Day 100: I Am Vegan, Hear Me ROAR

This is a continuation/conclusion to my previous post: Day 99: Vegans Are Sweet, But Still Murderers

Wow, so I've already received quite a lot of views on my last post, and most of the feedback and comments pretty much just help make the point.

Maybe I was unclear, or I didn't write enough - didn't go deep enough - that the whole point of my post just whizzed over people's heads. Or maybe it's the people - I'm just saying...

I stand by my conclusion that all vegans are self righteous hippie folk. Not most, ALL. The only reason someone would abstain from eating meat, aside from it causing negative physical reactions, is that one has an idea about eating animals. Now I'm not saying that the need to eat food is a very nice, or even practical way to survive and I fully commit to redesigning all of life so that no one being needs another to feed off of - but while our bodies need sustenance, we must eat.

So if one has an idea about eating meat, be it based on some scientific study (shame on you for believing it right-off), or on harming other beings then basically what's going on is that this person is living according to a belief system. So I could equate vegans to Christians - believing that they are good and right and will be rewarded in the afterlife.

Now, I'm also NOT saying that our food industry is OK - it is far from OK - but it is based on our human system of profit which has no scruples when it comes to fucking others over to make a quick buck. What I am saying is that the idea that one is doing less harm by being a vegan is actually opposite of the truth. Believing that one is causing less harm in this fucked up world by not eating meat indicates that one does not understand the system or oneself at all but is simply another pawn to be moved by the even hungry profit machine.

Do you really think that you choosing to not eat meat is going to stop a system based on abuse? Because that's the only valid reason for someone claiming to want what is best for all to act. Do you think that less animals will be bred and butchered because you abstain from eating meat?

The thing is, all the responses I have received from vegans saying "yes, I agree but I still am doing this for the animals" are complete bullshit. You are making no difference to the lives of the billions of animals suffering in this world. How can you then claim to be a vegan for the animals? The animals are still living in cages, being fed food that would kill them if they lived longer than they did anyway and wishing for an end every moment of their lives. So stop being an asshole and do something that will make a difference!

If every vegan were to give as much attention to a global solution as they do to their diet, maybe global awareness of the realities of the food industry would be higher. Maybe more people would be educating themselves about how the system really works. Maybe there would be more people demanding a global system that honours all life and abolishes profit and loss once and for all.

I forgive myself for not realizing that veganism is not a global solution to poverty, suffering and abuse as it does not take into consideration how the system functions according to profit and loss, nor does it offer respite to the inequalities of living standards.

I forgive myself for not realizing that veganism is not a part of a global solution to poverty, suffering and abuse as it is based on an idea that one is preventing suffering when in fact one is not making any difference and therefore indicates to us that the idea of veganism is purely self interest.

I forgive myself for not realizing that the studies and reports that are published regarding food are not trustworthy as all of the researches in the world are slaves to money and do not even understand how the physical body actually functions and therefore have no authority or ability to claim one thing or another until our understanding of the physical is complete and we are no longer slaves to the Money God.

I forgive myself for not realizing that blindly believing research by apparent "experts" without actually testing the claims for myself simply makes me a fool and a sheep, not "clever" for "listening to the experts".

I forgive myself for not realizing that by believing that I am making a difference when I do not see any actual difference I am actually caught in a game of "The Bestest Me I Can Be" in which I use my thoughts to justify why I am a good person.

I forgive myself for not realizing that if I have not made a real effort to communicate with plants then I can not claim to know who they are and what they experience as I am simply claiming to be an expert based on my "superior" human intellect and cognitive abilities as proven by scientists working in a lab, who are actually only people doing a job in order to survive.

I forgive myself for not realizing that any time I think or say something to convince myself or someone else that I am right that I am then justifying myself in order to feel good about myself.

I forgive myself for not realizing that my words indicate that I do not actually know how this system works as I am basing my words on my own assumptions and beliefs and not on what I have proven to be true.

I forgive myself for not realizing that through implementing an global solution such as an Equal Money System in which profit will not be the driving motivation for everything we do, we will be able to alter the way we live so that eating is no longer a requirement and we will be able to live in true harmony with nature as nature will no longer need to consume itself over and over to survive.

