Oxy-Moron

Written by: Eyes Wide Open on Jan 29, 2009 12:38 AM EST

Today, many people see the violence and torture done for their palates as absolutely acceptable: Human and Animal exploitation is the norm, despite the contradictions inherent in it. Given how overwhelmingly strong the societal currents run against treating Humans/Animals as anything more than commodities and property, the kind of change we need will require more than violence, more than property destruction, and certainly more than a re-creation of the exploitative dynamics that got us here to begin with. If we are to ever win or advance, we must do so by changing the social relations that are at the heart of the problems we face. If we re-create those damaging social relations by relying on the dominance and oppression of violence, we are essentially doing nothing but deepening the problems that exist, and more often than not, claiming to be the fighters of "life" .

In short, we can’t force people to make decisions about morality while they’re staring down the barrel of a gun (or on the receiving end of a bomb). We have to do the hard and often inglorious work of creating a broad-based social movement that will call into question the Humanitarian/Speciesist dynamics that underlie our social and cultural norms or traditions. Bombs or guns or violence or completely shameless attention whoring cannot achieve this, ever. To attempt to control behavior through force, whether it be singular or societal, has never worked and never will.

Ronald Goodman, Founder-Chief Executive, Eyes Wide Open International

Tags: