Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Retraction and Apology

I would like to issue an absolute and unequivocal retraction of the allegations that I made earlier in the history of this blog to the effect that Professor Gary L. Francione in any way plagiarized the ideas of Professor Robert Garner. To help clarify, the matter was over the insight that animal welfarism’s restriction against “unnecessary suffering” can logically lead to abolishing speciesist practices (for a discussion of this idea in a completely different context, I refer the interested reader to “Francione on Unnecessary Suffering,” i.e., the blog entry for July 28, 2007). Now there are always common ideas that can be found amongst any thinkers and the two professors have very different ways of thinking. Francione sent me his thoughts on the matter, which I found to be informative. I add that I should have sought out his thoughts on this to begin with, and I do sincerely regret this error of omission. Francione’s own opinion, if I may paraphrase my understanding of the ideas in question, is that Garner’s argument is part of his general stance as an “animal welfarist.” Francione himself argues against such animal welfarism, and so the fabric of the ideas in question is unmistakably distinct and different. (To see my own reflection of the animal welfarism vs. anti-animal-welfarism debate, and of Francione's and Garner's polarized views, please see generally Sztybel, "Animal Rights Law: Fundamentalism versus Pragmatism," Journal for Critical Animal Studies V (1) (2007): 1-35.) To sum up briefly, my finding is that the case in question does not constitute a case of “intellectual theft.” I was in error about this matter.

I would also at this time like to issue an unmitigated apology to Professor Francione and also to anyone else who might suffered due to my rash and regrettable actions. Let none of what I wrote in the deleted blog entry in question cause anyone to so much as seek to bring into question Professor Francione’s academic integrity and honesty.

FURTHER READING ON ANIMAL RIGHTS INCREMENTALISM

A Selection of Related Articles

Sztybel, David. "Animal Rights Law: Fundamentalism versus Pragmatism". Journal for Critical Animal Studies 5 (1) (2007): 1-37.

go there

Short version of "Animal Rights Law".

go there

Sztybel, David. "Incrementalist Animal Law: Welcome to the Real World".

go there

Sztybel, David. "Sztybelian Pragmatism versus Francionist Pseudo-Pragmatism".

go there

A Selection of Related Blog Entries

Anti-Cruelty Laws and Non-Violent Approximation

Use Not Treatment: Francione’s Cracked Nutshell

Francione Flees Debate with Me Again, Runs into the “Animal Jury”

The False Dilemma: Veganizing versus Legalizing

Veganism as a Baseline for Animal Rights: Two Different Senses

Francione's Three Feeble Critiques of My Views

Startling Decline in Meat Consumption Proves Francionists Are Wrong Once Again!

The Greatness of the Great Ape Project under Attack!

Francione Totally Misinterprets Singer

Francione's Animal Rights Theory

Francione on Unnecessary Suffering

My Appearance on AR Zone

D-Day for Francionists

Sztybel versus Francione on Animals' Property Status

The Red Carpet

Playing into the Hands of Animal Exploiters

The Abolitionist ApproachES

Francione's Mighty Boomerang


Dr. David Sztybel Home Page

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

The Red Carpet

Francione, in Rain without Thunder, and whenever he speaks or writes on the topic, calls animal rightists “outsiders” to the legislative process. His reason is that animal rightists would not be taken seriously by contemporary legislators, and to be taken seriously, the activists would need to water down their activism.

