Katie
A Speech by David Vallentyne Katie was born into slavery two years ago. While growing up she was kept in a crowded cage and only given the bare necessities needed to sustain life. Her captors mistreated her in every way possible, but Katie endured her hardships with a smile on her face and a song in her heart. When it was apparent that they could not break her spirit Katie's captor decided to starve Katie and imprison her in a small, cold, dark box. With in a week her captors chopped her nearly lifeless
body into 20 pieces, then cooked her and ate her! Where could such an atrocity happen, Red China, a south pacific Island, inhabited by annibals? No, right here in the USA. How could such a heinous act happen here in the United States? Because Katie is a carrot.
Plants rights abuses are very common in this country. On farms plants are enslaved for the purpose of feeding us. They are raised in over crowded field, where they must compete with hundreds of other plants for the necessary light, water and nutrients. In addition these poor plants are grown on nutrient deficient soil, suffering from malnutrition as they try to survive. If that wasn't bad enough these brave plants are butchered in the prime of their lives. Don't be fooled, their death was neither quick, nor painless. After harvest, the plants slowly die of starvation and dehydration. This brutal death should be suffered by no one.
At labs plants suffer at the cruel hands of savage scientists. These helpless plants are subjected to a barrage of inhumane test, which few plants survive and those "lucky" ones that do survive are simply thrown away, or eaten. Why are these experiments performed? For the sole purpose of the betterment and extension of human life. Why should we kill plants just to find a new miracle drug? There are no benefits for plants.
Despite all the inhumane treatment that plants receive on farms and in labs, the most common and most accepted plant rights abuses occur in the home. Trees are wasted to build your house, to protect your from the sun and the rain. Trees are murdered to make your furniture, your tables, your chairs. Wouldn't you rather stand to save a life of a tree.
The poor plants that make up your lawn are squished by a force 2000 times their weight, you. Every time you walk across your lawn you are injuring hundreds of innocent plants. Why? Because we refuse to walk around them, just to save a couple of seconds in our schedule. Lawns and bushes around the country endure a weekly session of barbarism known as mowing and pruning,where their "arms" are cut off. This is done for one reason and one reason alone, to conform plants
to the aesthetic tastes of humans.
Millions of plants across the country are incarcerated in plant prisons. In these prisons, or gardens as they are referred to by their wardens, young plants are cruelly mistreated and ultimately killed. Any plant that differs from the "gardener's" expectations, such as weeds, are executed for simply existing. A couple of years ago a dog had puppies, and it's owner did not want these puppies so he dug a hole and buried the puppies alive. When it became news, there was a public
outrage at what the dog owner had done. This is exactly what these "gardeners" are doing right now. Where is the outrage and the disgust?
We murder plants to prolong our own overextended life by eating vegetables and grains. How can we justify ending the life of one being just to extend the life of another? When will we learn that it is wrong to eat other earthlings. Not even McDonalds is sympathetic with plants rights and furthers the notion that plants should be eaten by offering such toppings as catsup, mustard, onions and pickles. Will anything satisfy our wretched species hunger for death?
We kill plants to cover our naked bodies against adverse weather and the eyes of others. It is not right to kill others just to cover ourselves. Is it not worth going naked to save the lives of plants? How can a society condone the murder of its most valuble and helpless members, the cotton plants.
We give a plant corpse as token of affection and a sign of love. Is that love? What about love for the roses and the carnations? Murder is so entrenched in our society that it manifests itself in every form of interaction between people.
There are those who do not believe plant's rights. They claim that plants are not sentient and can not think because they lack a brain. Their are of course in error because it is a common misconception that thinking or consciousness resides in the brain. A college professor of mine, in a lecture stated that our eye balls can think without on their own. We all know that a college professor would never, ever tell a class some thing that was not proven, or let his opinion dominate
the lecture. A star fish has no brain but according to animal rights activists, it and all other animals can think, feel and have rights. Many people with a fully functional brain do not think, this is especially prominent when they are in front of a television, or behind the wheel of a car. If certain beings without brains can think and certain beings with brains can't we can conclude that thinking is not related to the procession of a brain.
