I always think that sense of superiority is the issue of a lot of things that are evil. Racism, sexism, chauvinism, homophobia, misogyny, misandry, and whatever else evil--in summary they all come from a feeling that one is better than the other sometimes to the point that the other shouldn't exist or that it's others' nature to be bullied/slaved/raped/not accepted/that they deserve all the bad things that come upon them. And that is pretty bad, considering they're all the same: human being. Yet even among themselves they cannot see that they're essentially equal.
That, I don't like.
But my dislike doesn't stop there, because nowadays those kind of views are perceived as a bad thing. Which is true: it is a bad thing! And those who have those sentiments are seen as evil. Not.. all, it seemed, but at least it's improving. And it's a good thing. It's a good thing that people realized that those values are evil. And even if they don't stop doing evil, at least they know that what they do is evil so what they did are purely done not because of misconceptions or the feeling of it's the right thing to do but purely because they want to do that form of evil: they want to do so because it feels right for them, beneficial for them, or because they're just plain evil. Because the worst thing about doing evil is THINKING THAT IT'S NOT EVIL.
Or at least that's what I believe.
Anyway.
Yeah. So as seeing that there are forms of discrimination or feeling of superiority among humans themselves, it's granted that they (of course) think really highly of themselves compared to other living creatures. Like animals. Or plants.
And I think it's way worst. And I loathed it even more. Why? Because people don't even think it's a bad thing. They really think that it's animals' or plants' nature to serve the humanity. They really think that whatever they do to them, it is their right to do so simply because it seemed that humans are better than they are in every way.
(Some religions even established that fact but for the sake of argument I am not taking that to account.)
...what?
The thing is, the fact that one is better than the other shouldn't be a justification for doing things that are bad. It shouldn't be a reason to demean others. To belittle others. And even then, I don't really think that the fact we are better than they are means that we're not equal in essence. (And I don't even think that we're all that better than they are either. I personally think a lot of people are worse than dirt.)
Okay, now let me get this straight first. By bad, I don't mean like eating them or whatnot. I like eating meat. I love eating meat. Meat is tasty. But so do tigers. They eat meat. So do lions. And crocodiles and T-rex. They eat meat. My cat loves fish. I love fish. I eat fish. I don't feel bad eating fish because it's not bad to eat them, you know? It's our nature to eat each other. To hunt. To survive. So no, it's not bad. Even if you for some reason, think it's bad, at least you know that you're doing it for a reason and it's more appealing than the consequences which you perceived as, say, more bad. Like dying out of hunger.
So yeah, survival of the fittest. Fine.
But it doesn't give you the right to enslave them to death, to confiscate their habitat, to kill them for fun, to do whatever people are doing right now to animals that are totally not okay if it's done to other people.
Animal domestication, for example. Some may say that it's a form of modern slavery: but I personally think that if there's a form care and appropriate treatment or if that it has mutual benefits for both parties, it should be fine. Say a pet is giving a sense of companionship or entertainment for people; they got food, shelter, and to some extent the same sense of companionship and love in return. So does a farm: if it's done in a non exploiting manner (which sounds like a load of bullshit but I believe that given the right method and enough knowledge it can happen) it should be ok. Even if they have to be "used", at the very least they're given an amount of incentive on their part. We have to coexist with them. It's like a job, you know? People are enslaved too, but they gain what they think they need in return so they're fine that way. So I think it should be obvious that animals too, even when we can't really guess what kind of perceived benefits they had in mind, the least we can do are not exploiting them until death. I can go on and on about how not being mean to animals (as if it's not obvious already but then SOMEHOW IT'S NOT huft) but that's not the point.
The point is that we have no reason to be mean. We really don't. (Unless you want to be mean or you're evil. Then yeah, you kinda have a reason.) You and your fellows of the same sex or race or ethnicity or being can be better in ways you want to believe you do, but it doesn't give you the right to be mean or violate others. And no, they don't deserved it. Same as women don't deserve rape. Same as colored people don't deserve slavery. Animals don't have their lives taken away because they 'deserve' it.
People are just evil, most of the time.
(p.s. Whew. This is like the third installment of my Don't be Mean posts. Turns out I'm very concerned about people being mean.)
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