I commit myself to showing people that veganism offers no solution to any of the major global problems such as poverty, abuse, needing money to survive, profit and loss.

I commit myself to showing people that veganism is actually self interest as one is perpetuating the idea that one is making a difference when one is actually not.

I commit myself to showing people that we do not actually know anything about our physical bodies, and as long as the people who are the scientists must earn a living then no information they publish is trustworthy.

I commit myself to showing people that as the system we have created is so dishonest, every thing must be tested and confirmed for oneself.

I commit myself to showing people that one must always be able to see a real difference in the world to be able to prove to oneself that one isn't simply trying to feel good about oneself.

I commit myself to show people how to let go of their preconceived ideas based on assumptions that only certain kinds of beings are alive/ can feel pain and learn to actually communicate with plants.

I commit myself to showing people that whenever we do anything within the belief of "I am right" that we are justifying ourselves and being dishonest with ourselves.

I commit myself to show people how to see where their words are showing them what they do not yet fully understand.

I commit myself to show people that by implementing an Equal Money System we will be able to focus on developing ourselves and technology to actually support all life.

Comments

  1. I eat vegan and consume no animal products.

    Are you assuming that I don't involve myself in any other activities that honor all life? Are you of the opionion that eating a sentient being is ethically justified because oneself and/or others eat non-sentient beings?

    Aren't you making the perfect the enemy of the good? I have never assumed that veganism is the only answer. It is AN answer.
    I agree with you that our money system is based on violence, scarcity and debt and there are many plans in the works to replace it once it finally fails (like bitcoin for example).

    Isn't a mistake though, to condemn those who seek to reduce violence directly, and in a non-violent way when that is what you're seeking, only on a broader level? Sometimes working within a system to transform it is a temporary viable solution. Not feeding (veganism) a corrupt system (factory farming) is a fundemental principle of effective non-violent change. This is not exclusionary to the system at large since it is part of it.

    Over twelve years I've seen people around me become some form of vegetarian or just eat less meat. Even if none of them did, it doesn't ultimately matter to me. What matters most to me (and I think this is what you're missing) is that I, I don't c o n t r i b u t e to a food system which promotes disease, animal cruelty, environmental destruction and world hunger. It's an integrity issue. If one can't handle that they'll never have any lasting effect on others.

    Are you telling me that you have proof that if twenty of my friends eat less meat and twenty of theirs and twenty of theirs...it won't begin to reduce market demand and reduce production? Where's YOUR proof? Incidentally, where's YOUR solution? Does it exclude changing diet? Why?

    You've talked a lot about how veganism is not it and only talked negatively about the money system (which most people have individually agreed to by not understanding the contracts they sign).

    As far as having an eased conscience, yes, I don't have any problem admitting that. It's a relief and I don't need any relgion or science to show me that. No, it's not just for the animals.
    If anyone looks deeply enough we can see that everything we do is self serving. If animals, people, and the earth appear to also benefit, are you saying I should stop? Really?

    Is the existence of suffering animals (which I notice you believe) your only evidence that turning vegetarian doesn't change anything? Do you have proof that the suffering of animals isn't lessening? If you eventually convinced everyone you're right approx. 10 million (or more) vegetarians would start buying meat and the suffering would skyrocket. If I convinced everyone it would disappear. Now, neither may completely happen but I see that mankind is evolving and I'll be on the cutting edge of that evolution. We mostly don't believe it's right to have slaves anymore. We mostly believe women should have equal rights too. Radical social change begins with individual integrity. It's what moved and inspired others in all the significant movements of the world. If Rosa Parks listened to the naysayers around her she wouldn't have made history with MLK.

    As far as others stopping, it's not my job to tell others what to eat only to inspire those who demonstrate that they're open. When it comes to your blog post I must say, however, I'm reminded of a Shakespeare quote: "Methinks thou doth protest too much".

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    1. That is precisely the point - in being 'vegan' or not eating meat, one beLIEve they are no more responsible for what is currently here as our food production system and economic system... that as Cerise pointed out in this blog - that somehow you are making a difference, when in fact you are not. You are only abdicating any responsibility you have by saying, "I don't eat meat, I am not to blame, I am not responsible, those that eat meat - it's your fault/problem"

      And the lack of consideration within the argument that somehow you are not consuming life by just eating vegetables or fruits - goes to show the limited awareness of the human that attempts the justify it's actions of separation, how do you know the tomato does not feel as the knife cuts it - or the lettuce gets ripped a part - only when we can hear the screams we tell ourselves we care enough about life, yet we do no even stand equal to ALL the flesh of this earth - which is ourselves, and thus we ARE always consuming ourselves.

