On Ending Speciesism

I completely agree that As the World Burns makes clear the problems regarding climate change, and emphasizes the need for change. However, I don’t think the answer lies in the human race uniting together to change things. A very important idea, one that is often overlooked, that is brought up by the graphic novel is the concept of speciesism. Speciesism is defined as “the idea that being human is a good enough reason for human animals to have greater moral rights than non-human animals...a prejudice or bias in favor of the interests of members of one's own species and against those of members of other species” (BBC). By ending the graphic novel with the scene of animals and humans alike uniting together to instigate change, the authors make a powerful anti-speciesism statement. Honestly, I believe that the root of the problem is that people, collectively, just can’t get over themselves and stop enforcing a strict hierarchy of species.

Practices such as factory farming, dog and horse racing, establishing zoos and aquariums, and hunting as a leisure activity are still prominent today, and don’t seem to be going away. They have been normalized, streamlining and normalizing the concept of speciesism and passing it off as fact. What we need is for people to change their ideologies and philosophies regarding the hierarchy of species, and set everything equal. Everything depends on everything else; humans, animals, plants, the atmosphere…we need to realize this and stop putting our wants and needs first. We need to show those in power that we value other species, and this planet we call home, and from here, by uniting ourselves with other species and breaking down this socially constructed species hierarchy; this is our only hope that they will listen and make the changes necessary to, literally, save the Earth. Together, with small individual lifestyle changes each person can make, this reconstruction of social norms and unification with other species, a positive change can be made, together. I still have hope, and I think the authors of As the World Burns do as well.