to reflect, to wonder, to explore.
As Bourdain has switched networks, his shows have seemingly become grittier, with more graphic imagery and pushing the boundaries on what he will participate in in terms of killing and consuming animals.
Although Perdue worked cooperatively with HSUS and HSLS to make dog fighting a felony and banned the use of gas chambers as well as raised awareness of cat and dog population, his nomination may be far from exemplary.
Despite what movie producers might want you to believe, The Humane Party would like to remind you that it is not a dog’s purpose to perform frightening and dangerous stunts to entertain humans.
“Who cares? They’re not human” speaks volumes of our lack of consciousness and conscience towards the sentience of other beings who are perceived as “less than” because they are other than us.
