This is an archive of the former website of the Maoist Internationalist Movement, which was run by the now defunct Maoist Internationalist Party - Amerika. The MIM now consists of many independent cells, many of which have their own indendendent organs both online and off. MIM(Prisons) serves these documents as a service to and reference for the anti-imperialist movement worldwide.

Maoist Internationalist Movement

Party Congress 1999: Session II

Veganism and "animal rights"

Platform on veganism and animal rights

Summary

MIM approaches the issue of the environment from the standpoint of the group of people in the world with no property--"nothing to lose but their chains." That group of people is called the proletariat. The proletariat has a non-negotiable "right" to survive and therefore a non-negotiable right to a non-toxic environment, one that is sustainable and life-promoting. There is no way to individualize the environment for property purposes. Under the organized force or government known as the "dictatorship of the proletariat," the right to property will be clearly subordinated to the right to a non-toxic and life-promoting environment. There is no compromise between collectivism and individualism possible. Those disagreeing and acting against the dictatorship of the proletariat will be sent to prison or re-education camp.

Definition: Vegans are people who do not eat meat or animal by-products.

Criticisms of the imperialist country vegan movement

1. In 1998 there was an "animal rights activist" ad that aimed to stir up Western chauvinism against China for eating dogs. MIM condemns inter-cultural veganism outreach of this sort, because preventing war is more important than promoting veganism as far the environment is concerned. Stirring up hatreds against other cultures for their different meat tastes contributes to people-to-people hatred. Under the dictatorship of the proletariat, such inter-cultural hatreds will be repressed through re-education camp.

2. We condemn the line that the vegan lifestyle prevents global hunger. Such a line covers up the fact that there is currently enough food produced to feed the whole world, but it is not distributed under capitalism.

Should population growth reach a point where there is actually a global shortage of food and not just a distribution problem, the dictatorship of the proletariat will not hesistate to impose a vegan diet if necessary. Vegan diets do require less arable land per persyn.

3. We oppose the line of boycotts as the leading tactic. Boycotts punish one capitalist while allowing others to restart the business being boycotted. State power exercised in an uncompromising collectivist fashion is necessary for environmentalist goals.

4. MIM upholds the rights of aboriginal peoples to hunt and serve their own people through traditional barter and exchange. We do not necessarily uphold the actions or formation of aboriginal monopoly capitalist corporations to exploit any aspect of the environment, but care must be taken not to oppose the efforts of the First Nation bourgeoisie to develop business.

5. There is no meaningful non-religious view that holds the "rights" of animals to be similar to those of humyns with regard to "murder." "Deep ecology" is often just deep religion. Before there was a humyn species, there were five massive species extinctions. The disappearance of dinosaurs had nothing to do with humyns and the eventual burning out of the sun guarantees extinction on this planet again. Such is reality and hence part of dialectical materialism.

We oppose humyn interventions to keep foxes from eating mice and similar phenomena. There is no humyn action that does not affect the environment and thereby favor one set of species in the world over another. The best-meaning "deep ecologist" or vegan tips the environmental balance toward one set of species over another, whether s/he knows it or not. There is no meaningful way to practice "anti-speciesism." The choice is between anthropocentric dialectical materialism and religion.

In actual fact the efforts of most "anti-speciesists" compounds the problem of humyn separation from the environment by denying the many threads in which we are connected to our environment. Such compartmentalized and unscientific thinking often referred to as "dualism" underpins any claim that says humyn actions can possibly not favor one set of species over another. Such compartmentalized thinking is often referred to as "logic," but in fact it is Western imperialist "logic" which is pseudo-science leaving out entire areas of scientific study and chains of causation.

Benefits to the vegan movement if the communist movement succeeds

1. The first benefit is that there will be no ad campaigns by monopoly capitalist corporations to promote meat-eating. Production will not be for profit. "Beef: It's what for dinner" billboards will be abolished.

2. The state will fund education on why vegan diets are scientifically superior for health.

3. The existing vegans will be allowed to persuade others to become vegan, and the vegans will rest assured that no one will be profiting in the millions or billions of dollars from animal slaughter. No persyn under socialism will have a job dependent on butchering. At any time a butcher may switch to another profession, because jobs are guaranteed under socialism. Under these material conditions, vegans can expect to have the greatest success in their history.

4. Distribution efforts will entice the people into vegetarian hamburgers and other synthesized forms of food most nutrititious and tasty for the proletariat not currently promoted under capitalism.

5. Under collective child-rearing, adults will not be allowed to require their children to eat meat.

Animal rights platform

1. MIM opposes logging on federal land and will seek to double or more the area under preservation without logging, if the basic needs of the proletariat so allow. We favor preservation for humyn health reasons.

2. Although the value of a spotted owl or other species is almost nil to capitalists profiting from lumber cuts, the value of any species to the proletariat is unknown at this time. For two hundred years the capitalists have spread fallacious propaganda that they are not hurting the environment and health of the worker. MIM supports environmental preservation as a matter of the health of the people, based on what has worked to support humyns as living beings for millions of years.

3. Just as the black market for drugs will be eliminated, the black market for poaching will be eliminated. People caught with money not part of their state-planned salaries or known sidelines will be sent to prison or re-education camp. Mao showed that this is possible in China, 1949 to 1976.

4. The party will not guarantee an end to animal research, but it will guarantee an end to animal research in luxury production. Extending life and health of humyns is not luxury production. Cosmetics are luxury production.

The Maoist emphasis on the applied nature of scientific advance will also ensure that many types of scientific research carried out strictly for the profit, bureaucratic or turf interests of certain scientists will be abolished. Resources will be re-allocated to other scientific endeavors.

5. The dictatorship of the proletariat will abolish luxury production of animal furs and other animal products.

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