Antispecism

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Antispecism is the cultural movement based on the concept that all the animal species have and deserve the same fundamental Rights.
The Right to live without any inflicted suffering or pain, as well as the Humans would not like to be exposed to any suffering situation.
Antispecist people have a pacifist approach to any kind of animals, even with the ugly spiders and insects.

All species living in the biosphere have a more small or large portion of DNA in common, because all the species come from the same common ancient unicellular bacteria. We share even 50% of our DNA with plants! 61% with insects, 80% with cows, 85% with mice, 90% with cats, 98,7% with apes.

All the inhabitants of a biosphere are close relatives to each others. Even 10% of shared DNA is very much in comparison to species born on other biospheres, which would have 0% of DNA in common with us.All the inhabitants of a biosphere are close relatives to each others. Even 10% of shared DNA is very much in comparison to species born on other biospheres, which would have 0% of DNA in common with us.
The Homo Sapiens gives importance only to that 10-20% or less of difference in the DNA and ignores completely the part up to 98% of matching DNA with the other species.

Antispecism doesn’t discriminate species on the basis of their degree of intelligence. All the species with a central nervous system (brain) are able to think in a certain extent, depending on the complexity of their brain, but all animals think.
The activity of thinking is necessary to all animal, to observe the elements around them and take all those decisions which are not purely instinctive. Even ants think when they encounter something new on their way. To think (observe and deduce) is the primary duty of any brain.

It is also obvious, that every specie with a brain is able to feel emotions, fear, sorrow and pain. Without these abilities, an animal would not be able to evaluate a danger and escape from it. Consequently, all the animal species escape from dangers and from any form of pain or suffering. Even ants feel pain and escape from fire and from a recognized danger.
All animals escape from potential predators, because they know that they would experience a lot of pain, is they finish between the predator’s jaws. They know that there is no return from death.

Thus, for an antispecist people it doesn’t matter how much intelligent or with which intensity an animal may feel pain. It is enough to know, that it would suffer.
Please stop to pull in discussion that also plants would feel pain and sorrow in the same way. This is used as childish escape way, to keep on eating animals.
Animals and vegetables have completely different needs of life. Plants have a spread network of sensors along their body, and they react to external stimulation, but it has nothing to do with the feeling of pain and the awareness to be alive.
If vegetables would feel pain, their life would be the worst imaginable hell! They would feel atrocious pain every time an animal eats one their leafs or some part of their body. They would feel a lot of pain every time the wind rips off a leaf or sprig. It would be a life full of atrocious pains, which they have no way to escape from.

Anyway, to understand better the reasons of the antispecist movement, it is necessary to explain some zoological arguments.

The Human is a much overrated specie. It is not more evolved that the other mammals

Now let’s examine only the mammals for a moment. All mammals have about 80-90% of their DNA in common. It means that all them are very close relatives.
‘Technically’ and biologically, the Human is a mammal like all others. Each mammal specie is specialized to live in its niche in the environment. But biologically, all the mammals are extremely similar among each others. Their brain is made of the same cells (just the quantity varies), their organs are made in the same way and of the same type of cells. Just the size of the organs varies, and some properties related to the kind of diet.
Under none aspect the Human can be zoologically considered more ‘evolved’ than the other Eutheria mammals. It has just a more developed brain, because without it, he would not be able to survive, in conjunction with its low specialized body. 

At general level, it can be said that mammals are technically more evolved than the other vertebrates, as reptiles or amphibious, because the organs of mammals and their metabolism use some more advanced solutions in general. Not because on average, the present mammals are more intelligent than reptiles. At the times of dinosaurs, probably it was the opposite situation.
But inside of the mammals, the Eutheria in our case, there are not species more ‘evolved’ than others. The species are just differently specialized to live in different niches. As it happens inside of the other categories of species in general.

The common answer to the question “Why does the Human think to be the most ‘evolved’ specie on Earth?” is: “Because it is the most intelligent“. The Human always quotes its intelligence as key element to support its perceived superiority to the other species.
But what is really intelligence? Is it really the most aimed feature in nature? What does “evolved” really mean in nature and in zoology?

The ground mistake is to merge the concept of intelligence with the concept of zoological evolution.
The development of intelligence is not the aim of the evolution. Otherwise there would be ‘human-like’ intelligent species in many other categories of species, not only among the Primates and not only one specie.
As well, the evolution has not an aim. The evolution is a chain of consequences which improve the survival ability of a specie. A specie evolves only if and when it is required by the environmental factors.
Many species don’t change significantly since a very long time, because they are already well adapted to survive in their niche. The crocodile for example is so efficient in hunting its food, that it doesn’t change significantly since 55 million years, and its ancestors were almost identical. The starfish looks the same since 400 millions years, it is a true veteran of the biosphere!

The main concern, is that for the most of the species, the increasing of intelligence is not the most direct and effective way to improve their survival abilities. There are other parts of their body where the selection can apply changes in a more effective way. For example the limbs or the external structure of the body.

The zoological evolution is generated by the interaction between the random mutations which naturally occur during the reproduction, and the environmental factors (predators, climate, etc.) of the place where a specimen lives.
Each mutation applies a small change to a certain characteristic of a specimen. If this small change improves in someway the mating chances of that specimen, the mutation will be given to the offspring. If the mutation makes the life of the specimen harder and he/she doesn’t mate (or can’t mate enough), the mutation will get lost.
There is no design in the evolution. There are only logical consequences between mutations and selections. All the elements of the environment together, drive the selection.
Of course the ‘evolution’ is an extremely long and slow process, made of a lot of faults and few successes. It is a very long chain.
Since we are observing the nature since a very short time, we are seeing now only the effects of the sum of the successfully mutations, and none of the millions of faulty mutations (because they got lost). This is why this long process may appears like something ‘miraculous’. This is why for many narcissist Homo Sapiens it is very hard to accept, that there is no superior design behind our specie. (Blame for this are also the monotheist religions, and the oversized ego)

Don’t forget also that just by breeding, which is just an artificial selection, the Wolf has been turned into a miserable Chihuahua and even worst.
If it looks incredible to you, that a chain of selections can make the Homo Sapiens starting from an ape, look what happened with the cetaceans and Ichthyosaurs, which were quadrupedal animals on the land and they turned into aquatic animals, fish-like! That is a huge evolution jump!

Before to switch to water, the cetaceans looked like this (See the Raoellidae and Artiodactyla):

Raoellidae (extinct)

This is the astonishing aspect of evolution. That a deer can turn into a blue whale or an Orca, without any ‘design’.
It is already happened 2 times and it will happen again in 20 million years if a suitable specie will experience the same needs and will be exposed to the same pressure by the environmental changes.
Compared to their change, the difference between Apes and Homo Sapiens is just a cosmetic retouch. We perceive it as a huge miraculous jump, only because our increased intelligence is essential to our survival.

About Antispecism & veganism, I recommend the famous documentary “Earthlings“. Watch it directly on their Home Page, or on Youtube:
http://www.nationearth.com/
Earthlings on youtube