Compassion Fueled Advocacy

He has been in the animal advocacy movement for the last decade in various capacities: as a volunteer, grassroots activist, full-time data analyst and researcher at Mercy For Animals, and now executive director of Connect For Animals. He has helped organize local animal advocacy community groups, presented at animal rights conferences, developed movement strategy, and more—all of which led to Connect For Animals as it is today. Currently, he works primarily on product development, team growth, marketing, and fundraising at Connect For Animals. When not working, Steven enjoys writing about philosophy and ethics, reading nonfiction, and running.

In the future, we should care for the well-being of all other animals just like we currently care for the well-being of humans. This means a consideration of inviolable rights for other species (like we imperfectly strive for with humanity), but beyond that it also means trying to reduce extreme suffering and promote health and flourishing. I think that technology, advocacy, and effective institutions can help us get there: companies creating alt proteins, advocates sharing pro-animal ethical messages online, and using our global connectedness to influence institutions to adopt better policies. I think that artificial intelligence (AI), if used correctly, could be one of the greatest tools for reducing animal suffering and exploitation, and I think our movement should be actively engaging with AI and AI policy. If artificial intelligence is used incorrectly, it could greatly increase animal suffering and exploitation.

Ideally, we would completely phase out the worst forms of animal exploitation like factory farming and animal experimentation. As we make progress on these fronts, we should explore how we can track the well-being of animals and use that information to make decisions that improve their lives. One example could be increasing accountability of people who are guardians of animals (companion animals / pets, etc.), whether through regulation or other means.

When it comes to wild animals, I think we should increase our understanding and monitoring of the well-being of wild animals, and we should learn what we can do to promote the flourishing of these individuals in the wild. In my opinion, this is much more difficult than ending our active exploitation of other animals, and so I think this will be a much longer and more difficult endeavor than ending active animal exploitation.

Life is difficult and doesn't really have perfect solutions, and I think that will always continue to be true for both humans and other animals, and so my vision for a post animal use world is about getting closer to our ideals even if we never reach them. I do believe we can create a better world for humans and other animals, but it's going to involve extremely hard work, and we must use all the tools we have at our disposal.

But if we can do that—if we can reduce extreme suffering and promote flourishing for all creatures, both human and non—I believe we will be fulfilling humanity's greatest purpose in the universe.