On a recently locked struggle session thread, someone made the claim that
i love how people who hate my existence are just as evil as someone who doesn’t care about eating a McRib
meat eating is bad but I don’t think im going to compare them to people who don’t want me to exist
The user in question is a woman and I’m not, so I think the best way to respond to this is to discuss it in the context of an oppression that applies to me. Here’s a post where I’ve already done so:
I think this warrants elaboration, though.
I had the misfortune of being active for many years in communities were “autistic” was considered an insult. Just as most people are offended to be compared to animals, it was seen as demeaning and shameful to be compared to called autistic - “you’re like one of those inferiors!” I would be extremely suspicious of anyone who claims to be an ally to autistic people but who flies into a rage if someone dares suggest that a crime against us carries comparable moral weight to a crime against them.
Am I offended to have my struggle compared to our society’s crimes our fellow creatures? Do I think it carries with it the implication that I’m beneath moral consideration? No, because I don’t consider animals beneath moral consideration.
this is kind of debate tactics bleh so it’s whatever but yeah the issue is that parallels (dehumanization etc) between human and animal oppression are basically nonproblematic to oppressed humans who already take animal oppression really seriously but they’re explosively offensive to oppressed humans who don’t. so ig how sensitive you are talking with carnists about this just depends on where you are on the bully/convince spectrum