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Veganism, Harm Reduction, Moral Baselines, etc.
“Veganism must be the baseline if we are to have any hope of shifting the paradigm away from animal as things and toward animals as nonhuman persons.”
These are the words of Gary L. Francione, renowned white middle-aged male vegan guru.
“Yes, animal agriculture is a plague upon our shared landbase, but…it’s still a symptom. To ‘save’ the planet, the disease we must address and eradicate is capitalism in all its deceptive and myriad incarnations.”
These are the words of another white middle-aged male vegan who is absolutely not a guru and would prefer no association with all that the word “vegan” provokes.
Yeah, that would be me.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Activism, animal liberation, animal rights, corporate propaganda, Cruelty to animals, denial, diversity of tactics, ecocide, Environment, Facebook, francione, Genetically modified organism, harm reduction, Human, hypocrisy, intersectionality, mickey z, Monsanto, New York City, Occupy movement, occupy this book, social media, Solidarity, tactics, United States, veganism, white supremacy
How to Be an Infamous Underground Writer
More than two decades after his death, Bukowski remains a revered and widely-read literary legend — known as much for his lifestyle choices as his poetry.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged bukowski, male privilege, misogyny, patriarchy, Sexism, underground, white privilege, writers, writing life
Disrupt Propaganda
The other day, I watched a video by UnnaturalVegan about DxE and their “Disrupt Speciesism” approach to activism. While I know and like some of the people involved with DxE, I’ve wanted to pen an assessment of their tactics for a while. The video summed up a lot of my feelings so for now, I’ll refrain from writing a full DxE-related article.
Instead, I’d much rather follow-up on something UnnaturalVegan lightly touches on: How conditioning not only creates belief but can also render many forms of activism ineffective and inaccessible. I say this because the “Disrupt Speciesism” approach — like the vast majority of activist methods — does not take into account the relentless presence and insidious power of corporate propaganda.
Thich Nhat Hanh sez:
“We are here to awaken from our illusion of separateness.”
“In true dialogue, both sides are willing to change.”
“Life is available only in the present moment.”
“Suffering is not enough. Life is both dreadful and wonderful. How can I smile when I am filled with so much sorrow? It is natural – you need to smile to your sorrow because you are more than your sorrow.”
“My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground on which I stand.”
“Many people think excitement is happiness, but when you are excited you are not peaceful. True happiness is based on peace.”
“The source of love is deep in us and we can help others realize a lot of happiness. One word, one action, one thought can reduce another person’s suffering and bring that person joy.”
“Compassion is a verb.”
“If you love someone, the greatest gift you can give them is your presence.”
“Understanding means throwing away your knowledge.”
“If you touch one thing with deep awareness, you touch everything.”
“We have more possibilities available in each moment than we realize.”
“You are not an observer, you are a participant.”
Modern Life, Light Pollution, & Fear of the Dark
“Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.” (Mary Oliver)
Every now and then, I’m asked some variation of this question: When were you most awed by nature? Like most of you, I have handful of examples to choose from but the answer I usually give involves gazing at the night sky in a very rural Vermont town.
I had never witnessed that many visible stars in my life and — being the heavily conditioned modern urban dweller I am — promptly bellowed something like: “It looks like the Hayden Planetarium!”
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Activism, corporate propaganda, denial, ecocide, ecodefense, Environment, industrial civilization, light pollution
Terror Bird or Terror Beings?
Recently, while perusing a book I dumpster-dived in my neighborhood, I learned of Titanis walleri, a large, flightless, carnivorous bird that lived approximately 5-2 million years ago (early Pliocene to early Pleistocene) in North America. This badass being reached up to 10 feet in height, weighed over 300 pounds, and could run faster than 40 MPH.
I was basking in the mental image of such an amazing earthling until I also learned that Titanis was part of a group of such giants which have been nicknamed “terror birds.”
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Activism, animal liberation, animal rights, birbs, birds, corporate propaganda, Cruelty to animals, denial, ecocide, Environment, Human, terror birds, titanis, veganism, war crimes
