Whose Rights Are Right?

The thought of giving every single “thing” on Earth a figurative voice or right seems somewhat inconceivable. I agree that animals do indeed deserve some sort of voice, but a limit must exist to decide which “things” truly deserve a right. Those animals with cognitive thinking do indeed deserve some right, but the extent of that right depends solely on where that animal is. A cat living in the United States will have more rights than a cat that lives in Australia. Why, you ask? Because there is a major feral cat problem in Australia and without human intervention in controlling the population Australia’s ecosystem and livelihood would drastically change. Many questions need to be asked and mulled over before deciding if we truly want to give true rights to animals. How would they interfere with the ecosystem? Would letting them populate without human interaction ruin the ecosystem? If not ruin, then change in any form? What if the change brings about a spike in human casualties caused by animals or animal related diseases?

            Earth related items on the other hand are a completely different subject. I do believe that we should contemplate more on the intrinsic value of what we have around us before we start destroying for more anthropocentric ends, but that does not mean we should stop creating in the process. Some businesses have thought outside of the box when thinking about destroying nature to build hotels, housing developments or other human oriented structures. Surely an end can be met where we get what we want while disturbing nature in as little a way as possible. Perhaps that is where true “green” businesses are headed.