There's a revolution at the Belgian Paradise Zoo, where animals "overthrow the rule of man" led by pigs. When the animals first uploaded videos to Youtube, people thought it was just a spoof by zookeepers. But a week later, when locals who wanted to visit the pandas posted photos to prove the veracity of the news, everyone was shocked that it was true. The announcement of Mr. Pig (Le Cochon) to humans instantly became the most popular video in the world. In this announcement, Mr. Pig said that the purpose of the animal revolution is to overthrow the "unreasonable treatment" of animals by humans represented by zoo workers, and its purpose is to finally achieve peaceful coexistence between humans and animals.
I used to be a cleaner at this zoo, then turned to a journalist. Just a few days ago, the zoo called and said that I would like to conduct an interview with Mr. Pig so that the world can better understand their intentions. The caller was a budgerigar, and to be honest, the poultry exhibition area was one of the work areas I didn't hate at the time, so I agreed.
When I arrived at the zoo, I found that Paradise Zoo was still running, but the security was replaced by lions and the conductors were replaced by monkeys. In fact, because of this revolution, the zoo has exploded in popularity and many people from neighboring countries come to visit. When I arrived, a few giraffes were waiting at the door. In order to make it easier for me to cross the crowds, six giraffes held up a simple sedan chair through some kind of pulley device for me to sit in, and then the elephants took me to Mr. Pig's place. office.
Mr. Pig's office is the former director's office. I was amazed at how clean this office was when I walked in. Mr. Pig was sitting in a wheelchair with two chimpanzees in front of him reading documents. Seeing me coming in, Mr. Pig got up to welcome me. I noticed that it had a special Google Glass on its face that Mr. Pig could talk to me through the included input tool - no offense, but the scene reminded me of Hawking.
"Welcome, Mr. Mario, we haven't seen each other in about 10 years. 10 years is a lot of time for humans, especially for animals."
I was amazed by Mr. Pig's fluent language. It looked at my expression, with a smile of "I knew this was your reaction", and beckoned me to sit down:
"Don't be surprised, learn to accept reality. Animals continue to learn human intelligence in the process of getting along with humans, but we never show it. You are just surprised when I use language, but the foundation of language is intelligence."
I sat down on a chair and exchanged a few words with Mr. Pig. Mr. Pig told me that some of the animals he had cared for had died, and some had played an important role in the revolution and had become the backbone of the "New Paradise" (the new name the animals gave to the zoo). I showed it the interview outline I had prepared in advance, and it read it carefully, crossing out some questions from time to time, and then picked up a manuscript from the desk and handed it to me:
"Some of the questions you want to ask, such as intelligence and language, we already have official instructions. Please follow the official instructions to truthfully express our true thoughts. Otherwise, we reserve the right to sue you through human legal channels. However, You don't have to be nervous, we try to relax, and we don't want to appear bellicose and hostile in front of humans."
I nodded:
"So, let's start with some small questions. How did you get your Google Glass?"
"Ha, this is a knockoff, I thank the Chinese manufacturers, but knockoffs are still very expensive. However, we have been preparing for this revolution for a long time, and we have ample funding sources. Frankly speaking, these funding sources are all The hard-earned money of fellow animals - fellow circuses, farms and other zoos support our cause with their blood and sweat, and all I have to do is make sure their blood and sweat is not in vain. We also have human friends who are Our Marquis of Lafayette."
"What is the purpose of the revolution?"
"First of all, the physical treatment of animals is unjust. - I cannot use the word 'inhumane', and I think 'humane' itself embodies unfair anthropocentrism. Our idea of justice is that any All beings capable of feeling pain deserve to be treated free from this pain. Unfortunately, zookeepers routinely inflict rude behaviour on the animals, and many of our fellow citizens are scarred by the wounds that have been ignored. Second, animals are subject to human care, which is a fundamental blow to animal autonomy and liberty - we are raised to depend on human life and lose the natural independence that nature bestows on us."
"However, according to my work experience, the standard of animal treatment in Paradise Zoo should be the world's leading"
"I'm going to criticize your anthropocentric tendencies again, my friend. 'Global leadership' means by human standards. We're making a number of videos using the zoo's original surveillance footage to illustrate this. Also, friends. , if you find that we have corrected the 'original appearance of the video' at some technical level, I hope you remain silent. Because our video did not record the truth of animal cruelty, it does not mean that there are no animals in this world. Such abuse."
