Good point to be cautious about manufactured opposition. On the other hand, isn’t rage baiting a common way to garner attention in today’s environment? Isn’t that exactly what makes your comment so attractive to respond to/rebuff?
Perhaps I’m conflating rage baiting with manufactured opposition, but I do think FK is onto something here.
Thank you for saying this Wendy, it is very big of Veganuary to have the bigger picture in mind for animals.
Good to know about Every, I just signed up for my org.
Hey Nitin! I’m so glad you are investing in this!! Such an important topic and I’m grateful for your work to marry conservation and welfare. There are few people who could do that, so I’m glad you have made strides already.
You may be interested to know we have a campaign in DC to manage rat populations without the use of poisons DCratsolutions.com
I read about the interest in creating a new contraceptive via a convening of experts/funders and a prize. That sounds cool to target it toward island species to make it focused on conservation with a humane approach. Do you have a sense of how it can incorporate established R&D on contraceptives so as to not be duplicative?
Agreed, there are still questions to be addressed about the existing field of contraceptives. I’m glad to see there has been innovation, and I hope the work continues!
Wow, wishing you the best, @Cameron Meyer Shorb 🔸 .
Fascinating approach to rodenticide contraception, that is a cool way to galvanize a search for the solution. Does this mean you have analyzed the current contraceptives and feel that they fall short? Senestech has a new product called Evolve and Wisdom Goodworks has a product called Goodbites. Is it possible that either of these could already fit the criteria needed to manage rodent populations?
Thought provoking take! I hadnt considered this angle. While there is uncertainty, one obvious conclusion is to manage the welfare of animals killed by fishery industries. Supporting the work of organizations like Fish Welfare Initiative.
One note: the jargon was challenging to navigate. I almost ducked out at planktonic mysids and pelagic decapods! : P
Ditto, this is a transformative vision. Here is a blog post summary https://www.directactioneverywhere.com/theliberationist/2016-9-6-the-roadmap-to-animal-liberation-part-i-plant-the-flag-1
This is great to see! Thanks for the write-up
Folks like you inspire me for your generosity, broad-minded take on different causes, and commitment to a better world. Thanks for sharing Kyle!
You pose some great questions, Holly.
I really like the EA culture of “unintended consequences” analysis, as you do with a political campaign on rodent control. That analysis is good to do with all campaigns, and some political campaigns will have greater risks and some will have lesser. It is not inherently a reason not to engage in politics.
Interesting points about undermining democracy. I think it is also worth considering the null-hypothesis: what is the impact of doing nothing? How does it favor existing powers to continue the status quo?
Ultimately, the costs and benefit of political campaigns are extremely difficult to quantify, so I understand why EAs are still developing our attitudes toward this. As a person who works in politics, I agree that there are potential consequences to be wary of (developing a partisan identity, making powerful enemies, etc). Nonetheless, I see these as important precautions and risks to mitigate rather than dealbreakers.
I like the philosophy behind this—in order to win in politics we need to build coalitions. A good example of aligning opposing sides behind one bill is the recent Inflation Reduction Act, which was our nation’s largest climate bill in history, but also had provisions that advanced fossil fuel interests.
I do have questions about practicality—how would somebody work with beef? Call them? Is there enough trust between animal welfare and beef to collaborate? Given that the big picture is to have the beef industry stop hurting/killing cows, would they want to work with a community that believes in its abolition? Are we talking Big Beef or small scale ranchers? If the latter, are local ranchers powerful enough to advance law?
I understand that we are not giving beef a free pass, but instead finding a meeting of “strange bedfellows” with mutually aligned interests. I like the concept: support from the beef industry immediately neutralizes any stigma associated with a bill being a “vegan agenda”. There may be a need to test this on a local level before working on a national campaign.
I love this campaign—it is so tragic to see octopi eaten :′ (
I know I’ve asked this, but I’m struggling to get a sense of scale of the problem. How many octopi are killed for food...and do we have a sense of how that number could grow? How many octopi is the Canary Islands facility projected to produce? Especially when compared to the gajillions of marine animals killed for food. From the INT framework, I see a potential gap in the “Importance” variable. This campaign is certainly Neglected and Tractable, but so is stealing candy from children : P
One factor in favor of this campaign is the idea that bad practices are a lot easier to prevent than to stop. If we can halt this practice now, it is a lot easier than fighting an entrenched and politically connected industry.
Great write-up! Sometimes establishing policy on a local level can help build momentum to scale it up. In DC one similar policy we are advocating for is to have the Mayor establish an Animal Welfare Liaison. We have used candidate questionnaires to gauge interest in such an office. You can see an example of some results here: https://dcvfa.com/who-are-the-best-at-large-candidates-on-animal-issues/
Incredible news. I see two big benefits of the results:
If 37% of the voters supported the initiative, approximately 30% of the meat eating voter pool signed off on ending factory farming (assume ~5-7% are vegetarian/vegans. That is noteworthy.
Sometimes an initiative takes multiple attempts before it passes.
The main rebuttal I see to the “if it doesnt happen in Switzerland then it’ll happen elsewhere” argument is that it has to start somewhere. One country can be the catalyst for others.
Great points—especailly the positive framing. On the surface it seems valid, although I’d want to see evidence to support the positive framing perspective. Also, I really like how you give examples to back up your points.
And a rating of which campaign tactics worked and did not.
Love this, Josh. Political advocacy can feel so inaccessible, you really lay out the fundamentals clearly.
I’m really appreciating this conversation!
Thank you Dr. Knight for raising awareness about a prospective cause area that is certainly neglected. I appreciate you working through the counterarguments you received and offering rebuttals.
Really appreciate the folks offering guidelines to help craft conversation that gets at the best possible outcome. Comparing efficacy of cause areas can be a heavy research lift for one who wants to get a convo started, but I can see how commenters would want the burden of proof to fall on the person who made the claim.
I like the synergy around teasing out viable interventions. It sounds like there are some initial leads, and more research would add confidence.
It seems to me that people look to their vets for determining a nutritious diet. Dr. Knight has already made tremendous headway to get the veterinary community to relax restrictions or even support plant-based diets for companion animals. Expanding upon this could be a key step toward social validation. It begs the question: if vets supported plant-based diets the way the medical community does, would people see it as superior product for their beloved furry friends?
Overall I’m excited about the potential of this being a backdoor approach to getting animals out of our food system without requiring (human) diet change.