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  2. Thanks for this Cerise - well said. Being vegan is like being a protester, walking in the streets, yelling for change, yet not doing anything practical in this world to change it ourselves.

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  3. I love this post, your reply just proves it is bang on right. If Vegetarianism would have changed the cruelty toward animals so far, it would have done so, 400 million people in India alone are vegetarians, we could roughly calculate that at least either by religious restrictions or health scares we should have around 700 million vegetarians in the world, that would be 10% of the world population that at least should have been able to bring a change to the farming industry and yet, they didn't. If you check out Wikipedia under Vegetarianism you will find out interestingly enough, that the 3 top reasons to be Vegetarians have nothing to do with animals, the first which beats them all is the health concern, not for the animal, for the human consumer, he fears about his own health, the second should fall in the first category since they fear hormone and chemicals in the meat, the third group doesn't like the taste of meat. Only 10% of the vegetarians profess to do it for animals, only 1 per cent do it to reduce world hunger and famine even though how the starving ones will benefit from one being not eating meat is not specified which could then be just a mind gimmick, in which I hold beliefs that I am doing good on a worldwide scale with zero impact in the physical reality, but then again, that is not my 'real concern' as long as I can hold on to my belief and get to feel good and righteous about myself.
    So, the point of the blog which you may have missed is, exactly, how is your Veganism or Vegetarianism changing the world, is it about the grateful cow you imagine gets to live a dignified life just because you didn't eat it? Is she going to be released in the wild to romp with the Milka Nestle' Purple Cows that give the loving purple milk for our chocolate? On which basis do you found your beliefs about the 'goodness of the 'vegetarianism/vegan' choice IF reality has not taken your choice or the 700 million people who made the same choice into account? Or in fact that is irrelevant because you do get to feel good and better and more proper than the meat eaters missing the point that you are contributing in the same exact measure, NIL, zero, nada. So the 'we mostly don't believe' has to go with an action that supports the change, because guess what 'we mostly don't believe that having slaves is right', and yet slavery exists in the millions, from sex slaves, to child slaves, to labor slaves, to mostly all of us as economic slaves to a system where Life and the right to live has to be earned on a planet that gives everything for free for everybody. "we mostly believe women should have Equal Rights" and yet they don't and similarly your "mostly believing" you are making a change is not. If you want real change you have to address the profit driven economic system outside and the profit driven economic system inside that drives our self interested lives in which we strive to position ourselves above others, whatever mean we choose, including righteous useless food choices, that as we saw, are just benefiting you at best.
    So if you pick Shakespeare, pick the right quote for your Group 'Much ado about nothing' and then Stop, look at this point in self honesty and start to walk a real correction, first as self, to equalize yourself to existence and step down the self righteous ladder and then to address the Profit driven economic system, when Cows/Chickens/Rabbits/Dogs/Cats/Fowls/Kids/Pigs etc won't have their flesh mapped by a dollar sign according to the $Value of the cut any longer, that will be the turning point, so you want Change, stand for a System where Profit is not what Matters but Life, One and Equal for every living Being.