This is a falsifiable claim. Consider the case of Austria. This country was one of the first to ban battery cages for hens. Such cages are consummately cruel. Typically they are made of wire, and stacked up to 20 high, imprisoning hens who lay eggs. Stacking that high means the birds poop and pee on those living below them through the wire floors. Their toenails, ordinarily kept trim by walking around, often grow around the wire of the cages, becoming entangled, in this environment where they never get to exercise outdoors, and breathe clean air. The stench makes human visitors gag, and so they often wear gas masks. The birds’ feathers are often lost and skin rubbed red raw from being stuffed often 5 to a cage whose dimensions offer the “floorspace” of a folded up newspaper. The birds are thus driven insane, and the noise is a horrid cacophony in their sentence to nearly always darkness. Often one bird, who would be the submissive one in a normal pecking order, passively starves or dies of dehydration in a corner of the cage, but is calculated to be “expendable” by the exploiters, who count pennies but not animal suffering. Veterinary care is confined to removing dead birds—but often not even that. And so on. Francione, in Rain without Thunder, makes it clear he would only abolish battery cages if a substitute fully respects hens’ freedom of movement (the complete respect for a given interest requirement which I discuss in “Animal Rights Law”). That’ll be the day, when legislators grant as much space as an animal-rights-governed animal sanctuary! At any rate, Austria banned the practice, and no doubt brought in confinement systems that are not quite what an animal rightist would ideally desire. The shortcoming is predictable, frankly, due to prevailing speciesism and capitalism. However, before this legal coup there was a press conference of all the animal protection groups in Austria, protesting the battery cages. Such a feat is unheard of in Francione’s home country, the USA, and my own of Canada. But that unity in the campaign contributed to its political success. Now some of these groups were animal rights groups.

Politicians are not dummies. They know that the animal rights groups are more radical than the campaign superficially suggests, and advocate the abolition of keeping hens for egg-laying altogether some day. But the politicians took these animal rights groups seriously, and these groups did not need to compromise their radicalism. These animal rightists did not hide or pretend to be something they are not. It would not be best for animals, these animal liberationists must have thought, to play the role of political outsiders. The politicians knew they represented part of an overwhelming spectrum of popular votes since the campaign electrified the nation through effective media usage. So Francione is dead wrong that groups need to compromise to achieve insider status. His calling for animal rights supporters to be political outsiders creates marginalization of these activists as a self-inflicted wound. Animal rights fundamentalists, astonishingly enough, are "self-marginalizers." Not just achieving "welfarist" legislation is key. It means a lot to have animal rights voices at the negotiating table, even if those voices are understood more than heard outright. Otherwise, as a logical feature of Francione's vision, it would be just traditional "welfarist" voices in the halls of political decision-making. Such voices see relatively minor dispensations to animals as their only due.

Apparently he is waiting for a red carpet to be laid out for him before he sets foot in a legislature to advocate laws to help animals. Yes, as he says, he only wants to be an “insider” if he does not lose his radicalism. He does not just mean radicalism in the above animal rights pragmatist sense of having a long-term goal of the eradication of speciesism. No, he means that he should comfortably be able to demand his version of “proto-rights” now, and be taken seriously by the politicos who run the country. But that cannot be for the foreseeable future, hence the abandonment of legislating as a futilitarian goal for the time being.

Let’s think on this a moment. What would it take for a legislature, or members of it, to take seriously Francione’s proto-rights measures? Why, they would have to be in favor of , or demonstrably open to being persuaded that, animals should receive 100% protection of this or that interest (such as freedom of movement in the example given above). Why, then they would have to be animal rights people, or just achingly on the cusp of becoming that, virtually waiting to be persuaded, because only animal rights people favor 100% respect of interests. Others agree that animals should be used “humanely,” and the animals’ usage (which I characterize as ill usage in “The Rights of Animal Persons”) takes a priority. This state of affairs in turn means that human interests (including profit-making ones) must take priority. Human interests taking priority is normally incompatible with 100% respecting of any given animals’ interest. It just works out that way since larger hen spaces cost humans money. That is why the legislators would need to be animal rightists (or wannabe animal rightists) not animal “welfarists”--in the speciesist sense where humans take priority--if the law-makers are to be genuinely and practically receptive to Francione's proto-rights for animals.

