My name is Gina. I am an animal rights activist. And I am a speciesist.

Indirectly, animal rights philosophy condones speciesism.

Almost every human agrees in basic principle that all beings should be given basic rights. Few people think it is okay to kill a piglet without reason. But the difference between the currently morality and animal rights philosophy comes into focus when there is the inevitable conflict of rights.

Most people consider their right to use animals for food or clothing or entertainment is greater than an animals right to live.

hen it requires assigning rights based on the sentience of a being with perhaps a utilitarian perspective if different quantities are involved. And while the guideline for rights is sentience and it is not species, clearly some species of animals almost always have greater sentience than do other species.

I drive my car knowing that I will kill insects as I drive. My moral code allows me to assign myself the right to risk the lives of insects for my convenience. And I don't feel terrible when it happens. And I would feel terrible if I ran over a squirrel or a human child. And if the odds of killing a squirrel or child were as high as killing an insect I would not drive. I behave differently towards different species.

On occasion I have removed the food source for fleas (the food source being my dog).

I am writing this on a computer that has almost all of its components manufactured by processes using animal by-products (oils, greases, etc) and then shipped using resources that also used animal by-products. I purchase many items manufactured in China where human and animal rights are negligible.

Of course, I have defended myself by saying that those cases are "different" (well duh, every case is different).

I flinch when I hear someone else use the same excuse ("but that's different") when I ask why they do what they do.

We are all drawing lines somewhere, and the reasons for doing so are nearly always the same.

We tend to think that folks who draw the line closer to themselves than do we are less compassionate, and that those folks who draw the line farther from themselves than do we are a bit too zealous (become a fruitarian or a freegan - I think not!)

It's human nature -- all cars on the highway going 10 KPH faster than me are reckless speed demons, all cars going 10 KPH slower than me are driven by little old ladies and a danger to all that is pure and good.