Is it problematic/speciesist to have a favourite animal?
Is it problematic/speciesist to have a favourite animal?
Note: It's become clear to me that so far the vegan community on Lemmy (unlike Reddit) is lacking and overrun by non-vegans. So please only answer this if you're actually vegan. I'm seeking a vegan perspective on this.
With that out of the way, is it speciesist to have a favourite animal? Many vegans consider themselves dog 🐕 lovers or cat 🐈 lovers ("ailurophiles") first and foremost, aside from animal lovers (who actually respect animals hence their veganism) in general. Others, like Joey Carbstrong, say that pigs 🐖 are their favourite animal and always have been even since before they went vegan; maybe some saw the movie "Babe" and developed an affection for them, for example. It's understandable. And others like cows 🐄 or chicks 🐥 or lambs 🐑 of course.
But as much as it might be a natural thing to gravitate to a certain species of animal, and "favouritise" them, is that still a form of speciesism? Of course if you're not actually exploiting the animals that aren't your favourite then it's only a mental matter. But is it still wrong even just to view them differentially and prefer or hold more love for some species than others? Loving an individual than another makes sense. But would you love one race of people more than other? Do you say "Greek people are my favourite race" (as a non-Greek person, for sake of example)? If not, and if that would be considered racist, then why is it not speciesist to prefer one species over others, even if just mentally?
You can call it speciesism if you want, but fish are just not quite as cuddly as cats. So if you like a pet thats cuddly, you will prefer cats over fish and admitting that is in no way problematic.
Equating speciesism with racism also doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Species do exist in nature, they are hard boundaries which animals can breed. Races on the other hand are a made-up concept with no biological basis, used to distinguish between similar-looking groups within a species.
A fish and a cat cannot breed, as they are different species. A british shorthair and a sphynx on the other hand can, as the distinction is entirely artificial.
Racism is the wrong belief that races, like species are a biological concept that can be found in nature.
Speciesism differs from that, because different species do exist. For any two individual animals you can always determine if they belong to the same species, which isn't true for races. Animals of the same species do share traits, while there are differences between animals of different species.
In my opinion, pretending that every living being is the same would be way more problematic than what you call speciesism.
There is no need to believe that every species is the same in order to treat them all as well and as equally as possible.
The point is though, treating them all equally doesn't make any sense because based on their species they have different needs.
Some animals enjoy the company of humans, others do not. Some radiate a calmness that is appealing to some, while others have an enthusiasm that more fits other personalities. So when getting a pet, why would you ignore all that?
Should I get a crocodile as a pet just to treat them all the same? I wouldn't be doing that crocodile any favour, nor myself.
I guess its that old "equality vs equity" debate all over again.
Vegans compare racism and speciesism all the time. And non-vegans are the ones who usually reject the comparison. So, I ask, are you vegan?
Why does this read like a furry troll?
Vegan here.
I don't think it's speciesist to have subjective preference for a certain set of traits found in certain species, it's only speciesist to use the absence of those traits to justify exploiting or oppressing others that don't have them. I have trait preferences in my sexual partners for example, but that doesn't mean I get to be a piece of shit to others, or that I'm a piece of shit for not seeking those partners I find less desirable.
Some animals for example just work bettter in the home. I dont bring a whale to my house not because I'm speciesist, but because it's expensive impractal requires constant attention and is frankly not in their best interest.
So vegans are complaining that they are overrun by non-vegans and carnivores are complaining they are overrun by non-carnivores.
And I thought Reddit was childish.
That seems reasonable. We want a vegan community of actual vegans to communicate about topics with. Likewise "carnivore" dieters (I wasn't aware there was a presence of them on Lemmy) probably want actual carnivore dieters to talk to. I don't see the problem with this. If I ask a question directed toward vegans and all I get is responses from non-vegans, it defeats the purpose of my question. Only vegans can truly understand where you're coming from about certain things to do with vegan topics. Guessing you're not vegan based on your phrasing.
I have never thought of that comparison before, I feel like cats and dogs are the most common animals humans interact with so we therefore tend to like them more kinda like how you like your childhood friend more than a stranger as they’re more familiar to you.
I’m only on the fence about on it tbh.
I donno but i couldn’t be feline supremacist because my cat is pretty dumb. she’s cute tho so ill keep giving her whatever she asks for.
Why is it that the one person who responded who seemed to actually be vegan had their messages deleted? Are the mods here not vegan? Or are higher up Lemmy mods brigading this sub?
The modlog is public
No, because there are no factual differences between a greek person and a french person, but there is between a fish and a cat.
There are factual differences between races. Sure the differences might not be as pronounced as differences between species, but why does that matter? Why should those differences forbid us from treating them all equally given that they're all sentient beings?
I've already gotten 2 non-vegans trolling. Please respect the nature of this question and only answer if you're vegan and want to engage seriously.
I think you're the one trolling as the question shows you don't have a strong grasp of what species are, what racism is, and what constitutes speciest behavior.
If this post was made in good faith you might find these resources as a good place to start researching a solid platform to build your argument and logic
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Species
https://www.apa.org/topics/racism-bias-discrimination
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speciesism
Humans regardless of social structure have an inherent bias when it comes to interacting with animals. I think that's where you're starting your thought. However you cannot have racism applied to speciesm. There's no structure for it in philosophy to compare the two. Preferring furry mammals over fish isn't speciest.
The idea of having pets can be speciest, but which animal species one chooses as a companion is not speciest.
That's why I thought you were some kind of furry troll.
Saying racism isn't comparable to speciesism when the logic used is exactly the same is something non-vegans and anti-vegans often say as well
The word is speciesist / speciesism (not speciest / speciesm, as anti-vegans often misspell them) and I'm not trolling
I'm not building any argument. I was asking a question. Now please tell me, are you vegan?
Yeah it’s too small here that we easily get overrun with the riffraff LOL