Animal Rights, Mystery Donors, Financial Maldistribution: just another brick in the capitalist wall.
In the last few days information has come to light that confirms suspicions long held by some, that an anonymous donor is responsible for the vast amount of funding for major activist groups and some individuals, including Anonymous for the Voiceless, The Save Movement, and Joey Carbstrong. These suspicions had long been dismissed as the imaginings of jealous individuals who want the spotlight for themselves, despite the evidence which surfaced last year that showed Ed Winters was one of many individuals and brands being actively funded by Blue Horizon, a venture capitalist group. And this follows the saga from the fortnight before, with James Aspey seeking more public donations for himself and his fiance, despite border closures due to COVID restricting his brand of travelling activism.
Now, I could go into gory details but to be honest I’m not interested. Suffice to say there is a mystery donor, and they are pouring millions of dollars into groups and activists whilst maintaining their anonymity. Up until now there has been no expectation of financial transparency, and no one really knows this person’s agenda.
What I do want to say is that the maldistribution of funds to groups and activists who operate under hierarchical systems and corporate structures (both within the groups and the elevation of individuals to celebrity status) whilst depending upon the labour of mostly unknown and unpaid volunteers to create product for consumption (events, online content etc.) in pursuit of social capital and brand power is positioning the mainstream animal rights movement as just another brick in the capitalist wall.
The vast amount of labour within the AR movement is performed by volunteers, more often than not at their own expense; this includes those volunteers operating under activist brands. The volunteers are responsible for organising, for creating online content, juggling media and police liaison, interacting with the public. Whilst some groups offer some seed funding and grants, this is sporadic and rarely covers full costs; it is mostly chewed up by creating branded posters and merchandise. However, your labour is unpaid, despite it being integral to the promotion of the brand.
We often say that volunteers aren’t paid because they’re priceless. But when you subsume volunteers into a corporate structure, volunteers are priceless because they’re easily exploited.
Meanwhile, organisations are spending millions on wages for a select few hand-picked individuals, on sending activists worldwide to establish new chapters for the brand or instructing others on how to be an activist (which feels somewhat missionary-esque), and on rebranding schemes that are cash and resources intensive. Individual activists are being paid thousands to create “content” which centres consumerism and constitutes advertising for plant-based products (even for companies that are responsible for some of the worst animal, human and Earth rights violations imaginable).
All of this is based upon the labour of thousands of volunteers, many of whom are both cash and time poor but are expected to put everything they have into activism, “for the animals.” These volunteers may be elevated or largely ignored, dependent on the connections they make within the brand group itself, or whether they perform to expectation.
In its structure, the mainstream AR movement is beginning to resemble a multi-level marketing scheme, not just financially but in the cultural enforcement of toxic positivity and silence; everything is ok, don’t worry about it, don’t criticise, you’re just a hater.
How is establishing the corporate structures of hierarchy, elitism, the maldistribution of funds, and the exploitation of labour to create brand power conducive to the realisation of liberation? Answer: it’s not. As Roger Yates of the Vegan Info Project states, it is counter-revolutionary. It succeeds in elevating a few at the expense of many, upholding the very same systems of oppression upon which the exploitation of other animals is dependent. Capitalism diminishes the liberatory capacity of veganism and animal rights.
I don’t view the current ongoings in the mainstream movement as something to be distressed by. This is instead a moment that can be seized upon to deconstruct the systems that we have allowed to be put in place and create something new. This could be a truly revolutionary moment for the AR movement, where the volunteers whose work is being exploited take their power back for themselves and firmly establish their autonomy (or seize the means of production if you will).
You don’t need celebrities or brands to represent you, to instruct you, to control you. You are more capable and more powerful than these people want you to know. And with that power we can unmask the hidden faces and address their agendas, because I can guarantee you they are not operating from a sense of altruism. Whereas your community needs you, the connected and concerned citizen, not another brand.
What next? Well, when you step out from the stifling demands of corporate structured hierarchies and their expectations, the sky is the limit.
