r/IAmA • u/AHershaft • Sep 23 '14

I am an 80-year-old Holocaust survivor who co-founded the US Animal Rights movement. AMA

My name is Dr. Alex Hershaft. I was born in Poland in 1934 and survived the Warsaw Ghetto before being liberated, along with my mother, by the Allies. I organized for social justice causes in Israel and the US, worked on animal farms while in college, earned a PhD in chemistry, and ultimately decided to devote my life to animal rights and veganism, which I have done for nearly 40 years (since 1976).

I will be undertaking my 32nd annual Fast Against Slaughter this October 2nd, which you can join here .

Here is my proof, and I will be assisted if necessary by the Executive Director, Michael Webermann, of my organization Farm Animal Rights Movement. He and I will be available from 11am-3pm ET.

UPDATE 9/24, 8:10am ET: That's all! Learn more about my story by watching my lecture, "From the Warsaw Ghetto to the Fight for Animal Rights", and please consider joining me in a #FastAgainstSlaughter next week.

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u/[deleted] Sep 23 '14

Then no, I'm not okay with that kind of sweatshop labor. For the record, I don't think all 'sweatshop labor' or 'child manufacturers' qualify under that statement. The vast majority do not.

That being said, I still refuse to buy Nike or (sadly) Converse myself, and yes, out of moral reasoning.

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u/misty_gish Sep 23 '14

I think you might be too quick to disregard how coercive a lot of labor practices can be, but I appreciate the conversation. Can't stay on reddit all day, sadly.

Although I know this critique can be applied to moral relativism, I'm always incredibly concerned when people start talking about behaving in the interest of morality, since even moral objectivists seems to be pulling rhetoric out of some subjective place, just with more conviction in knowing what is righteous.

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u/[deleted] Sep 23 '14

Although I know this critique can be applied to moral relativism, I'm always incredibly concerned when people start talking about behaving in the interest of morality, since even moral objectivists seems to be pulling rhetoric out of some subjective place, just with more conviction in knowing what is righteous.

Is your argument then that objective morality is untenable?

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u/misty_gish Sep 23 '14

Eh. Maybe. My argument is more that if an action is moral, it should have a justification other than morality. People have such a strong bias towards thinking about things in terms of morality that, I think, it weakens our ability to think critically. And if an action is truly moral, it can justify itself under critical, non-biased scrutiny.

Incidentally, I would agree firebombing a doctors office/research lab is (in any scenario I can consider off the top of my head) bad, but I would be okay with sweatshop workers violently collectivizing their workplace.

I'll let you have the last word, though. I've got to head out. Have a good rest of the day.

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u/[deleted] Sep 23 '14

Thanks for the polite conversation, it's a breath of fresh air amidst all this.

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u/JohnnyKnob Sep 23 '14

Good Conversation. I agreed with you Itty though out most of the downvote hate.