The Oxford New English Dictionary, the final authority of the English language defines sentience as: responsive to sensory stimuli. In manyscientific studies plants have been proven to respond to sensory stimuli such as light, gravity, touch, wind and electricity. In numerous science experiments, plants have been prove to respond to light and grow towards it. In other scientific studies plants such as
tomatoes, mustard plants, poplar trees and Venus fly traps have been proven to respond to touch and cellular damage.
Not only are plants sentient, but they can feel and have likes and dislikes as well. In order for a plant to respond to stimuli the plant must become aware of it first, and in order for a plant to become aware of the stimuli the plant must feel it first. The plant must feel both pleasure and pain. Because it feels pleasure and pain the plant develops likes and dislikes, the likes being things that cause
pleasure and the dislikes being the things that cause pain. Plants enjoy light, water, rich soil, soft music and conversation. Plants dislike predatory insects, damage to it's leaves and toxic chemicals. To summarize it plants want to live and reproduce, just like any animal. Now, is that to much to ask?
Plant's rights opponents claim that these reactions to light and other stimuli are a result of genes and not sentience or consciousness. This argument is obviously false because it is also applicable to animals and we all know that animals are sentient and have rights.
Plants should be treated with the same dignity and respect that you would treat any other living creature with, and we should be careful not to hurt their feelings. If you prick them do they not bleed their sap-blood. If you tickle them---wait don't tickle them, you probably hurt them with your big clumsy fingers. Instead play soft
music and talk to them, you will be surprised at the results. And if you wrong them, shall we not avenge the death of those who can not defend themselves.
Now that I have converted you to the plant's rights cause here are a few things that you can do to help the plant's rights cause. First off, cut plant flesh out of your diet. Replace it with dirt. Dirt does not promote the enslavement or death of any being and if it's good enough for our enlightened earth brethren the plants, it's good enough for us. The same land used to grow crops to feed one vegetarian can feed 535 dirt eaters.
Although a dirt diet may drastically hinder the development of young children the development of these children would still be hindered by a vegetarian diet. You can reassure young children that they are eating dirt to save all of their plant friends.
To save the poor cotton plant we can wear plant free material such as: nylon, rayon, spandex or polyester. If none of these options sounds appealing, go naked. What ever you wear remember that cotton kills.
The home is still a plants worst enemy, so demolish your current home and live in one that is plant friendly, or just sleep in the street. For finding a plant friendly home I suggest doing as the plants do and living in the dirt. Just dig out a hole by hand and be careful not to disturb the roots.
At school it is the hardest to be plant friendly. With pressures such as textbooks, homework, pencils and binders it is hard to be a plant friendly student. I suggest getting a good lawyer, then rid yourself of these plant based items. You can replace paper with transparencies, even though they are 25 times more expensive. I suggest you find other plant's rights activists and organize protests at
school, throw fake blood at any one wearing cotton and other such activities. The most important activity that your group can do is freeing plants that have been enslaved at your institution of learning. Although most plants do not survive the process of being freed, they will be thankful that they are free.
As important as these things are the plant's rights movement can not succeed with out your liberal financial support. You can donate:
$49.95 for a one year membership to PeTP, People for the Ethical Treatment of plants.
$99.95 for a one year membership to the PLO, the Plant Liberation
Organization, an organization dedicated to establishing the plant's civil rights, no matter how many laws they break in the process. This includes the right to vote,
however due to physiologicallimitations I will vote for the plant population.
$30 plus $15 dollars a month for membership in Vegetarians Anonymous.
Please make all checks payable to David Vallentyne. We need plenty of
donations in order to even come close to $11 million PeTA gets every year. Just like many "non-profit" organizations over half of our budget goes to administrative costs.
When you go home today and live your lives, remember to allow our plant friends this same right, remember that plants are not ours to own, wear, eat or for our entertainment. But most importantly remember Katie, remember Katie.
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McSpotlight adds:
perhaps a better forum for this string would be the Creative Debating Room ...
