Why Anarchists should stand up for Animals?

We humans today have a fundamental problem: the idea that “we” are free and just in exercising authority and exploiting “non-human beings.”

This “ideology” is a fundamental factor in authoritarian thinking from “capitalism” to “patriarchy” and “racism” and all kinds of authoritarian systems. In all of these hierarchical systems, there is a group of people in society who, in one way or another, are deemed either “not fully human,” “not of the true human race,” or “degenerate humans.” In the aforementioned discourse, the excuses used to justify it are not as important as the rejection or removal of “humanity” itself. But why does “humanity” have such a characteristic and importance? Because without it, people are placed in a similar position to animals, and then we allow ourselves to treat them in the same horrible way that animals experience from us every day.

In patriarchy, “children” are not considered fully human until adulthood and are in a class between commodity and human. “Girls and women” are not considered “real and complete human beings” even after adulthood and only change ownership from one man owner to another.

In racism, other humans are seen as “non-humans” or “humans of the wrong lineage”. In Iranian mythology, we even called the indigenous people of the region from whom we learned writing and calligraphy during the mythological king Tahmuras (or Tahmures) period “demons” and fought and enslaved them. Interestingly, Tahmuras means “Great/Strong Kidnapper/abductor,” who is known for his contribution to the domestication of dogs and goats. This fact makes the parallels between the two issues more apparent.

Preventing the “degeneration” and “regression” of humans towards animals is one of the fundamental motives of fascist ideology, and thousands of similar cases are rooted in this ideology.

In Iranian mythology, two different stories deal with how people who were initially vegetarians eventually became cannibals by eating meat and other animal products: the myth of Mashya and Mashyana and the myth of Zahāk. It started with eating animal eggs and milk, then fish, then birds, then red meat, and finally human flesh.

Another myth worth mentioning is that of Fereydun in Iranian and Indian legends. In this myth, it repeatedly refers to his struggle to free cows from captivity and sacrificial rituals. To atone for the sin of Jamshid, another mythological king who sacrificed animals, especially cows, for his own immortality and his religious rule, Fereydun symbolically carried a calf on his shoulders up and down the mountains every day from its birth to death. Fereydun also defeated Zahāk with a club fashioned from the head of that ox. These myths appear to have long-lasting ripples within ancient Iranic societies. The starting and main motivation of Zoroaster’s religious movement was the abolition of animal sacrifice, and fasting within Zoroastrian societies was and is actually a custom of voluntarily refusing to eat meat, at least for a short period of time.The cult of Mani and Mazdak also promoted vegetarianism and condemned the killing of animals for food and entertainment.

This shows that this issue was a prominent and radical one even in ancient times.

Regarding domestication and pets, the relationships we have with other living beings can be mutually beneficial, nurturing, and respectful, or they can be abusive or exploitative. If we approach the animals we have chosen as domesticated or pets based on the idea that they are “not like other animals” or “they are one of the good animals,” this is an exploitative and racist idea that we also see regularly among humans in our stratified societies.

In fact, by the brutality that humans impose on other animals, we belittle and humiliate our relationships with them.

All of this must change, and the only way to achieve this goal is to eradicate the ideology of superiority, ownership, and domination of humans over nature and other living beings. This ideology of human superiority is one of the sources of misery and suffering for billions of people and animals. If we refuse to justify and follow this ideology today, we will have a tomorrow in an equal and free society, that is, an anarchist society.

Aryanam