Introduction
This is a text which, we hope, faces
in two directions. On the one hand we hope that it will be read by people interested
in animal liberation who want to consider why animal exploitation exists, as
well as how. On the other hand, by those who define themselves as anarchists
or communists who either dismiss animal liberation altogether or personally
sympathise with it but don’t see how it relates to their broader political stance.
While there have always been groups and individuals with feet in both camps,
for the most part discussion between those involved in animal liberation and
communists has been at a derisory level. ‘Debate,’ in so far as it exists, consists
mainly of abuse and rarely moves beyond the level of comments like ‘wasn’t Hitler
a vegetarian’ (actually not - he injected ‘bulls blood’ into his testicles,
and does this mean you can’t be a communist and a house painter or an Austrian?).
We hope to prompt the beginnings of a real debate about the relationship between
the ‘animal question’ and the ‘social question’. This text does not claim to
have all the answers or to be the ‘communist manifesto’ for animals, but we
think that it does pose some of the key questions. Over to you...