People in my neighborhood already think like this
Posted May 4th, 2008 at 10:14 AM by Jon HamBloggers are making a big deal about a Swiss government ethics panel ruling that plants have “rights” and that it is morally wrong to mistreat them. If they lived in Trinity Park here in Durham they’d find that same way of thinking on the neighborhood listserv every time a utility company trims a tree. Here’s what the normally sensible Swiss have done:
A “clear majority†of the panel adopted what it called a “biocentric†moral view, meaning that “living organisms should be considered morally for their own sake because they are alive.†Thus, the panel determined that we cannot claim “absolute ownership†over plants and, moreover, that “individual plants have an inherent worth.†This means that “we may not use them just as we please, even if the plant community is not in danger, or if our actions do not endanger the species, or if we are not acting arbitrarily.â€
Glenn Reynolds yesterday linked to a video that illustrates the absurdity of the panel’s position.
May 4th, 2008 at 11:54 am
[...] MacRanger talks about Club Gitmo! Jon Ham, and Michelle Malkin talks about the absurity of the screams of asparagus. Dan Collins wonders if mineral rights are far behind. Don Surber discusses Obama’s boiling point. Scared Monkeys talk about Hillary’s horse. Doug Ross discusses political correctness during times of war. Rick at Brutally Honest discovers that global warming is causing shark attacks! Macker is playing with the moonbats. [...]
May 4th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
I fully expect the followers of this mad philosophy to break toward Singerism and view the “living organism” of a tree to be more “morally” deserving of life than that of unborn human babies.
May 5th, 2008 at 8:29 am
Wasn’t the ‘jump the shark’ episode of “Lost in Space” ‘the Great Vegetable Rebellion’ where Will, the Robot, and Dr. Smith are threatened by a man in a Carrot Suit???
May 5th, 2008 at 8:36 am
You are correct, sir. It aired on Feb. 28, 1968, according to TV.com.
Here’s the plot synopsis:
May 5th, 2008 at 9:21 am
Doctor Smith uses the Space Pod to land on a planet that the Jupiter 2 is passing by. It turns out that the planet has evolved in such a way that plants are the highest form of life, and some of them are quite intelligent. One of these plants, a large carrot, captures Smith and tries to change him into a plant.
To the delight of millions of couch potatoes at homes all across the US.
May 5th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
So how do these people deal with living beings like mildew in the grout of their bathroom tile, or algae on their roof, or yeast, for crying out loud?
May 5th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
I’d like to know what they think about the screams of the vegetables so callously cut down in the prime of their lives so that these folks can have a green salad.
Or does their moral equivalence have limits as to how stupidly extreme it will go?