If “X” animals milk was “made for their babies,” then.... those adorable and heart warming stories about a dog adopting kittens or a pig adopting baby foxes or whatever.... those cute babies should have just died because that milk wasn’t “made for them”?
But what if nature? Cows make milk. This is nature. Many creatures will eat milk. Many will eat the cow. Ants will eat the milk. Cows can milk themselves you know? This is nature- to relive the discomfort and potential health risks of excess milk- a cow can self milk. Of this milk spills on the ground- will insects not drink it? Adult cats and dogs or monkeys or any of the creatures “NATURALLY” drawn to high calorie nutrition sources?
So then- if a human came upon the spilt or spattered milk of a cow and did the same- this is nature no? And if that human then deduced that they could get the milk- more of it- regularly- from the cow... its human nature isn’t it? Isn’t that how we’ve survived and thrived? How we harnessed fire and electricity and more?
Do electrons exist to power your lightbulb? They aren’t sentient that we know of- but what does it matter? Does the Chinese kid who recycled or made the electronics you read this on exist just for that? Do you exist just to stock shelves or go to meetings or whatever else? “Nature” as we know it gives 2 shits about any of this. It’s adaptive. Life forms FIND a purpose for things.
We don’t shit so bacteria and insects can eat. They adapt to eat shit because it’s there and it has less competition to eat than say a nice ripe fruit. It won’t fight back or run like another creature might. Life finds a source of what it needs and THAT is nature. Humans domesticated cows for meat- but largely for milk. A constant source of high calorie, nutrient rich food with many uses. Multiply, thrive. Most all life naturally does this.
It is seemingly somewhat paradoxical isn’t it? An organization that routinely makes appeals based on an animals “natural” state- applying human cognitive mapping to animals instead of recognizing those animals “natural” cognition isn’t the same as ours or each other’s species for that matter. I suppose it’s the failure of metaphor- their attempts to relate a concept to humans in ways that we would understand intuitively, using few jingoistic methods- what with complex diatribes on animal cognition and behavior, and the co Rex to fully understand being ill suited for bumper stickers and catchy slogans.
Regardless- their attempts to appeal to “nature” of animals also tends to fail to account for the fact that humans are ourselves animals. We have our own natures and instincts and drives. One could say that a behavior which a human would engage in- or at least a large group of humans- would be to the nature of the animal which is man. So regardless of how much latitude we give to metaphor- I would agree that their approach is not only flawed logically and fundamentally- but shows a lack of understanding for the very topic they are supposedly advocating.
In short- on examination, much of what PETA does may be well meaning, and some may even serve s moral or practical good- but all most of their campaigns add up to is simply propaganda. Whatever their reasons and wether they truly believe their message or not- usually it boils down to that in absence of logic to their stated reasoning- they simply want something and will say or do what they feel will manipulate people into doing what they want.
I like to use those “Nigerian prince” emails as an example- often full of typos and ridiculous statements. People laugh at how “dumb” the scammers are- but it isn’t dumb. It’s usually intentional and quite clever. By making a scam that is easily identified at first glance, they weed out anyone who would be most likely to “catch on” down the line. The people who reply are the sort of people they can count on for gullibility. Likewise- in propaganda it is often not the “sharpest” or most cynical who make the bet converts- too much work. Someone why sees this and is affected by it is the perfect target for their group to indoctrinate. They have shown pliability and that they can be manipulated using emotional triggers the creator has in their tool kit.
This picture isnt creepy, but PETA is..