A Proposal for an Animal Welfare State
Philosopher David Pearce wants to see a world where all sentient beings are well cared for. With the rapidly advancing technology in computing and nanotechnology, he sees the possibility for a world where it will be feasible both technologically and economically to help wild animals as well as domesticated ones. As just one example, he has come up with a plan for an elephant welfare state. Most elephants die of preventable dieases that they could be vaccinated against, or because their teeth grind down so much they can no longer eat and they starve to death. He also addresses injuries and threats from droughts and natural disasters.
His biggest concern is not technological or financial but rather that the public will resist the idea of intervening in the wild, even for the wellbeing of its inhabitants.
You can read the full article here.
http://www.veganism.com/an-elephant-welfare-state-is-within-our-reach/
But what about the humans that are still dying from hunger and sickness, every single creature on earth should be protected imo, but i think that we must start with our species. If we don't care about ourselves, how can we care for other races
Thanks. I think I failed to point out that I think all sentient beings should be cared for, and I should have emphasized that I think it's very likely that in the future it will be feasible to care for all humans and for wild animals as well. The thing is, I don't have to convince most people that we should take care of all humans. The real challenge is overcoming the appeal to nature -- the idea that what is natural is automatically good, at least for wild animals, as well as overcoming the view that it would be impossible for us/artificial intelligence to ever figure out how to massively intervene in the wild without doing more harm than good.
Interestingly, there are libertarians who are opposed to a welfare state for humans but not to a welfare state for animals because of their vulnerability and obviously different situation.
I'll be writing much more on these topics in the future -- stay tuned! :)
"The real challenge is overcoming the appeal to nature -- the idea that what is natural is automatically good, at least for wild animals, as well as overcoming the view that it would be impossible for us/artificial intelligence to ever figure out how to massively intervene in the wild without doing more harm than good."
this is quite interesting..
Yea, and i'll be reading, thanks for sharing