"So, aren't you afraid of being counterattacked and suppressed by humans?"
"Our appeal is peace, not armed insurrection against all mankind. We only ask that mankind recognize our zoo as a 'partially autonomous republic'. We remain neutral in human political affairs, renounce the right of military offensive, and if possible, We will apply for permanent neutrality.
“As for the repression, our human friends contacted us beforehand the radical members of Greenpeace, and now many of them are out there. Friends, it doesn’t matter that the government loses a zoo, but if it triggers a protest from Greenpeace, it will Become a political event. There is no need for the government to take such a big risk.
"What's more, we have the support of our panda friends. They have become our press spokesman, and we hope that their good image in the human world will help us gain the sympathy of most people."
"So, what do you think is the greatest difficulty of the revolution?"
Mr. Pig's eyes became deep, and after a while, it answered:
"My friend, the greatest difficulty of the revolution is that we are all domesticated animals, so we fundamentally lack independence. We cannot escape our fate of being dependent on humans. If we, the animals, are returned to nature, we will all die. That's why the zoo is still operating, and we need money - money in our own hands to keep the ecosystem that keeps us alive. We need to work with Bruges if our independence is ever to be recognized in the future Wright's electricity, water, feed and sanitation companies negotiated to buy our necessities.
"There have always been radicals and conservatives in revolutions, and the same is true of animals. Many carnivores advocate uniting the world's animals for a revolution that completely overthrows human domination, but many animals with pet relatives do not. I am centrist, but yes A determined centrist. I stand in the midst of them with a shield on my hooves, keeping the peace between them. Nothing fits the role better than us: we have the genes of a ferocious wild boar and the genes of a tame domestic pig.
"But my identity will do some damage to our cause. Orwell, your hateful writer, chose to use 'pig' as a metaphor for a totalitarian ruler. This creates bad associations. Saying Come back, he is ridiculous. In the animal world, liberalism ends with the tyranny of carnivores. Naturally, pigs are the most ideal monarchs. Our lifespan is long enough to pass on experience, but not too long to prevent A common old mediocrity in human regimes.
"Well, let's not talk about myself, let's talk about our business. The key to us is that we are too close to human beings, so it is impossible to strive for complete independence. Our hope for the future lies in two points, one is to sue Universal natural rights and natural law, allowing people to recognize that animals and people should have broad rights - we have contacted some European university institutes to try to fund this kind of research; the second is the trade relationship between truly equal subjects. We have been providing all kinds of products to humans at any cost, in many cases even with lives."
Having said this, Mr. Pig's eyes were wet: "It is difficult for you as human beings to understand my mood at the moment. Just as we were talking, countless pigs in the world were dying in slaughterhouses. But I still did not choose to be radical in the end. The political stance of vegetarianism, because at the beginning of the revolutionary cause we demanded more support from our friends and less opposition from our enemies. So we have only a mild condemnation of carnivore - I myself have been for this stance There is strong political pressure from within us. But I am soberly aware that if the radicals take power, our revolution will be destroyed by humans in an instant.
"My future ideal is to sell to humans some products that are not directly harmful to animal life on the basis of ensuring the reproduction of the population. Eggs are permissible, and we intend to interpret it as a continuation of egg cells, because eggs that have not yet been fertilized Not even embryos. We can only condemn meat products at the moment, but don't interfere. We are in private contact with them, and when necessary, we will exchange for their support by providing a better source of meat The products we are interested in are mainly dairy products, plush products, and products like bird's nest - but unfortunately it is only popular in East Asian cultural circles, and it is in East Asia that our compatriots are treated the most cruel. Below is mainly cultural products. People are tired of circus performances, but we can provide a higher form of entertainment.
"In this office I often ask myself a question: Has our life changed substantially after the revolution and before the revolution? In a sense, we are still selling our dignity to human beings, albeit by passive Betrayal turned into a betrayal. Only my closest porcine friends know these thoughts, and I won't allow you to publish them publicly. Because if I do, many animals will scold me for losing my conscience. But any life It is impossible not to pay the price for freedom. I took my first steps by assuming that I was worthy of the kind of enlightened leaders that an awakened race must produce for freedom. But the revolution has not yet succeeded, comrades still need to work hard, and the next steps are far more difficult than before."
This article is after reading Snowpiercer. I don't speak French, the words in the text are the results of Google translation.
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