In philosophy, there’s a word for the ideological commitment to conceptualizing humans as the center of meaning, value, knowledge, and action — basically, the center of the universe. Anthropocentrism is the philosophical viewpoint arguing that human beings are the central or most significant entities in the world.

When we teach that systemically constructed social divisions like sexism, classism, racism, etc. are wrong and we do not include non-humans animals, we fail to fundamentally stand true to the very point we’re trying to make: that all life is to be valued and respected.

When we see brand packaging, often accompanied with illustrations of happy animals and attempts at humane labeling, we become further and further removed from the realities behind our food. Humanewashing is an effort to market animal products to conscientious consumers through deceptive packaging and labeling, promoting the illusion of animal well-being while concealing the extent of animals' illness and suffering (Farm Forward).

In this post, I share a personal and honest reflection on my experience losing a companion animal. Since Miki’s passing, I hired an artist to draw him - he sits in a red velvet baroque chair wearing a crown, looking forward. He’s poised, confident, powerful, framed in gold.

Does the right to life run parallel to only our own species? How can we argue that it does without embodying the kind of exploitation, injustice, and harm we often claim to reject?