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  4. PART 1: Criticisms to this video and activistsjourneytolife blog:
    3:00
    “I stand by my conclusion that all vegans are self-righteous hippy folk. Not most – all. The only reason one would abstain from eating meat, aside from it causing negative physical reactions, is that one has an idea about eating animals.”
    FALSE. Of course, right off the bat, I can argue that you are using absolutes to define vegans. Not most – all vegans are self-righteous hippy folk, only engaging in not eating meat because they have an idea about eating animals is what was said. This is not the case because it does not pertain to my reasoning behind veganism. Imagine this – according to the Erosion Control Association, there was an estimated 1.53 billion cows in 2001 globally. There will never be an exact figure, but let’s say that ¾ of these cows are going to be slaughtered (which is probably an underestimation). That is 1,147,500,000 (yes, 1 billion, 147 million, 500 thousand) cows that are going to turn into food. This right here is not the problem (although, it should be of concern). The fact of the matter is the resources that go into sustaining a cow up until its time of death are being wasted. According to various studies, excuse me for not having specific sources, but just google and feast your eyes, the amount of fresh water that goes into producing just 1 lb. of beef is 2,500 gallons. This water goes into sustaining the crops needed to feed these cows and into the cows themselves so they don’t die of dehydration. (One could say, well this water is not lost, but recycled as it leeks back into the ground water. While this is the case, fresh water and cow dung don’t go very far together, at least in terms of sustaining our fresh water supply in the now moment. Yes, the world does recycle water naturally through evaporation and other means, but it takes thousands of years to replenish the fresh water acquifers that fill our ground water. And, the fact of the matter is, our life span is around 80 years. We do not get to wait around for thousands of years if we fuck this up and waste all of our water.) The average weight of a cow is 1,660 lbs (I just wanted to say I’m sorry that America is so backwards and doesn’t use the metric system, leading to hardly anyone living here knowing it, specifically myself. I would like to write this in terms of metric weight, etc., but it is almost impossible for me to fathom how much a kilogram of something is versus a pound of something because I’ve never had anyone show me a kilogram, of let’s say beef, so bare with me please). If you do the math, 2,500 gallons of fresh water multiplied by (I know that not all of composing parts of the cow will end up on the dinner plate, so I’m going to go easy on this number, saying that 300 lbs. of the cow are just thrown away, so 1,360 lbs of cow used for food will be the amount I use in calculating) 1,360 lbs. of beef/cow is equal to 3,400,000 gallons of fresh water.

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  5. PART 2: . That is 3,400,000 gallons of fresh water going into one pound of beef. Let’s go back to the figure where I estimated (yes, estimated. It would be nice, but near impossible for me, or anyone for that matter, to visit every part of the world simultaneously to figure the exact number of cows there are) the number of cows that exist for the sole purpose of food. 1,147,500,000 cows multiplied by the number of gallons of fresh water, 3,400,000 that goes into producing one cow is equal to 3,901,500,000,000,000 (that is 3 quadrillion, 901 trillion, 500, billion) gallons of fresh water! Now of course this number is off, but still, if it is around the quadrillions that water is wasted, there is a problem. What is also fucked is the life expectancy of beef cows. While naturally they may live to be 15-20 years old, they are being overturned as soon as 15-20 months into its life. Imagine that number – 3 quadrillion, 901 trillion, 500 billion gallons of fresh water - wasted every 15-20 months! This is just the beginning of the wrong doing in eating meat, or at least in the supporting of the current system that accepts the meat industry to thrive. Let’s do some more calculations. Common sense screams at us that these cows need food, too. They need lots of food because in fact they weigh just shy of one ton. The figures show us that it takes 16 pounds of grain to produce one pound of beef (I again do not have a source, but google this and see for yourself all of the evidence that goes towards this claim). Let’s take the supposed weight of a cow that will end up on the dinner table again, 1,360 lbs. If you multiply the 16 lbs. of grain needed to produce one lb. of beef by the weight 1,360, you would get 21,760 lbs. of grain needed to sustain a cow throughout its life. Does it compute to you that every time you desire to eat just one pound of beef, you would throw away 16 pounds of grain? Hopefully, not, but this is the case! Let’s look at global numbers again. I estimated that 1,147,500,000 cows are going to be turned into food within the next 15-20 months (probably a little bit longer if you factor in the amount of time it takes to grow a cow in the womb). Take the 21,760 lbs. of grain that goes into one cow and multiply it by the number of cows being turned into food, 1,147,500,000 and you will get 24,969,600,000,000 (24 trillion, 969 billion, 600 million) lbs. of grain going into the entire equation of the meat industry, every 15-20+ months. That’s a fuck ton of grain, and all of it must grow somewhere, and there must also be a spot where all these cows are growing. The evidence shows that these meat industries, concerned with money only, go to places where people don’t have the resources or the availability to stop them, such as to South America where a lot of people living in the rainforest and are completely disconnected with the rest of the world.

