me on a soapbox
ANIMAL ACTIVISTS, DO YOUR RESEARCH BEFORE YOU START MOUTHING OFF RANDOM STREAMS OF EXTREMIST DIARRHEA.
I need to say this because, for the past week, I've been distracted from my work about how irresponsible these PETA and anti-Mars people are. I have to give a 20-30 minute presentation on the habitat loss + degradation of whales and sea turtles next week, and yes, I'll probably get on my soapbox again during that speech. (Just a bit! At the end! And I'll even encourage people to write to the Bush administration and say "YOU'RE AWESOME" if they truly think so, because that's their right!) BUT. At least I do research first, research with facts and multiple sources from multiple viewpoints. Then, and only then, are you entitled to argue for action.
Please please please, inform yourselves. Even if it wasn't PETA that we were talking about, are you really willing to risk your cause with your inadequacies? When you blindly rant, you end up alienating so many people (either because you sound crazy or because they'll do their own research and find out your "facts" are wrong or biased) and they'll close their ears to real arguments and real facts.
Also, credible sources would be nice. Seriously, I asked a girl to give me sources besides PETA for her information about Mars candy, because I wasn't finding anything myself. She then posted articles that all said, "PETA says...PETA states..." I was going to forgive her because she said she was an English major...but actually, that's hardly an excuse. I know at least a few schools are teaching students how to research effectively because my classes have been pushing it on me since 8th grade, regardless of the subject or the school.
Furthermore, drop the misanthropic attitude. (One girl even insisted we should all kill ourselves.) Even though I am continually disappointed by humanity (I just need to look at these people to lose hope), I try not to express any such sentiment when I'm arguing for animal welfare. Let's face it, we are not going to magically eradicate mankind, nor would the world be any better if we did. We need to balance the needs of both humans and the ecosystems, which will require a lot of compromise and action on the part of the public. Pissing them off will never ever help our causes. These eco-radicals are only setting us back further.
I say these things, and people just think I'm trying to shut them up. No, wtf. I'm saying you need to THINK independently and objectively before trying to move the masses. Public education is probably one of the most important tools of any conservationist and/or animal welfare activist. (I'm like ridiculously pleased when Nell listens to my nerdy ramblings and then goes out and does her own research...and then on top of it, starts acting on what she feels is worthy and right.) So please don't taint what we're trying to do by insulting and threatening people.
So. After many hours of digging up information about Mars and animal-testing, what the crap do I think about this? (Nobody asked, but since I'm here on this tirade...) I should probably preface this by saying that one of the reasons I dropped out of Boston University was my Genetics class, which had no problem with teaching about the most INSANE animal experiments from the past and present, but didn't want to argue about the ethics behind them. My prof was like, "Well, maybe pharmaceuticals isn't for you." Yeah, agreed.
But the experiments that these people actually bothered citing showed no evidence of unethical behavior towards these animals. They do everything they can to minimize suffering...Even when they're bleeding them dry, at least they're put to sleep first. I hate that sites like marscandykills.com are misrepresenting what these scientists are doing.
Does it suck that these animals have to die? Hell yeah. Is it for "a greater good" like people say? If chocolate Skittles (which tasted like Velveeta if it were chocolate) can be called a greater good.
I think there's a huge difference between "These animals are being experimented on OHNOES" and "These animals are being tortured OHNOES." Depending on the purpose, I'm for or against the former. I mean, even wildlife scientists run experiments on animals, and usually for their own sake. But if the animals are suffering, then to me, that's more black and white. For me, we have no reason to inflict pain on an animal. And I don't think quickly killing an animal that's drugged up = inflicting pain. And since there's no proof that these rats and mice of Mars are suffering, then I'm okay with them. Or sorta okay, because we're still talking about pieces of chocolate vomit here.
Anyway. My friend just sent me a care package filled with movies, children's books, and cookies to help me de-stress. Since this post didn't work (still wanting to reach through the internets and smack these people), I'm going to try chocolate toffee cookies.
I need to say this because, for the past week, I've been distracted from my work about how irresponsible these PETA and anti-Mars people are. I have to give a 20-30 minute presentation on the habitat loss + degradation of whales and sea turtles next week, and yes, I'll probably get on my soapbox again during that speech. (Just a bit! At the end! And I'll even encourage people to write to the Bush administration and say "YOU'RE AWESOME" if they truly think so, because that's their right!) BUT. At least I do research first, research with facts and multiple sources from multiple viewpoints. Then, and only then, are you entitled to argue for action.
Please please please, inform yourselves. Even if it wasn't PETA that we were talking about, are you really willing to risk your cause with your inadequacies? When you blindly rant, you end up alienating so many people (either because you sound crazy or because they'll do their own research and find out your "facts" are wrong or biased) and they'll close their ears to real arguments and real facts.
Also, credible sources would be nice. Seriously, I asked a girl to give me sources besides PETA for her information about Mars candy, because I wasn't finding anything myself. She then posted articles that all said, "PETA says...PETA states..." I was going to forgive her because she said she was an English major...but actually, that's hardly an excuse. I know at least a few schools are teaching students how to research effectively because my classes have been pushing it on me since 8th grade, regardless of the subject or the school.
Furthermore, drop the misanthropic attitude. (One girl even insisted we should all kill ourselves.) Even though I am continually disappointed by humanity (I just need to look at these people to lose hope), I try not to express any such sentiment when I'm arguing for animal welfare. Let's face it, we are not going to magically eradicate mankind, nor would the world be any better if we did. We need to balance the needs of both humans and the ecosystems, which will require a lot of compromise and action on the part of the public. Pissing them off will never ever help our causes. These eco-radicals are only setting us back further.
I say these things, and people just think I'm trying to shut them up. No, wtf. I'm saying you need to THINK independently and objectively before trying to move the masses. Public education is probably one of the most important tools of any conservationist and/or animal welfare activist. (I'm like ridiculously pleased when Nell listens to my nerdy ramblings and then goes out and does her own research...and then on top of it, starts acting on what she feels is worthy and right.) So please don't taint what we're trying to do by insulting and threatening people.
So. After many hours of digging up information about Mars and animal-testing, what the crap do I think about this? (Nobody asked, but since I'm here on this tirade...) I should probably preface this by saying that one of the reasons I dropped out of Boston University was my Genetics class, which had no problem with teaching about the most INSANE animal experiments from the past and present, but didn't want to argue about the ethics behind them. My prof was like, "Well, maybe pharmaceuticals isn't for you." Yeah, agreed.
But the experiments that these people actually bothered citing showed no evidence of unethical behavior towards these animals. They do everything they can to minimize suffering...Even when they're bleeding them dry, at least they're put to sleep first. I hate that sites like marscandykills.com are misrepresenting what these scientists are doing.
Does it suck that these animals have to die? Hell yeah. Is it for "a greater good" like people say? If chocolate Skittles (which tasted like Velveeta if it were chocolate) can be called a greater good.
I think there's a huge difference between "These animals are being experimented on OHNOES" and "These animals are being tortured OHNOES." Depending on the purpose, I'm for or against the former. I mean, even wildlife scientists run experiments on animals, and usually for their own sake. But if the animals are suffering, then to me, that's more black and white. For me, we have no reason to inflict pain on an animal. And I don't think quickly killing an animal that's drugged up = inflicting pain. And since there's no proof that these rats and mice of Mars are suffering, then I'm okay with them. Or sorta okay, because we're still talking about pieces of chocolate vomit here.
Anyway. My friend just sent me a care package filled with movies, children's books, and cookies to help me de-stress. Since this post didn't work (still wanting to reach through the internets and smack these people), I'm going to try chocolate toffee cookies.