The Manifesto of the Human Family, Part I

What follows is the manifesto of the human family, an evolutionary lineage of bipedal ape in danger of extinction.

Definition of Human
   The human animal is understood to be a hominoid ape. Humans are not the only extant hominoid apes.

  Born on the continental landmass called Africa approximately two million solar years before present, the human family emerged from the Paleolithic equatorial forest to spread across the entire globe. The human ape is recognized by the presence of the following attributes occurring simultaneously in the same organism:

• Bipedal locomotion.
• Five-fingered hands capable of performing a wide variety of precision grip postures. These hands feature fully opposable thumbs.
• Large cranial capacity and a 2-1-2-3 heterodont dentition pattern.
• A complex material culture and a reliance upon tools.
• Cooperative hunting behavior. 
• An intraspecies communication complex comprised of vocal, gestural, proxemic, and symbolic components. This communication complex is called "language."

   It is understood that while each of these attributes are not necessarily unique to the human family, the human ape is the only creature known to manifest all six of these attributes in concert. This collection of attributes therefore defines the human animal.

Variability of Human Expression
   Due to the early global diversity of the human family, regionally-variable pressures exerted upon geographically isolated descent groups of humans, expressed in the Theory of Natural Selection, resulted in a wide range of phenotypical expression in humans over a long period of time. Skin pigmentation developed as a response to ambient ultraviolet radiation, preventing damage to internal biological structures; height and body density adjusted to cope with the need to efficiently shed heat or retain it; body hair distribution and pigmentation corresponded with the need to shed heat or retain it.
   
  Every human living in the present era are known to be descendants of an indigenous African population approximately 50,000 years before present as explained in the Out of Africa Theory (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/02/080221-human-genetics.html). The Out of Africa Theory is supported by forensic analysis of human DNA. We therefore understand that our diverse global family is from the African continental landmass.

One Family
  Due to a preponderance of evidence in the fossil record and in human DNA, we understand that humans are one family (species) manifesting a broad range of phenotypical expression. The descendants of the original African population spread across the world and separated by time, space, and geographical barriers, developed cultures unique in their material expression and psycho-social outlook.
 
   We reject the notion of "race" as it has been deployed in complex modern cultures, functioning as a tool for stratification and a vehicle of oppression. We recognize "ethnicity" as an ancestral identification unique to certain geographically-affiliated cultural groups, but at the same time, we acknowledge that such distinctions are arbitrary and synthetic. We recognize culture as the only factor worthy of our attention.

   We pledge to henceforth conduct ourselves as one evolutionary family in a manner befitting creatures of profound empathy and nuanced intellect. We cherish the cultural diversity of our family and seek to preserve the unique way of life that each cultural group represents in time and space. We declare every human, regardless of their phenotype and cultural association, to be our mothers, sisters, daughters, fathers, brothers, sons, friends, and comrades.

The Community of Living Things and Persons
   The human family is understood to be a part of a greater community of related evolutionary families, and that this community includes all forms of life extant on Earth. Turning away from the folly and arrogance of our youth, we understand that all complex animal organisms are persons, or people, and that our family are not the only persons, or people, present on this planet. These evolutionary families of people, formerly referred to as "animals" in an effort to artificially separate our family from them,  have been empirically demonstrated to possess their own unique cultural patterns and language systems, some of which are being studied by those of us engaged in scientific pursuits.

   Because we accept all animals (and not just ourselves) as people, we pledge to treat every people native to this planet with the greatest of respect, affording them the dignity that all people deserve. We recognize this practice and outlook as ecologically imperative to the health and well-being of the community of living things, and the continued biodiversity of our planet. Furthermore, while we understand our evolutionary origin as ecological generalists suited to consume both vegetable and animal biological matter as sustenance, we accept that our present global overpopulation and ecological abuse has exhausted the capability of Earth's ecosystems to support our biological needs.

  We pledge to end the destructive practice of pastoralism, and seek permanent and meaningful solutions to meet our biological needs. Pastoralism on a large scale has destroyed many of our planet's ecosystems and led to the extinction of entire evolutionary families of people, and is one causal factor behind our imminent extinction due to rapid global climate change, a phenomenon that we, and we alone, are responsible for causing.

   At the same time, we pledge to preserve and energetically defend the rights of indigenous human peoples, many of whom exist in a state of homeostasis with their local environments, to hunt other non-human persons who traditionally served as sources of subsistence for their groups. We accept that their position in the natural order of their ancestral ecosystems is inviolate, similar in nature to the presence and activity of non-human predators such as wolves, tigers, or orca.