Text by David Olivier

From Abolition

There is no great theory at all behind the idea (of the abolition of meat)! I mean, the resolution for the abolition of meat is very *minimalist*. It only spells out the minimum common ground that all animal militants can agree upon - all animal militants, and many other people too!

Eating meat is not necessary. Harming and killing an animal without necessity is not right and should not be allowed. Eating meat implies harming and killing animals, and so should not be allowed.

We can all believe many other things too - that we should be vegan, that animals are morally equal to humans, that they have rights, that eating meat is bad for human health, that it contributes to the greenhouse effect, and so on. We may agree or disagree about that, but we all agree that eating meat is a needless act of harming and killing animals, and should be abolished.

The one thing that is original about the initiative for the abolition of meat is that we should stop hiding behind our little fingers and should all be outspoken having abolition of meat as a goal.

Yes, for years animal people have been fighting for vegetarianism/veganism. But the approach has always been an individualistic one. Convincing people one by one to turn vegetarian, as a personal option. Even if we have convincing ethical theories (Singer, Regan, etc.) that strongly argument that *no one* should eat meat, and that it is ethically wrong to do so, somehow we do not get the message across that it is not a matter of individual choice. Not only is it wrong, but it should also be abolished on a legal, societal level. Voicing that position is what the present initiative is about. We must not so much ask *individuals* to stop eating meat as ask *society* to abolish meat-eating.

So it is not a matter of starting a new campaign. It is a matter of inciting all existing animal people and organizations to accept that paradigm shift, and integrate that shift into their own campaigns and public declarations.

The idea of this list, in my view, is to organize one or several initiatives (such as a march) to launch the idea. It is not a new campaign that in itself aims at obtaining the abolition of meat; the abolition of meat will come about only through the concerted efforts of the whole animal movement, an effort that unfortunately will certainly take decades. But to attain that goal implies that we must start voicing publicly that that is indeed our goal, and that it is a goal that is justified on a very broad basis, a basis that society at large can agree upon: meat implies the unnecessary harming and killing of animals and thus should be abolished.

David (posted on the English list, 08.01.2008)