Omniocracy: A Government that Represents All Living Beings
About this ebook
“If you like books that are extremely thought-provoking, highly controversial, and make you question everything you thought you knew, then this book is for you.” — Jane Velez-Mitchell, journalist/author
“A life-changing scholarly book and much needed in a world that is dominated by and for the human. As the author convincingly states: Nonhuman animals will remain in chains until they are recognized within the political system.” — Gene Baur, president of Farm Sanctuary
“All oppression is woven together like a patchwork quilt,” Charlotte Laws writes in Omniocracy, making an argument that will fall on deaf ears, even though she’s entirely right; the system Laws envisions would benefit humans every bit as much as it would all of humanity’s countless victims. She movingly asks her readers to take down the artificial barriers they’ve erected to this kind of thinking and allow all other living things to “join the human on the elite side of the divide”; one can only pray she changes some minds. Omniocracy is a heartfelt and richly detailed thought experiment positing a better, fairer world.” - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Charlotte Laws’ Omniocracy is not just another book about animal rights. It’s a bold, unflinching challenge to the very foundation of Western political thought. Laws, known for her fearless activism and her willingness to take on entrenched power, makes the case that democracy, the system we celebrate for its inclusivity, is, in reality, a dictatorship of one species. Humans rule. Animals, no matter how sentient or intelligent, have no political voice and no legal standing. Omniocracy is essential reading for anyone who believes the fight for animals must go deeper than incremental reforms. It’s a wake-up call to confront our species’ most comfortable lies, and to imagine a political future that, for the first time, gives voice to the entire community of life.” - Ed Boks, Animal Politics
Omniocracy (AHM-nee-ocracy) argues for a science-based animal rights philosophy and a government of, by, and for all living beings.
Democracy—often lauded by the animal and environmental movements—is a totalitarian regime in which the powerful (Homo sapiens) use, abuse, manipulate, and murder the powerless (animals) for the former’s own perceived gain. This system of government must be eradicated if nonhumans are to be viewed as true constituents, stakeholders, and citizens. Omniocracy—a government with representation for all living beings—is the best option.
Most animal rights advocates err by asking people to use their free will to be moral agents and give sentient animals respect. This argument sabotages the goals of the movement. Free will and absolute morality are not only fairy tales, they are destructive ones. They derail true equality for all living beings by secretly promoting hierarchy, disconnectedness, and a hatred for others. They reinforce speciesism and the erroneous view that humans are the crown of creation.
Omniocracy offers a better approach. It embraces the determined and amoral universe, then builds a political structure based on pragmatism and the “definitional good.” This structure has an added benefit: it brings together the animal and environmental movements, which have long been at odds. An omniocratic system is foundationally consistent and advances much-needed concern for all living creatures and the planet.
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About the author
Charlotte Laws is an award-winning and bestselling writer. She has authored seven books, contributed to four academic anthologies, and written 135 articles that have appeared in various publications, including the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, Salon, Huffington Post, and the New York Daily News.
Laws has a Ph.D. in Social Ethics from the University of Southern California, two master’s degrees, and two BA degrees. She completed her postdoctoral study at Oxford University, England.
Laws was a Greater Valley Glen Councilmember for eight years and currently stars in the Netflix series The Most Hated Man on the Internet. She worked as a pundit on BBC television and the NBC show The Filter. She has appeared on CNN, The Late Show, Fox News, Oprah, Larry King Live, MSNBC, and Nightline, and has been featured in the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Guardian.
She is a recipient of the Los Angeles Animal Humanitarian Award and lives in Los Angeles with her husband, her two rescue dogs, and her five rescue hens.
“Dr. Laws is a champion of the underdog.” New York Post
“Charlotte Laws is a tenacious bulldog when she latches onto something.” Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Laws has been hailed as a ‘hero,’ a ‘force to be reckoned with,’ and a ‘f—ing gangster.’” The Telegraph, UK
“Laws sweet-talked her way into well-heeled functions because she wanted facetime with the movers and shakers of the world, telling them about whatever cause she was fighting for that day—civil rights, LGBT rights, or animal rights.” The Daily Beast
“Charlotte has the mind of a CIA operative. She can make a missile out of sticks.” Bruce Goldberg, bestselling author.
