Animals Deserve the Right Not to Be Held in Captivity

When people hear the term ‘animal rights’, it can elicit a certain reaction, which will depend on your outlook. You may think it’s absurd and meaningless to ascribe rights to non-human animals, believing rights can only be afforded to people. Animal rights may also conjure up images of those who advocate for such – perhaps…

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Geographic Arbitrage: Should You Move Abroad to Save Money?

The idea behind geographic arbitrage is that you can earn money in a strong currency (such as US dollars) and then spend money in a weaker currency (like Thai Baht). With remote working on the rise, it’s now easier than ever to take your work abroad. You could be earning a decent salary in a…

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Should All Drugs Be Legalised?

This is the dissertation I wrote for my Philosophy undergraduate degree in 2012. Some of the statistics may be a bit out of date, but recent developments in drug liberalisation (such as in the US) and research on the illicit drug trade – as well as the therapeutic application of certain illicit drugs – are still…

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Is Speciesism Like Racism?

Speciesism is discrimination on the grounds of species – or mistreating another creature because they belong to a different species than you. If a person claimed she had a right over a cow’s life just because she belonged to the species homo sapiens, then this would be an example of speciesism. The claim that a…

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Is It Immoral to Use Pack Animals for Trekking?

This is a question which interested me when I started noticing how in many countries, multi-day hikes often rely on the use of pack animals to carry gear and supplies. This isn’t always the case, of course. For example, during my 3-day hike on Mount Rinjani, the second-highest volcano in Indonesia, superhuman porters were employed…

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