There was a hypothetical question in a FB group about killing a kitten to save a human being got me thinking again. I know its a silly hypothetical, but it got me thinking about how its really popular these days to seem to value animals more than people. Now I might be accused of being a speciesist (which is personally a silly term, but Ill get into that later) but if we live in a human society, humanity should come first, where its an either/or situation. That doesnt mean exploiting animals because we rule them, but in a case where its an animal or a humans life (believe me, Id be tempted to kill a poacher instead of a tiger, but if you compromise your principles based too much on feeling its a slippery slope). Now I still fully support animal rights, their right to be treated ethically, not cruelly, and I disdain animal cruelty as much as the next, but come on, as cute as a cat is, to put it above a human being with all their memories, thoughts, experiences, more evolved feeling, their family? Would you really? Let me ask you this: if a stranger was offered the choice between saving your child and a kitten, and they chose the kitten, how would you feel about them? Anyway that wasnt the topic I wanted to speak about primarily. I know theyre really dumb hypotheticals, but Ive also heard people say on the internet theyd kill millions or even billions to save their family. While I couldnt imagine being placed in such a situation, nor killing family members (ideally Id rather just die in their place), the idea strikes me as really selfish. These people have families too, dont they have a right to live? Is someone worth a million people just because of how YOU feel about it? Its like saying, just because 3,000 Americans are killed in 9/11 100,000 innocent Iraqis deserve to die. For some reason this makes me feel really strongly. Some accuse me of not loving my family enough, but to be honest, theres a point where your love becomes almost perverse, if I may be honest. Its funny, but I seem to be the minority in that view. Im not totally utilitarian, but if we have this attitude that our family means the world or more than the world theres no hope for harmony. I suppose if people are like that Im tempted to be the like the rest of them too. If someone sees my life as even less valuable than a cats, I really question how much real empathy they have for humanity. Maybe theres a utopia where all creatures are truly equal, but obviously, we may be equal but were not equal in intelligence and awareness.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Sep 2014 11:55:46 +0000