"would there be a way to establish a way to prove if someone was formerly human or not?"fenrirblack wrote:Basically it's like Thanos logic. It doesn't matter who or what you are in are before the snap and it becomes random. That said, think about it like this, would there be a way to establish a way to prove if someone was formerly human or not? If that is so, worse case then we are right back where we started. Logically that wouldn't work so we would have to deal with a new world order. Keene is correct in one regard. Laws would have to change almost instantly for the greater good allowing all therianthropes and animals the same rights as well as allowing those who wish to remain either feral or join the wild that opportunity not unlike a citizenship. There wouldn't be too much of an issue of predator and prey anymore than there is now. Taking the Beastars approach, predatory acts would be outlawed like general murder and food consumption would have to be more tightly regulated. As far as speciesism goes, I don't see that being too different from anything we have now. Both animals and humans have their own prejudices and while they will be altered and changed society as a whole would not vary as much. The biggest issue would be physical limitations but given how the animals in society work already they're wouldn't be too much changes only that new laws, regulations, and supplies would have to be mass produced to meet the new demands. It will take an adjustment period but I can't see it taking more than a decade for 1st world countries to adapt to the new norm. When you really think about it, how much would really change? The big will still pick on the weak, people will still get murdered, and hate will persist. The only difference will be who does what and everyone will be furry.VeryAngryDeer wrote:I don't think so. You'd just go from humans being at the top of the food chain to former humans being all over the food chain. Some would have a better chance than others.Robotech_Master wrote:Transforming everyone to an animal in one fell swoop, if it were even possible, would truly give everyone an "equal chance."
Keene seems to want to have legal and social equality with humans based on what humans are now. Dragging humans into the massively unequal Wild is the opposite of what he wants. He wants to fully take part in civilization, not force everyone into barbarism.
It'd be difficult to 'verify' the identities of therianthropes for logistical reasons, but its by no means impossible. Demonstrate that you know the PIN number for your bank card, and the password for your email address, that'll be good enough for government work. The hard part would be that you've got to organise the verification of tens if not hundreds of millions of people, and that not everyone has a bank card or an email address.
Alternatively, people carry on their lives as normal, and animals that are not therianthropes wouldn't have the experience needed to fake being humans. A situation could develop where suspected animals are reported to the authorities, if we want to think about dystopian possibilities.
The differences between human races are minor, especially when compared to the differences between species. Racism tends to be based on assumptions projected onto others, or cultural stereotypes which the racist believes are inherent to a race. Species are dramatically different in instinctive behaviour and capabilities. Speciesism would have a much more solid foundation in evidence. It would still be morally wrong as far as I'm concerned, but I do think that would mean speciesism would be more common and have higher intensity than racism.
I think you're being very optimistic when you say that 1st world countries will be back to normal in a decade. Consider the effect that mass therianthropy will have on birthrate. You can only have children with other members of your species. Most people will be transformed into animals that are not compatible with their partner. Relationships will be destroyed. Plans for the future will never happen. The phrase "plenty more fish in the sea" will no longer apply, because if you want kids you've got to find someone that's the same species as you, and that's going to be a very small percentage of the population. Things may appear to go back to normal in ten years, but what will society look like in twenty? Thirty? Fifty? What happens when there aren't enough new people to do work and raise taxes? Sure, you could give animals equal rights and bring them into the workforce, but does a significant percentage of the animals even want to join civilisation? Most of the pets don't seem to care that they are second class citizens, or even enjoy the way they have plenty of privileges and few responsibilities. The Wolves and Gale both wanted to join civilisation, but the other ferals have apparently been rejecting the ECP. Top predators like wolves and cougars aren't the majority of animals, you'd struggle to keep population up just recruiting them. Just bringing them in doesn't guarantee anyone will want to breed with them. And what about inbreeding? Get lots of one species in one place and you're fine, but split them up into hundreds of species with a very limited choice of partners, and you'll see genetic issues within a couple of generations. Trying to save human civilisation by replacing the declining number of therianthropes will wild animals will also cause social issues, with people resentful at the idea.
But what about animals with high birthrates? Surely they could fix it? Possibly. But having children is expensive in the 1st world. Can they afford to have huge litters? Would they have to give up children for adoption simply because they can't look after them all? Knowing that this is what they would have to consider, would they even choose to have children at all? This also introduces the problem that some families will be producing most of the population, while others will be producing hardly any, which is far different to the current situation where most families have about two children. Expect more resentment.
In short, I would not be surprised if it caused the slow decline and eventual collapse of civilisation as we know it. To be fair, this could make an interesting premise for a story, but I don't think it fits the theme of Housepets.