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The Issues
Shock the Monkey
Confessions of a Rational Animal Liberationist by Jeremy Yunt.
I went with some friends recently to hear a local band I’ve been meaning to catch ever since I moved to Santa Barbara, California more than three years ago; they call themselves ‘Animal Liberation Orchestra’. Aside from being keenly interested in their name, I’d heard they were great players – and, indeed, they are.
My friends and I sat talking on the outside patio of the club for the first few songs, and being that I was a long-time vegetarian at an Animal Liberation Orchestra show, it seemed natural that one of my non-vegetarian friends would broach the topic of the nonhuman animals’ fate in our modern, technological world. Not one to proselytize unsolicited for a cause of mine, I was glad for the invitation to discuss an issue close to my heart, particularly with this thoughtful and intelligent friend.
Considering his intelligence, it came as no small surprise when he asserted the first objection to what he saw as the essence of animal liberation: If all animals were liberated, we could expect nothing short of complete mayhem on our city streets.
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