Fed UP with plants … (05/07/17)
In one of my more recent (and more well-visited) posts on animal cruelty, a Facebook associate made a comment — an indirect argument for animal abuse, actually — that went like this:
“Plants are also self-aware, suffer when harmed, and communicate this to other plants, in some cases across species. Veganism denies the personhood of non-animals.” ~ Keith McCormac
Now keep in mind that I have heard this truly ridiculous argument hundreds of times over the last four years, and even though it causes the hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end every time (trying to justify the fully unnecessary & incontrovertible suffering of animals by saying that plants suffer just as much — seriously?!?!), I force myself to take a deep breath every single time I hear it anew — especially in cases like this where I am not familiar with the one doing the uttering. I mean, it is possible (not likely, but possible) that Keith McCormac is not a Troll — it is possible that he actually believes that plants have the same level of acute sentience while being harvested (and thus experience the same level of horrific suffering) that animals do while being murdered …
Fair enough. While I will forever find it hard to believe that anyone could equate the “suffering” of a cucumber to the abject horrors experienced by the victims of the animal agriculture industry, I assumed that Keith — possibly like many of you — is disturbingly misinformed in this regard, and I offered this thorough and irrefutable response thereto … Feel free to use its Truths yourself if you are ever confronted by the same nonsense … Peace.
“Plants do not have brains, do not have central nervous systems, do not have limbic systems, and do not have pain receptors … As such there is biologically no way possible for them to suffer when harvested (what you would quite bizarrely call “murdered”) … Secondly, non-vegans “murder” on average 16 times MORE PLANTS than vegans for their sustenance, so if you are sincerely concerned about plant “suffering”, then you too will go vegan — if not for the animals, then for them … Thirdly, many wrongs never make anything close to one Right. You saying that vegans kill sentient plants and cause them to suffer (?!?!?) in no way excuses YOU from knowingly and intentionally killing the plants that are fed to your meat & dairy, killing the animals that were tortured & butchered for your meat and dairy, AND killing the plants you eat alongside your meat & dairy … Finally, if you are ACTUALLY concerned about the suffering of plants, the answer is not to shrug your shoulders and meekly cause massive amounts of the same, but rather to simply eat “Kill-Free.” All fruits, all seeds, all legumes, all nuts, almost all vegetables, and even all grains can be harvested without causing ANY harm to their parent plant. I have lived for many months eating this way and can say that it is economical, just as tasty, and extremely healthy … Peace.”
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