It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen some thing. That’s surprise me at work. There was a protest today in front of a store. PETA was protesting, forced monkey labor in Thailand. They had people dressed in old timey Convict outfits wearing monkey masks. Throwing coconuts on the ground and breaking them.
Ummm... Thats...interesting
That seems rather....wasteful...
Wait......why coconuts?
In Thailand, they have forced monkey labor, gathering coconuts, and selling the coconut milk I believe.
So, do the imprisoned monkeys feel better knowing these protestors are thousands of miles away breaking coconuts?
Or would they rather be freed from their cruel captors and hard labor by brave rescuers?
There's so much to unpick here it's hard to know where to start. Are they in favour of unforced monkey labour? It is PETA, so are they angry that the monkeys haven't been put down?
Anyway, I'm pretty confident that if there are Bad People in Thailand doing Bad Things to monkeys, then the news that some people on the other side of the world in fancy dress broke some coconuts is almost certain to make them abandon their profitable business and rethink their life choices. Either that or it will inspire the monkeys to rebel. I imagine that both the Bad People and indeed the monkeys keep a pretty close eye on the local news in Chicago.
/sarcasm
I don't take PETA seriously. They're more about seeking attention to themselves than actually helping the animals.
As a lifelong vegetarian, PETA is just another corrupt corporation unfortunately. All their funding goes towards billboards and high kill shelters.
@JessW96 Interesting. These PETA activists don't sound like they're really for the ethical treatment if they're funding animal concentration camps.
I'm a vegan and I'm not a fan of PETA's approach at all. It's done for shock value and makes people think all those who care about animal rights or welfare share PETA's batsh!t crazy mentality.
While there is a ton of forced labor/unethical use of animals in the world, from New York City police horses and dairy cows to honeybees and silk worms, this is not the way to make anyone care. 😆
~ Sunset Snuggles
Those poor coconuts
Well, forced or not, I'm not going to stop pouring extra bee vomit on my Honey Nut Cheerios.
I remember when a bunch of racist animal rights activists protested in front of a Chinese restaurant in NYC Chinatown to protest the dog festival that happens in one city in China. Yes that’s horrible, but why don’t you protest the Chinese embassy? Why a Chinese restaurant racists? Because in your racist little head all Chinese eat dogs? Disgusting! had I know before hand. I would have organized friends and given them a nice sloppy welcome with rotten eggs and spoiled fish.
These protests achieve absolutely nothing so i can only assume it to appease their bleeding heart so that they case say they tried to so something about it. Same way tons of people pay all the homeless to feel a sense of good in themselves. If you actually cared about the assue you would do something meaning, not have a baby fit and make a mess. And riun perfectly good coconuts while they are at it.
I saw someone that wasnt just there for the money and was yound and had a family and was trying to step up and properly take responsibility for his life. I helped him find a job instead of giving him pitty money. If you are going to act on something, make your actions count!
@Ironman294
"...a bunch of racist animal rights activists protested in front of a Chinese restaurant... why don’t you protest the Chinese embassy? Why a Chinese restaurant racists? Because in your racist little head all Chinese eat dogs?"
I was just wondering how protesting the embassy would make them not racist?
I hope PETA paid that monkey in the picture a copyright fee. Does anybody remember the "Selfie Monkey" case? PETA sued on behalf of a monkey for fair use. It was settled out of court so there were future payouts. If I'm going to be a poster monkey I want to get paid.
Empty gesture about nothing…….
Except when the monkeys revolt they will have there hands full.
@PeopleLikeUs Why didn't PeTA liberate the monkey instead of just taking its picture? And if PeTA didn't take the picture, why are they outsourcing all of their work?
Poor monkeys! I love monkeys.
I’m guessing the people are trying to get people to not buy the Thai coconut milk. It would definitely work on me, if it was a product I bought in the first place.
The pic right ( @TxTom ) always makes me wonder about the tennis shoes it looks like the monkey is wearing.
