Joaquin Phoenix calls for everyone to go vegan and 'end speciesism'

Phoenix is leading the charge for PETA's new campaign

Oscar-winning actor Joaquin Phoenix has pledged to push veganism and has also joined PETA's campaign to end speciesism across the globe. Phoenix has put his support behind PETA's 'We Are All Animals' campaign, which hopes to address "speciesism" and promote the vegan lifestyle. [caption id="attachment_294815" align="alignnone" width="926"]

Via PETA[/caption] But what is Speciesism? Though the idea has been talked about for centuries, the term was originally coined in 1970 by British psychologist Richard D. Ryder. "If all organisms are on one physical continuum, then we should also be on the same moral continuum," he wrote. The term has since been employed by the animal rights movement, citing that no animal's life (humans included) is worth more than another. Brother of the late actor River Phoenix, Joaquin and his siblings have been vegan since the age of three after they watched "fish being killed in a really violent and aggressive way". "When we look at the world through another animal's eyes, we see that inside we're all the same-and that we all deserve to live free from suffering," Phoenix said. The Joker star has long been an animal rights advocate and this is not the first time he was worked with PETA and spoken out on the issue. "It's absurd and barbaric and I just don't understand how you could witness that and not be affected by it," he told Brut earlier this year in relation to his traumatic childhood fish memory. "The effect that it has on our environment is devastating," he added. "So, for me it's just my life and it has always been my life. It's really one of the most important things to me."