Taxonomy vs. ethics

[Jerry Bricker]

>
>Its questions like this that make me damn glad I am a botanist.
>Thomas G. Lammers
>Field Museum of Natural History
>Chicago IL 60605-2496 USA               lammers at tfm.fmnh.org


If pain or suffering is a physiological response to extreme stress then
wouldn't it be fair to say that plants also can suffer?  Most animal flesh
that we consume has ceased cellular activity, usually shortly after being
slaughtered or in the deep freeze.  On the other hand, plant tissue
consumed in salads and cooked for consumption at the evening meal still
exhibits cellular activity or is alive immediately prior to preparation.
Tossing a potato into a pot of boiling water is then comparable to boiling
a live lobster in terms of the physiological "torture" it causes.  I say it
is time to END THE CRUELTY AND TORTURE OF PLANTS!

If animals are to be afforded consideration and relief from the suffering
at the hands of humans then shouldn't plants be given the same treatment
(couch potatoes excluded)?  It is time that we liberated all our brothers
in the vegetable kingdom and stop the insanity.  All of us must take an
oath not to wear plant products, tolerate the caging of plants for human
enjoyment (botanical gardens must be eliminated as cruel and inhumane), and
to encourage our fellow citizens never to consume the flesh of plants.  I
propose the founding of an association called PETP (People for the Ethical
Treatment of Plants).  Combined with the efforts of PETA we will one day
see a world in which all species are treated fairly and are not enslaved
for the pleasures or whims of humans.  We must all stop eating the cells
and tissues of other organisms and deter any attempts at speciesism.  Come
to think of it, all taxonomists who brutally murder or dismember plants in
the name of science (the same information can be gained by using computer
models) and corporations that promote plant cruelty should be boycotted and
charged with illegal activity.  I say we charge the labs of Monsanto and
other biotech. companies and liberate those plants who are being cruelly
manipulated.  Free people of the world unite!

JB

P.S.  The above comment is meant as satire (in case that point may have
been missed on anyone in cyberspace).  Concern for the ethical treatment of
animals is laudable but it can, and often does, border on extremism.  Some
of the points I make are important, though.  I've often wondered why the
discussion of animal rights so seldom includes an environmental component.
Animals do need suitable habitat for their existence and yet too little
attention is focused on that fact.


-------------------------------------------------------
Jerry Bricker
Department of Biology
Laramie County Community College
Cheyenne, Wyoming 82007-3299
Phone: (307) 778-1139
Fax: (307) 778-1395
e-mail: lcjbrick at antelope.wcc.edu