vegan issues

I OBJECT! : A Letter From a Blind Man who Can Now See

August 31st, 2013

The other day I met up with an old friend for coffee/dessert. She suggested a place and I agreed. While I was waiting for her to get there, I looked at the menu.

I had to take a picture.

Calves’ liver. Really??

Not just one calf ‘s but calves’ even??

As I checked out my pic, I realized. It wasn’t just calves’ liver.

It was lamb burger.

it was cows.

chickens

pigs

salmons

tunas

The entire F-ing menu was made up of animals. Was made up of death. Was made up of Lives.

And it wasn’t just one of each. It struck me as well that every time someone ordered an item of the menu, it was a different life. A different someone. A different misunderstood enslaved animal.

They were animals who wanted to live. Animals who fought with their last breath to survive. Animals with families. Animals with friends in their factory farms that they died with.

Honestly this is just incredible.

It’s incredible that in every single menu all around the world, there are these same dishes staring diners in the face. Every night. Every day. We see bacon, hamburger, calves’ liver even STARING us in the face.

And yet we don’t see it at all.

We don’t see that there is anything wrong with this. We think it is perfectly ok.

We are so blinded to such an enormous evil to the point where even when we’re looking straight at it we can’t see it.

It’s kind of twisted and sick, isn’t it? It’s very sci-fi movie where our brains have been taken over.

Taken over by what though? I have begun to see this as well.

Marketing.

Oh yes. Free range, Local, Sustainable, Heirloom, Antibiotic free, Organic humanely raised meat. I see it wherever I go now. Signs that say “All our meat is local and hormone free. Plus it’s organic so you can rest easy”. Or whatever.

“Plus it’s organic.”

They forgot to add one other “plus”.

Plus, it was alive. Plus it was tortured. Plus it fought to live. Plus it had a family. Plus it had a life.

How can we disrespect LIFE so much. How can we disrespect FREEDOM so much.

It’s so wrong.

And yet hardly any of us can see it. All around us. Every day.

Somehow I feel we’ve been brainwashed and tricked into disrespecting LIFE ITSELF and everything beautiful and good in it.

This isn’t science fiction. We are really brainwashed.

Luckily, every day more and more people are waking up and “seeing the ghosts“.

I know I am. I have.

 
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Dreamy Dreams: Animal Sanctuaries and King Arthur’s Court

August 7th, 2013

Hello Guys,

Recently I have been dreaming about the countryside.

I have been dreaming about owning an animal sanctuary with my future significant other and maybe even giving pole dancing lessons to women on the side that would teach them about their own unique power and beauty.

I went to the house I grew up in in the country the other day. It was sooo beautiful. I don’t think I am a city person at heart.

I saw the stars for about the first time in a year.

I saw maybe 5 shooting stars.

There were plants in the windows at night and dark plants from the forest and the bushes and the grass all around.

The crickets were singing. It was like these thick waves of sound coming from deep in the forest.

I don’t hear any crickets in nyc.

I really have a desire to be around animals. Dogs. Pigs.

I feel a bit out there saying it, but I want to know what pigs are like.

I think I mentioned on this blog before, that I went to this place called The Mountain School in Vermont for a semester my junior year in high school. They had animals there that they raised…for meat. Horrors.

They had pigs there.

The pigs were enormous and I was scared of them. They were so big it was like they could run you over and you didn’t know what they would do.

I avoided their tiny stall. But I was really curious about those pigs.

Back then, I was a vegetarian but I had not “SEEN THE GHOSTS” with my own eyes. I did not feel a sense of outrage that the pigs were being killed, and that the turkeys I was in charge of for a few weeks would be killed too.

It was so hidden from our view.

They slaughtered the chickens in front of us though. It was shocking. But I kind of felt numb. At first I was horrified but then the feeling faded. I guess I just thought I couldn’t stop it. I must have rationalized it like it will be over quick. So I just looked away.

I wish I had done something like this though. Check out Anita Krajnc standing up for the pigs in the trucks. A video you won’t soon forget and a true example of heroism against an seemingly unstoppable killing machine (the chickens were being slaughtered in this mobile slaughtering contraption).

I have been thinking about this a lot. What is the missing link. The Link that allows you to SEE THE GHOSTS. Is it just bearing witness like Anita says? Is it that simple?

If so, wow.

Back then, I had less respect for life.

I had less ideals.

King Arthur’s court was all about the ideals of chivalry and nobility and truth and goodness and gentleness…and chastity? OK… sure.

An animal sanctuary kind of reminds me of King Arthur’s court.

 

A sanctuary is kind of a round fenced in court of those ideals.

Out of those fences…the world doesn’t respect these ideals. They don’t respect things that are as gentle and noble and unable to fight back as farm animals

….like the chickens.

Jenny brown creator of woodstock animal sanctuary describes in Her book The Lucky Ones how she often envisions a protective dime over her farm and her husband where all is right with the world.

from Jenny Brown’s book The Lucky Ones about Woodstock Animal Sanctuary

Inside that “protective bubble”, a dome of happiness and goodness… things are different.

I’ve never even been to a sanctuary! As I said, my goal is before the summer ends. I think I’m going next weekend.

Have any of you guys ever dreamed about owning an animal sanctuary or been to one? What do you think is THE KEY to “seeing the ghosts”, the missing link that stops people from “getting it”. Is it as simple as Bearing Witness? 

 
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