[Vision2020] Plants Rights

[keely emerinemix]

Robert,

Truly you have caused me to search the depths of my soul  regarding plants' 
rights.  You see, I have held a great deal of animosity toward plants 
because of the abuse foisted upon me by my health-conscious father, who 
ruined many an ice cream sundae by sprinkling it with wheat germ, which, as 
I now understand, is an integral part of wheat-life.

I repent.  From now on, I'm only going to eat plasti-foods, i.e., those 
foodstuffs made of artificial ingredients that kill not the food source, but 
the consumer.  I know I'll feel much better, at least until I die.  First 
order of business:  Finding a box of Quisp cereal, and then I'll move on to 
a Hot Pockets of some sort.  Then I'll purpose to eat daily a big bowl of 
bright orange Mac 'N Cheese, chasing it down with one of 13 different 
permutations of Mountain Dew.  A cup or two of Nescafe Instant and I'll be 
ready to meet my Maker, knowing that my food choices were so utterly 
artificial as to spare all organic life forms and instead preserve me for 
decades after my natural demise.

Naaaaahhhhh.

Thanks, Bob, for lightening things up.

keely


From: Robert Dickow <dickow at uidaho.edu>
Reply-To: dickow at uidaho.edu
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Vision2020] Plants Rights
Date: Fri, 08 Sep 2006 15:40:38 -0700

With some of the recent comments about animal rights and so on, I'd like to
make a plug for my Plants Rights Society. (I think I posted the constitution
of the organization a few years ago here on Vision2020).

The Plants Rights Society recognizes plant life as an equal and in many
cases superior group of organisms inhabiting the planet. Plant life
superceded animal life and shows superiority in many areas, such as eternal
life (due to open growth) in many plant groups, high intelligence, and other
features. Plants by and large produce their own food and provide much of the
support of the food chain involving animals. Some plants 'feel' pain (in the
manner of plants), communicate danger warnings to neighboring plants,
attempt to avoid danger by moving away from harmful objects or substances
(though they do move rather slowly sometimes), and engage in other seemingly
intelligent behaviors. We don't argue that plant's 'think,' in the usual
sense, but might argue that thinking as we know it is simply silly for a
plant to do, so they don't even bother.

Yet many humans view plant life as of a 'lower order' of creature than
animal life, and actually deign to consider a diet entirely of plants a
moral, ethical activity, a view we do not hold. Indeed, the 'invisibility'
of plants to many people is all too common, and reflects an extreme form of
anthro-centricity, or animal-centricity. Consider, for example:

Not long ago I heard a news reporter on NPR describe 'hacking and chopping
our way through the jungle, with not a living thing in sight for miles
around...' Huh? What was he hacking through?

I once met a young lady who explained that she decided to be a vegan because
she found the idea of eating living things repugnant. Huh? Aren't plants
alive? (And... did she properly and humanely kill all the vegetables before
eating them?)

Join my society (when the website gets up) and support plant life. We urge
that:

(1) Plants be fairly and humanely treated when processed and marketed as
food.
(2) Plants be read their rights during harvesting, weeding, and other human
activities that may damage or destroy them.
(3) Harm no plants during the filming of motion pictures. Remember that
closing scene in Apocalypse Now?!!!! EGAD!
(4) Diets that have an overly large amount of plant materials are not
supported by the society. Vegan diets are morally repugnant to the society.
(5) Plant usage for scientific experimentation must be approved by
authorized review panels or boards.

Thank you for your consideration.

Bob Dickow, troublemaker



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