Our society is founded on the inherent belief in false dualisms, dualisms constructed to subjugate and categorize animals with respect to humans, women to men, ghetto to suburb, inferior to superior. We have come to accept the torture of animals, the suppression of minorities, and the servitude of women as human nature. Through the deconstruction of false assumptions we lay the grounds for total liberation; liberation for others and ourselves irrespective of socially constructed biases.

   As long as men beat women, minorities are inducted into prisons and animals are bred for consumption, true freedom will be a false pretense. We live in a culture based on monetary accumulation, economically sanctioning or thought processes. Over ninety-nine percent of the media is controlled by less than one percent of the population. Hence the prominance of corporations such as McDonald's with regard to commercial air time. McDonald's shares lucrative contracts with many major media outlets, providing the grounds for the further monopolization of the global food industries. In a civilization based on property where so few individuals control the moral economy the prospects for true democracy remain hindered.

   For one person to succeed in a capitalist society a multitude must suffer. The basis of our government education hinges on the premise that we all buy into the capitalist mindset. Those who do not are marginilized and gagged by a conservative media, indicative of our subconscious acceptance of "The American Way."

   Less than 125 years ago, Africans were stolen from their homes, forced into servitude based on the economic necessities of the enlightened world. Human beings were bred for servitude to propagate the system of chattel slavery, molding the very world in which we live. Africans were seen as less than human, validating the slave holders gross exploitation of labor. The same "enlightened" thinking is still fostered by our culture. Modern slavery is manifest within the mass production of living creatures, murdered for our entertainment and daily food source. We have been desensitized, sheltered from the suffering and waste that create the modern factory farm. We have created massive factories with one goal: to produce as many animals as scientifically possible at the lowest cost.

   Similarly, parents and children visit the circus animals in an unnatural state; dancing, juggling, jumping through flaming hoops. These very animals that demonstrate "human" qualities are forced into tiny cages and subjected to the cruelty of a life behind bars. The forced labor of animals is not limited to non-human species. Human slavery still exists in many facets of our world. A marked example is the forced labor camps that are created behind prison walls. Inmates are forced to create goods for the free world with no monetary compensation. The sufferings of animals on factory farms and humans in prison are directly related. It is no mistake that these foundations of our economy have been carefully placed behind large walls. Walls that shield the general populous from the cries of oppression and terror from reaching "humankind."

   Our anthropocentric (focused on human well-being) world view has taught us to dominate not only animals and the environment, but women and non-heterosexuals as well. In a society permeated by patriarchy, women are seen as subordinate to their male counterparts. Popular culture, science and media have assigned a negative value to the feminine, often denoting females as bestial. Patriarchy dictates that women have a certain place within the world, similar to that of minorities and animals. The position held by the aforementioned groups are that of the other. Through false dualism, we have constructed a system that subjugates women in a social hierarchy.

   Our society is one that qualifies ones' worth by the color of her or his skin. Women - especially women of color - have been targeted by our government as problematic. These same bureaucrats that place a liquor store on every inner city block have gained political support in their targeting minority women. In turn, by supporting these individuals we strengthen the aristocracy that is largely responsible for propagating the exploitation of animals. We see this "welfare mother" as purely animalistic, less than our cultured selves. According to popular belief, this licentious woman breeds indiscriminately to increase her monthly welfare stipend. Society has constructed a common enemy among this oppressed sub-class of women. In actuality, most of these women have litte access to the work force, beyond that of a minimum wage employee. They could possibly get a position at a slaughterhouse, or perhaps at McDonald's-jobs that pay just enough to end her government support.

   These place her as the exploited, but also as the exploiter. This process of cyclical exploitation reassures the domination of man over woman, upper over lower class, human over animal.

   In order to reconstruct our social conscience, we must first deconstruct the myths of false dualism. We must acknowledge that until we are able to attack all forms of wanton exploitation we will never be free. As a culture, we suffer from mental apartheid. From our formative years we are instructed on how to be like everyone else, instructed in the ways of the capitalist system. Whether we are the exploited or the exploiter, remains ambiguous. We have all been manipulated to play a certain role in the system. Introspection will be key in deconstructing societal misnomers. As we question the actions of others, we must question ourselves. For in questioning ourselves and making behavioral changes, we question the very foundations of exploitation and oppression. Animal liberation and human liberation are one and the same.