POINT:"Have you thought of the consequences of your position? Suppose we did treat other animals as equals. What would that do to ranchers, farmers, workers at meat packaging plants, butchers, fishermen, and all the other people whose livelihoods would disappear? And think what that would mean for the economy as a whole. What you're talking about is the closing of vast markets and the dislocation of millions of people. You're also talking about giving up important research and who knows what else. Whatever good would come to nonhuman animals, the consequences for humans would be disastrous. And that can't be right."