Urh said:
I already knew about PETA killing nearly all the animals it "rescued", but I didn't know that they were (allegedly) "rescuing" animals from animal shelters and slaughtering them. And upon further thought (I try to expend as little mental energy on PETA as possible), their position on pets is akin to genocide.
It is Genocide.
Bob didn't really elaborate on this aspect of things or explain it. PETA is out to sort of restore nature and the way animals exist in it. Humans have bred numerous kinds of animals specifically for their own use and companionship that are either intristically friendly to humans and want to be taken care of (some dog breeds being friendlier than others) or are either incapable of surviving in nature, or would have an unfair advantage in trying to survive and compete in nature due to having been bred for things light fighting (guard/attack animals) or hunting. They want to remove domestication and also man-made animals as part of restoring the natural state of animals.
PETA by and large understands that a lot of it's support comes from animal lovers who also have pets, and similar things, so it tends to downplay these aspects of it's operation. After all if some guy or girl donates because they love their Mr. Fluffy, they don't want to disturb that and lose the money, hence their covering up of a lot of their activities. Likewise it's much easier to get people to give you animals to kill if they think they are going to be taken care of rather than killed.
Understand something important though, PETA is not "insane". I disagree with them on pretty much everything related to animal domestication, but I understand why they do what they do and what techniques they use. PETA is one of the few groups that actually understands that nothing can be accomplished by simply stomping around protesting and talking smack, it takes actual actions. Thus rather than saying "we need to wipe out domesticated animals and man-made breeds" they actually do whatever it takes to do it. Likewise no amount of protesting is going to convince big business to do something it really doesn't want to do, especially when there is a large enough divide for them to actually have supporters. Simply showing up to protest animal testing, farming, zoos, and other things does nothing... just like the guys squatting in protest of Wall Street did nothing. Hence them backing groups like the "Animal Liberation Front" or spawning/carrying out similar actions themselves. While you might disagree with them, they are quite rational in understanding what it takes to pursue their goal especially in light of substantial opposition.
Of course PETA is a group where I am actually cheering for the other side, as opposed to supporting their cause and hoping they succeed with what they are doing. I don't like them,
I just understand them. Truthfully a lot of movements could learn a lot from PETA and it's operations. Albiet when humans get involved you start talking about killing people (politicians and their supporters) not domesticated animals. For example as I've said before with the Wall Street Protests (which I actually have mixed opinions about, as opposed to being a totally supporter of) for that to work they would need to start actually attacking these bankers and their holdings. Otherwise if it's just about making noise they can just put on the figurative earplug and ignore it all because the law protects them (which is why it got to this point) and nothing forces them to listen or agree. Some dude sitting 60 floors above you doesn't give a crap if your freezing in the street because you don't like him, he's going to just make his money and do whatever and pretend you don't exist. On the other hand if a bunch of unwashed squatters break in and kill him, the other people in a similar position are going to go "whoa, maybe we should take this seriously" especially if the police seem less than capable of dealing with it. A few incidents like that and suddenly people start to realize that non-violent protest out there outnumbers the police hundreds or more to one and if they REALLY wanted to take action they could storm buildings. The demonstrated abillity and willingness to take action irregardless of the authorities, but instead choosing not to, is what makes non-violent protest work... but first you need to establish that you actually have the choice/power to try and do something. Without those kinds of credentials it's meaningless. PETA sort of gets that, and as a result they can't be entirely ignored like Bob says even if there is strong opposition and they don't have the numbers to act on a large scale. You ignore PETA and then you have PETA start breaking into places more frequently, or increasingly funding groups like ALF (which someone else mentioned)... which ensures that even if not well liked or winning, PETA stays on the map as much as people might hate what they stand for. The only way to beat them would be to convince the majority of the members they were wrong... without a membership it can't operated, and to their credit they are fanatical enough in great enough numbers to resist that despite the massive counter pressure.
Or in short... know your enemy, you can't deal with a serious opponent unless you at least have SOME respect for it. Anything that has lasted as long as PETA has by definition become more than a joke, regardless of what you might want to believe, you can't beat it (or head it off) without taking it seriously.
