[Vision2020] Plants Rights

[Robert Dickow]

With some of the recent comments about animal rights and so on, I'd like to
make a plug for my Plants Rights Society. (I think I posted the constitution
of the organization a few years ago here on Vision2020).

The Plants Rights Society recognizes plant life as an equal and in many
cases superior group of organisms inhabiting the planet. Plant life
superceded animal life and shows superiority in many areas, such as eternal
life (due to open growth) in many plant groups, high intelligence, and other
features. Plants by and large produce their own food and provide much of the
support of the food chain involving animals. Some plants 'feel' pain (in the
manner of plants), communicate danger warnings to neighboring plants,
attempt to avoid danger by moving away from harmful objects or substances
(though they do move rather slowly sometimes), and engage in other seemingly
intelligent behaviors. We don't argue that plant's 'think,' in the usual
sense, but might argue that thinking as we know it is simply silly for a
plant to do, so they don't even bother.

Yet many humans view plant life as of a 'lower order' of creature than
animal life, and actually deign to consider a diet entirely of plants a
moral, ethical activity, a view we do not hold. Indeed, the 'invisibility'
of plants to many people is all too common, and reflects an extreme form of
anthro-centricity, or animal-centricity. Consider, for example:

Not long ago I heard a news reporter on NPR describe 'hacking and chopping
our way through the jungle, with not a living thing in sight for miles
around...' Huh? What was he hacking through?

I once met a young lady who explained that she decided to be a vegan because
she found the idea of eating living things repugnant. Huh? Aren't plants
alive? (And... did she properly and humanely kill all the vegetables before
eating them?)

Join my society (when the website gets up) and support plant life. We urge
that:

(1) Plants be fairly and humanely treated when processed and marketed as
food.
(2) Plants be read their rights during harvesting, weeding, and other human
activities that may damage or destroy them.
(3) Harm no plants during the filming of motion pictures. Remember that
closing scene in Apocalypse Now?!!!! EGAD!
(4) Diets that have an overly large amount of plant materials are not
supported by the society. Vegan diets are morally repugnant to the society.
(5) Plant usage for scientific experimentation must be approved by
authorized review panels or boards.

Thank you for your consideration.

Bob Dickow, troublemaker