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  6. PART 3: . These meat industries go into places like that, just because it will be easy to get away with what they’re doing, and start chopping down all the rainforests, destroying the natural ecosystem and the indigenous people of it to make room for these huge fields required to grow the crops ‘needed’ and house the cattle with it. This is FUCKED! Also, the meat industry is a world-wide business. After the cow (also fucked, all this waste just for beef alone. This doesn’t even begin to cover the rest of the abuse the meat industry is causing to our world with other animals) is slaughtered in South America, or wherever the meat industry can exploit the land without being noticed by the masses, and it is shipped to the rest of the world. Meaning all of the meat is going to have to travel by seas (which is polluting the oceans and wasting finite fossil fuels) to countries like America, Australia, and places of Europe and Asia, where it then it has to be transported by land (in an automobile, meaning its polluting the air we breathe, and again, wasting finite fossil fuels) before it makes its way into supermarkets.
    Part of being a responsible human being is realizing that we are all in this together, and are equally fucked when we run out of resources on this Earth. If we are ever going to reach a point of equality, where all people are held with the same responsibility as others as to the current state this world is in, then we should all adopt vegetarian diet choices. The way we are consuming meat in senseless, and not necessary at all. By removing yourself from the equation of the meat industry, you are slowing down the rate at which the meat industry can perpetuate itself, and thus waste more resources. Why waste 2,500 gallons of fresh water to produce one pound of beef, when we can USE (not waste because the water won’t be contaminated with shit from cow feces, taking a lot longer for the Earth to naturally clean in it, making it unsuitable to drink for a long ass time) just a few gallons of water to yield a pound of produce. Why waste 16 pounds of grains every time you want to feel luxurious and eat meat, when you could cut meat from the equation and have 16x more grain in the world to feed it? These cows don’t need to be bread by the masses in the first place, they just are because people support this senseless meat eating habit.

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  7. PART 4: Where you are wrong in this video, and blog post (putting this on Anna Brix Thomsens video and activists journey to life blog), is you are assuming that all vegans/vegetarians adopt this diet choice to feel good about themselves. While I do feel good, probably because I don’t fill my body with harmful meat products, I don’t not eat meat just because the animal I’m eating has feelings (although this is another concept entirely, which I do greatly care for), nor do I actually care about my health more than I care about the well-being of the planet in its entirety. I want what is best for the world, and obvious research shows that if we keep perpetuating the meat industry, we will be in an even worse place than where we are now.
    Also, for saying that ALL vegans avoid meat just for selfish feel-good reasons, why the heck are all of you shaving your heads? I myself am about to shave my head for the faceworldfaceoff movement, but can you see the analogy of you saying that it is only for selfish reasons that people stop eating meat, to you feeling good about yourself because you don’t have to pollute the water with all of the chemicals that hair products have?
    Please, I want criticisms back, and I hope I’m not causing uneasiness to any persons. This life is a learning experience, and bouncing ideas is the best way to coming up with the BEST solution. Thank you.

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    1. I agree with you 100% that the meat industry is completely unacceptable and abusive, BUT: it is not the SOURCE of the problem - it is one of the CONSEQUENCES. The meat industry is a product of the economic system and our society wherein it is deemed acceptable to abuse and exploit in order to make profit. The same can be applied to any of today's problems - money is the reason and cause for pretty much all the suffering and damage to the Earth. Imagine if we were to focus on making and developing things based on what would best support all life, instead of what would make the most money at the smallest expense? Imagine if there was no need for war because there was only one global community, and no countries to squabble over resources.
      These posts on veganism are meant to accentuate the point that veganism doesn't solve the cause of the abusive meat industry and that it has turned into a "feel-good" industry on its own, simply because those who are vegans believe they are making a difference when they are in fact not - they are not even addressing the cause of the problem. It's like the medical industry today - everything is aimed at trying to make the symptoms go away without considering what is at the root of the symptoms.
      And in response to your hair shaving comment: wouldn't a better solution be to stop the production of harmful chemicals? Because even when you shave your head, you need razors, which are made from plastic and will pollute the environment, and you are using soap, which is made from palm oil which comes from palm tree farms that destroyed countless habitats.
      This is why I advocate for an Equal Money System: It addresses the cause of our problems and offers a solution

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    2. http://activistsjourneytolife.blogspot.com/2012/10/day-190-feminism.html - Check this out as well as a response to your comment

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