Nikhil: "Because we are the ones making the decision..."Hmmmm.... not a good enough reason for me. Someone holding a gun is the one who makes a decision whether or not to shoot another person. This does not mean they have the authority to do so. There is no legitimacy to that decision, moral or otherwise.
Nikhil: "Whales are not humans... "we are humans, and tehrefore human life ought to mean more to su than whale life. Humans are superior only from our subjective poiint of view. But still, we have a duty to our species first."
Why? Why is this so? I'm pretty sure I'm more dependent on my ecosystem and the creatures that make it up than on humans half a world away. Furthermore, humans can survive without fish, not to mention the fact that they can fish without killing whales. Once again, it appears to be about profit, not well-being.
Nikhil: "The analogy between racism and speciesism topples over because races are not scintifically valid constructs, while species are."
It does no such thing. Read up a bit more about species. It is a convenient invention of humans to allow them to compartmentalize the world into some ridiculously reductionist framework. The overlap between species is large. One example off the top of my head: dogs and wolves. Two species, right? But they can produce fertile offspring, right? Once again, though, what logical reason is there to value our own species above others? And bear in mind, it is not a life or death issue for our species. The worlds humans could be fed more cheaply and equally nutritiously through other means.
None.