So Francione is waiting for the carpet to be rolled out by fellow animal rightists in the legislature, or wannabes. That is the inescapable logic of the situation. But that is not all. Francione is not talking just about preaching to the converted. He wants to change politicians’ minds. So if there is a minority of animal rights sympathizers in a legislature (and even that today is a remarkable political achievement), it is not they who pose a threat to Francione’s “insider status” being watered down. No, the concern is with those who disagree with animal rights who would not take animal rights seriously, and according to Francione, pragmatically require that he “water down” his stance. So he would still have to stay out of the legislature, because he would still “need” to water down his views given the minority status of animal rights in the legislature. That minority would not be enough to pass legislation, and he would have to deal with the animal-rights-hostile-or-indifferent majority of law-makers. What about one day, when there is a majority of animal rights politicians in the legislature? Why, then he could march in proudly, and the red carpet would be firmly waiting for him. Before then, there would presumably be no animal-protective legislation, by his lights, since under his leadership, there would not be any such vain “insider-status-seeking.” So up until whole animal interests can readily be protected, a far-flung day I might add, animals will get no legislative relief at all.

The red carpet he is waiting for would be red with the blood of animals whose lives would be that much more hellish because he is “waiting for the day” with his cronies. You can read about the Austria example in the second edition of In Defense of Animals, in the essay, “How Austria Achieved a Historic Breakthrough for Animals,” by Martin Balluch, a leading activist in the campaign. The Austrian ban and how it was won proves that Francione’s basic concern about insider status is dead wrong. (At least if the animal rights radicalism is to be logically defensible.) And the logic of Francione’s “waiting game” proves that animals will end up much more wrongly dead if people follow Francione’s example. The animals will not get legislative relief from the worst of vivisection, factory farming, and the like until “the day.” Well, I’m not waiting, and hope you will join me in my impatience with futilitarians, who in turn are so impatient for animal rights that they lose sight of the realities of our present situation.



FURTHER READING

A Selection of Related Articles

Sztybel, David. "Animal Rights Law: Fundamentalism versus Pragmatism". Journal for Critical Animal Studies 5 (1) (2007): 1-37.

go there

Short version of "Animal Rights Law".

go there

Sztybel, David. "Incrementalist Animal Law: Welcome to the Real World".

go there

Sztybel, David. "Sztybelian Pragmatism versus Francionist Pseudo-Pragmatism".

go there

A Selection of Related Blog Entries

Francione's Three Feeble Critiques of My Views

Francione Totally Misinterprets Singer

Francione's Animal Rights Theory

Francione on Unnecessary Suffering

My Appearance on AR Zone

D-Day for Francionists

Sztybel versus Francione on Animals' Property Status

The Red Carpet

Playing into the Hands of Animal Exploiters

Francione's Mighty Boomerang


DR. DAVID SZTYBEL HOME PAGE


FURTHER READING ON ANIMAL RIGHTS INCREMENTALISM

A Selection of Related Articles

Sztybel, David. "Animal Rights Law: Fundamentalism versus Pragmatism". Journal for Critical Animal Studies 5 (1) (2007): 1-37.

go there

Short version of "Animal Rights Law".

go there

Sztybel, David. "Incrementalist Animal Law: Welcome to the Real World".

go there

Sztybel, David. "Sztybelian Pragmatism versus Francionist Pseudo-Pragmatism".

go there

A Selection of Related Blog Entries

Anti-Cruelty Laws and Non-Violent Approximation

Use Not Treatment: Francione’s Cracked Nutshell

Francione Flees Debate with Me Again, Runs into the “Animal Jury”

The False Dilemma: Veganizing versus Legalizing

Veganism as a Baseline for Animal Rights: Two Different Senses

Francione's Three Feeble Critiques of My Views

Startling Decline in Meat Consumption Proves Francionists Are Wrong Once Again!

The Greatness of the Great Ape Project under Attack!

Francione Totally Misinterprets Singer

Francione's Animal Rights Theory

Francione on Unnecessary Suffering

My Appearance on AR Zone

D-Day for Francionists

Sztybel versus Francione on Animals' Property Status

The Red Carpet

Playing into the Hands of Animal Exploiters

The Abolitionist ApproachES

Francione's Mighty Boomerang


Dr. David Sztybel Home Page

On the Futilitarian Front We Are Winning, But Have Not Won Enough!

