Go ahead and laugh - I kind of laughed the first time I heard the word. The word "speciesism" echoes words like "racism" and "sexism". It was created by people interested in the rights of animals, who wanted to prove a point. The point being that all species are created equal. Simply because the bipedal, large-brained Homo sapiens have much more power over other species, does not mean they should abuse that power to the maximum.
In reality speciesism is not funny. Billions of living organisms die each year at the hands of people. This includes forests for logging, cows for dairy, sheep for cotton, mice for experiments, and dogs for pets. Somewhere along the line of our history, man decided that other living things were created to benefit us. Although many people have realized (and through word of mouth and the Internet many more are realizing each day) that people were meant to live in harmony with nature, there are literally billions of people that still have not realized this.
Unlike the civil rights movements in the past 100 years, there are no "people" on the other side to fight for freedom. If you've ever seen a video of an animal screaming while being murdered, you know that animals want freedom as much as humans do. Unfortunately they do not have the power to fight against us and reverse the acts of speciesism done unto their kind. The humane thing to do would be first to accept your responsibility in causing this massive pain and suffering, and second, to do all in your power to stop contributing to it.
