The End Game of Animal Advocacy

Where, ultimately, are we headed in this movement? If we think really big and long-term, things can get pretty weird.

All of the life on Earth will die in a billion years, more or less: our sun will slowly expand, boiling off the oceans and eventually consuming our planet. Humans may leave the planet and become inter-planetary, or inter-galactic; or we may go extinct here on Earth. Our one human species may evolve into multiple species as time goes on, either on the Earth or off of it.

All of this is beyond our lifetimes, and it's weird stuff to think about. (Although I personally find it interesting.)

However, the thing we ultimately care about is well-being—the health and happiness of individuals (human and non-human). And we care about it regardless of what the specifics of the future look like.

That means regardless of the long-term trajectory of life, we have some guidance: we should work to reduce suffering and improve well-being for ourselves and other beings, as much as we can.

An obvious big step here is working to end factory farming, a terrible industry that causes an unfathomable amount of unnecessary suffering.

But in all forms of animal advocacy (and human advocacy), the guidance is still the same: reduce suffering, improve well-being, and (when possible) do it in a way that persists and spreads (e.g. through laws, etc). This applies to companion animals, wild animals, animals who we interact with on the streets of our cities, and our own health and happiness.

Where do we get if we do that? It's hard to predict, exactly—but in that place, humans will treat other animals according to their interests, and life will be a whole lot better for countless individuals because of it.

I think that place is worth chasing, even when we don't know exactly what it looks like.