There is currently a kind of massive conflict (I shy away from calling it a war due to the attendant gross connotations) between the animal rights futilitarians on the one hand, and animal rights pragmatists on the other. (Note: In long form we would say "animal rights futilitarians" rather than just "futilitarians," since, as I found out, I did not invent the term; "futilitarian" is used mainly in end-of-life debates about the futility of resuscitating people who have life signs and little more.) I say without controversy that the pragmatists are already winning, as they have been since the dawn of futilitarianism as expressed by Gary Francione (see previous blog entries for more context, although there have long been people of like-minded thinking and sentiment). My essay, “Animal Rights Pragmatism,” will help us win more, I hope, since there is otherwise a vacuum for theories that can be used to justify animal rights pragmatism. However, it is not enough that the futilitarians are already marginalized (for good reasons does their philosophy not sit well, intuitively, with most animal rightists). Their number and cause—that of the futilitarians—must be reduced further to the maximum possible extent so that animal well-being and animal rights can be promoted to the maximum possible extent. Let newbies to the debate become pragmatists rather than futilitarians. Let old-time futilitarians change their minds. And let an overwhelming animal movement push hard, though not obnoxiously, to win more and more respect for animals’ interests over time. Being in the majority on an issue is no cause for complacency, especially when so much is at stake. Progress for animals, and what is related, being able to cooperate with animal protectionists more broadly, are all hinging on the progressive outcomes of this massive conflict, so let’s not let the animals down. It is not realistic to expect to convert die-hard futilitarians who will not listen to reason, anymore than it is reasonable to expect conversions with speciesists who are so hidebound, but at least the damage they do to others and the animal protection movement in general can be minimized, and a much more positive and hopeful vision can be actively promoted. The futilitarians cannot rightly be dismissed as “losers,” but need to be taken seriously as a threat to what is good and true, although the good intentions behind their misguided philosophy needs to be honoured as well. Lamentably, the real losers are the animals, who stand to lose further due to futilitarian activism. But as animal rights lawyer, Lesli Bisgould, said of the animal rights movement in general, in a talk some years back: “We’re going to lose, and lose, and lose again. And then we’re going to win.” Ultimately, this is about winning for animals, not winning for “us” as some kind of shared ego trip. So much loss for animals must be grieved continually, but let us not simply grieve the positive potential for them that may be lost through unwise maneuvering. We have reason to be active about what the futilitarians are trying to do specifically in promoting their brand of futility, while sabotaging really possible gains for animals. At the same time, their vegan animal rights activism is still in many ways is to be celebrated. We also have reason to despise futilitarian tactics, such as their dismissing of the pragmatists as not really “abolitionists.” No matter, the dominant position I believe will prevail ever more and more as truth will triumph in the end, and people will literally opt for what is better—or at least many will. Animal rights pragmatists of the world unite!!!



FURTHER READING

A Selection of Related Articles

Sztybel, David. "Animal Rights Law: Fundamentalism versus Pragmatism". Journal for Critical Animal Studies 5 (1) (2007): 1-37.

go there

Short version of "Animal Rights Law".

go there

Sztybel, David. "Incrementalist Animal Law: Welcome to the Real World".

go there

Sztybel, David. "Sztybelian Pragmatism versus Francionist Pseudo-Pragmatism".

go there

A Selection of Related Blog Entries

Francione's Three Feeble Critiques of My Views

Francione Totally Misinterprets Singer

Francione's Animal Rights Theory

Francione on Unnecessary Suffering

My Appearance on AR Zone

D-Day for Francionists

Sztybel versus Francione on Animals' Property Status

The Red Carpet

Playing into the Hands of Animal Exploiters

Francione's Mighty Boomerang


DR. DAVID SZTYBEL HOME PAGE


FURTHER READING ON ANIMAL RIGHTS INCREMENTALISM

A Selection of Related Articles

Sztybel, David. "Animal Rights Law: Fundamentalism versus Pragmatism". Journal for Critical Animal Studies 5 (1) (2007): 1-37.