These were fair-trade coconuts and they were free. So this must have had an effect on Whole Foods' animal slave-trade coconut sales.
What a waste of coconuts
@txtom the more you look behind the curtain of their practices the weirder it gets.
It would be really cool if they used their funding and platform to literate animals rather than flounder for fundraising.
Why would they liberate the monkey when they could profit off of the abuse instead?
@SunsetSnuggles
this is not the way to make anyone care. 😆
I think the same thing about most protests. Whether someone is throwing tomato soup on a Van Gogh painting, dumping black dye in a famous fountain in Rome, dumping milk and smashing eggs in a grocery store, deflating the tires of SUVs parked in their owners’ driveways, blocking street traffic or, more recently, a bunch of protesters in Germany cutting through the fence of an airport and gluing themselves to the runway to prevent planes from taking off or landing.
I’ve never once read a story about someone doing any of these things and thought to myself, “they really have a good point, I should alter my lifestyle to address their concerns.”
I can’t help but wonder if some people join protests as an excuse to wear their furry costumes in public. I doubt they spent whatever those costumes cost just to wear them to a protest. I have no idea what these costumes cost but I know how much I spent on my Jedi costume for DragonCon in Atlanta and good quality costumes aren’t cheap 😂
To each their own, I really don’t care what protesters wear as long as they aren’t blocking traffic, trespassing, or damaging property.
The cognitive dissonance in this discussion is astounding. Media attention CAUSES ATTENTION, which creates change. How else would you have known about forced monkey labor if they hadn’t made a spectacle out of it, bringing the issue to your attention? The companies who sell these […] products made from animal slavery become annoyed by these protests & ditch the product. ITS VERY SIMPLE TO UNDERSTAND IF YOU ACTUALLY USE YOUR VOICE & KNOW HOW THE FIRST AMENDMENT WORKS 🥴 get out & be a voice for the voiceless or SHUT […] UP!
Reported and reviewed. Removed profanity. [Charlie_Bear]
I am quite familiar with the 1st Amendment (and the rest of the Constitution). I have read the Federalist Papers written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison. I’ve also read the lesser known but equally important Anti-Federalist Papers written by Cato, Brutus, and several other Founding Father under pen names. I think I have a pretty good grasp of the 1st Amendment.
NOTHING in the comments above conflicts with my understanding of the First Amendment. I have not seen a single person say anyone should be arrested for protesting forced monkey labor or even suggest any form of government intervention / restrictions on PETA protesters. Their protests tend to be pretty tame as opposed to “Just Stop Oil” who’s protests tend to be disruptive and/or destructive.
People are simply pointing out what they perceive as hypocrisy and/or futility involved in such protests. I stand by my comments that blocking traffic, vandalizing art, destroying dairy products in grocery stores, and shutting down runways are poor methods for generating public support for an issue.
Kind of curious we still celebrate and venerate the Boston Tea Party. A protest that dumped a whole ship’s cargo into the bay.
Yeah, protests don’t work.
@friendandpoet Thank you for reminding everyone what Madison Avenue has known for years. People may not like the messenger but the message was heard.
PETA just makes me want to eat more fried chicken.
I have a lot of experience cleaning up and dealing with protests. I myself I am a firm believer in the first amendment. That does not give anybody the right to interfere in somebody else’s life. Lot of protest cross boundaries and cause negative attention which causes a heat for the protesters lately it seems. I have known of people who will go to a protest just to cause chaos. One year I had to get a hepatitis shot because protesters were rumored to have bottles of feces and urine to throw at people. I can remember when by PETA super glued their hands to a counter and disrupted a business. Or they have created masses on sidewalks that were laborious to remove to protest businesses. If protesters just carry signs to get the message out or banners, like some of them do, that I don’t mind. When they cause disruption to other people, not involved in the situation, as well as making a huge mess or leaving their paraphernalia behind I no longer respect what they are saying or doing. Because they’re not respecting everybody else.