Last night as I was making a salad for dinner I imagined at each chop that I was hearing the scream of the lettuce as I ripped it into shreds. Those poor carrots and radishes were absolutely tortured on the chopping block, it’s that long and slow kind of torture. It’s absolutely inhumane. Oh, that’s right, they’re vegetables, or plants!
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What was I thinking about? Yes, more insanity from Europe. I’m sure the Leftards in the US are cheering for the plants right now. Finally, plants have a say in our world. It’s about time. Plants should have the same rights as humans! That’s what the Swiss government is actually deliberating. Supposedly the Swiss are acclaimed to be sane and intelligent people, I think not!

The Silent Scream of the Asparagus

You just knew it was coming: At the request of the Swiss government, an ethics panel has weighed in on the “dignity” of plants and opined that the arbitrary killing of flora is morally wrong. This is no hoax. The concept of what could be called “plant rights” is being seriously debated.

A few years ago the Swiss added to their national constitution a provision requiring “account to be taken of the dignity of creation when handling animals, plants and other organisms.” No one knew exactly what it meant, so they asked the Swiss Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology to figure it out. The resulting report, “The Dignity of Living Beings with Regard to Plants,” is enough to short circuit the brain.

A “clear majority” of the panel adopted what it called a “biocentric” moral view, meaning that “living organisms should be considered morally for their own sake because they are alive.” Thus, the panel determined that we cannot claim “absolute ownership” over plants and, moreover, that “individual plants have an inherent worth.” This means that “we may not use them just as we please, even if the plant community is not in danger, or if our actions do not endanger the species, or if we are not acting arbitrarily.”

The committee offered this illustration: A farmer mows his field (apparently an acceptable action, perhaps because the hay is intended to feed the farmer’s herd–the report doesn’t say). But then, while walking home, he casually “decapitates” some wildflowers with his scythe. The panel decries this act as immoral, though its members can’t agree why. The report states, opaquely:

At this point it remains unclear whether this action is condemned because it expresses a particular moral stance of the farmer toward other organisms or because something bad is being done to the flowers themselves.

What is clear, however, is that Switzerland’s enshrining of “plant dignity” is a symptom of a cultural disease that has infected Western civilization, causing us to lose the ability to think critically and distinguish serious from frivolous ethical concerns. It also reflects the triumph of a radical anthropomorphism that views elements of the natural world as morally equivalent to people.

Yes Americans, this is what we have to look forward to because as you know, the Leftards have to emulate Europe because Europe is ever so much more civilized than the crass Bible thumping Americans. Soon the United Useless Nations Nitwits will have a committee on Plant Life Torture with a list of the 10 most offending countries and the Nobel Prize for Peace will be awarded to Al Gore for saving plant life with his cap and trade business and his new book and movie “Lettuce All Save The Planet”.

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