go there

Short version of "Animal Rights Law".

go there

Sztybel, David. "Incrementalist Animal Law: Welcome to the Real World".

go there

Sztybel, David. "Sztybelian Pragmatism versus Francionist Pseudo-Pragmatism".

go there

A Selection of Related Blog Entries

Anti-Cruelty Laws and Non-Violent Approximation

Use Not Treatment: Francione’s Cracked Nutshell

Francione Flees Debate with Me Again, Runs into the “Animal Jury”

The False Dilemma: Veganizing versus Legalizing

Veganism as a Baseline for Animal Rights: Two Different Senses

Francione's Three Feeble Critiques of My Views

Startling Decline in Meat Consumption Proves Francionists Are Wrong Once Again!

The Greatness of the Great Ape Project under Attack!

Francione Totally Misinterprets Singer

Francione's Animal Rights Theory

Francione on Unnecessary Suffering

My Appearance on AR Zone

D-Day for Francionists

Sztybel versus Francione on Animals' Property Status

The Red Carpet

Playing into the Hands of Animal Exploiters

The Abolitionist ApproachES

Francione's Mighty Boomerang


Dr. David Sztybel Home Page

Friday, January 11, 2008

Two New Web Publications

I have just published my first book! Literally, since I have published it myself on my website. It is entitled Acts of God and was mostly written during my doctoral years. I want to make it available for free in order to help the movement against oppression wrought by people who insist on oppressive practices stemming from the Bible.

Another publication is a "MIRROR PRODUCTIONS" version of "Animal Rights Law: Fundamentalism versus Pragmatism," for people who find the original academic article too dense, or if they just want a short, quick version of the essential ideas.

FURTHER READING ON ANIMAL RIGHTS INCREMENTALISM

A Selection of Related Articles

Sztybel, David. "Animal Rights Law: Fundamentalism versus Pragmatism". Journal for Critical Animal Studies 5 (1) (2007): 1-37.

go there

Short version of "Animal Rights Law".

go there

Sztybel, David. "Incrementalist Animal Law: Welcome to the Real World".

go there

Sztybel, David. "Sztybelian Pragmatism versus Francionist Pseudo-Pragmatism".

go there

A Selection of Related Blog Entries

Anti-Cruelty Laws and Non-Violent Approximation

Use Not Treatment: Francione’s Cracked Nutshell

Francione Flees Debate with Me Again, Runs into the “Animal Jury”

The False Dilemma: Veganizing versus Legalizing

Veganism as a Baseline for Animal Rights: Two Different Senses

Francione's Three Feeble Critiques of My Views

Startling Decline in Meat Consumption Proves Francionists Are Wrong Once Again!

The Greatness of the Great Ape Project under Attack!

Francione Totally Misinterprets Singer

Francione's Animal Rights Theory

Francione on Unnecessary Suffering

My Appearance on AR Zone

D-Day for Francionists

Sztybel versus Francione on Animals' Property Status

The Red Carpet

Playing into the Hands of Animal Exploiters

The Abolitionist ApproachES

Francione's Mighty Boomerang


Dr. David Sztybel Home Page

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Shifting to a Homemade Blog

Today I am shifting from my free Tripod blog builder to a more homely, because homemade, blog format. That is, I am reprogamming the thing from scratch using HTML. (What you are reading now is the new blog configuration.) The problem with Tripod is that other things came free with it too: long wait times to visit the blog, long wait times to revise it (up to the better part of an hour at times!), lost entries, lost formatting, and program errors that do not permit indexing of entries, etc. All for free!!! One day I plan to offer a new website on a different service (this one is free) and pay for a plan that excludes obnoxious and time-consuming (for loadup purposes) advertisements, but that is a project for another day.