It is only human supremacy, which is as unacceptable as racism and sexism, that makes us afraid of being more inclusive.
Interpretation
The quote warns against the belief in human superiority over other species, equating it with unacceptable social prejudices.
Ingrid Newkirk's quote critiques the notion of human supremacy, asserting that it fosters fear and resistance toward inclusivity, not only among humans but towards all living beings. By comparing this mindset to racism and sexism, she emphasizes that a truly inclusive society must reject all forms of superiority and embrace diversity in its many forms, advocating for a more compassionate and heterogeneous coexistence with other species.
In practice
In a speech at an animal rights conference, this quote can emphasize the need for empathy.
[I believe] that animals have a worth in and of themselves, and that they are not inferior to human beings but rather just different from us, and that they really don't exist for us nor do they belong to us...it should not be a question of how they should be treated within the context of their usefulness, or perceived usefulness, to us, but rather whether we have a right to use them at all.
I think if you're against cruelty and you look at what happens to animals in slaughterhouses and on factory farms, you have to be completely against eating meat.
The connections I draw between human nature and political systems in my new book, for example, were prefigured in the debates during the Enlightenment and during the framing of the American Constitution.
Every physicist knows that things connect with each other. To isolate things is not the way the universe works - winning best actor is arbitrary.
Language is the biggest barrier to human progress because language is an encyclopedia of ignorance. Old perceptions are frozen into language and force us to look at the world in an old fashioned way.
They themselves mocked Africa, trading stories of absurdity, of stupidity, and they felt safe to mock, because it was a mockery born of longing, and of the heartbroken desire to see a place made whole again.
Swift has sailed into his rest; Savage indignation there Cannot lacerate his breast Imitate him if you dare, World-besotted traveler; he Served human liberty.
I don't care what is written," Meyer Landsman says. "I don't care what supposedly got promised to some sandal-wearing idiot whose claim to fame is that he was ready to cut his own son's throat for the sake of a hare-brained idea. I don't care about red heifers and patriarchs and locusts. A bunch of old bones in the sand. My homeland is in my hat. It's in my ex-wife's tote bag.
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