"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." ~ H.L. Mencken
Should Chimpanzees Have Legal Rights?
“Seeking legal “personhood” for such animals, he points out, is not the same as saying they are human. Courts have already granted personhood to nonhumans—perhaps most famously to corporations, which have the right to enter into contracts, to sue and be sued, and to exercise free speech.” My not yet a teenager had an interesting comment on this topic. After saying initially how stupid it was, she thought a minute and said”well, they're making monkeys out of us, treating us like animals by trying to take away our human rights, so it makes sense that they'd want to give chimps limited rights, make us all the same under the law.” I thought that was a pretty sophisticated assessment for a kid. I gave it a little thought and told her I think she may be right. We (all the kids and I) moved from there into a discussion about the dilution of meaning, defining things down, and so on -- in the sense of words, concepts, rights, etc. and how those things are connected. It was an interesting and educational morning.
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