BIOFUELS--THE ROAD TO A VEGAN WORLD?

BIOFUELS-THE ROAD TO A VEGAN WORLD

As someone who has been trying to promote veganism for over 30 years, I have come to realize how difficult a vegan world will be to achieve.  Most people will turn away and not want to hear about the horrifying abuse animals have to endure. Most people will laugh about animal agriculture killing our planet. Very few will actually consider what I am saying may be true.  They don’t want to hear it and they don’t want to know. According to Stanley Milgram’s studies, the best we will ever achieve will be a 30% population. This 30% might be enough to make it mainstream, but I doubt it. The vast majority of the population “lacks the resources” (as Milgram politely put it) to overcome their conditioning.

During the same time, global warming has risen rapidly.  Scientists use to warn us about a 2 degree increase in earth’s temperature.   Now we are probably looking at a 6 degree increase in the next few decades. Already our climate here in Wisconsin has changed dramatically.  We are having thunderstorms, dewpoints in the upper 60's, and temperatures near 80 degrees in October.  Past decades this was unheard of, now it is daily. As someone who is connected with nature, I can already feel and see the changes. Less butterflies, less bees, less birds, fewer flowers  equal less fruit on our trees and plants.

But at the same time, we are running out of fossil fuels–oil.  Offshore drilling is expensive and dangerous and wouldn’t be done unless we had no other options. Oil companies are cheering the melting of the ice caps, because they will finally be able to drill in the Arctics and get every last bit of oil from our planet. No matter how hard they try, we will eventually run out, and according to scientists that will be within the next couple of decades.

There is a light to all this doom and gloom–biofuels.  All our cars need to run on biofuels is an adjustment to their computers. Current laws prohibit anyone from tampering with even their own car’s computers.  Kits that override the computer can be bought, but they have to be installed by the car’s owners.  It is against the law for anyone else to install these kits. Biofuels will be cheaper and cleaner.

So what does this have to do with veganism?  Plenty. Currently, two-thirds of our land is being used to either raise livestock or grow food to feed the livestock. If we want to make the switch to biofuels, we need land.  As farmers who grow crops for livestock start to see that there is a bigger profit in growing crops for biofuels, they will make the switch.  This will mean livestock feed prices will go up, which will raise the price of meat, dairy and eggs.  People will start to see them as “too expensive.”  As factory farms sell less and less meat, they too will convert to biofuels.  Corporations will start to reprogram the stupid masses.  What vegans have known for decades (how animal products are bad for the human body) will soon become mainstream.  Corporations are greedy and will do whatever it takes to make money, even if it’s doing the right thing.

The byproduct of biofuels is food.  Food that can be used to feed the world.

As vegans, I feel we should be promoting biofuels as a way to make the world vegan.  As John Lennon sang in Imagine, “You may say that I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. “  

resources:

“Pump”   https://www.fuelfreedom.org/our-work/initiatives/pump/

“Livestock and Climate Change” by Goodland and Anhang
 https://www.worldwatch.org/files/pdf/LivestockandClimateChange.pdf

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EATING OURSELVES TO EXTINCTION

EATING OURSELVES TO EXTINCTION

I stopped eating meat over thirty years ago.  This was before there were so many vegan products on grocery shelves, before there were so many factory farms and before we knew the damage animal agriculture does to our planet.  I stopped eating meat because torturing and killing another living animal is barbaric.  With every bite of meat, we lose a piece of our humanity.

Now we know the damage animal agriculture is doing to our planet. It is causing 51% of greenhouse gases and 91% of rain forest destruction. Two-thirds of our land mass is used to either raise or feed livestock. Animal agriculture is depleting our natural water supply and polluting our oceans, rivers and lakes. All of this causes more severe weather patterns, wild fires, flooding and other disasters. Bee populations are rapidly declining, leading to food losses.  We are on the verge of the sixth major extinction just because humans eat other earthlings.

There are 7 billion humans on earth and about 1 billion suffer from hunger.  Every day 21,000 children die of starvation.  Yet, most of the food we grow is fed to animals that will be killed and eaten.  It takes 16 pounds of food just to make one pound of meat. 96 billion animals and 3 trillion fish are killed every year for food, but 80% of that goes back into feeding livestock. How insane is this system?

The very thought that some lives are more important than others is creating violence in this world. The thought “I am a human; I am more important than others” leads to “I am white; I am more important than others” or “I am a man; I am more important than others.” Fear causes us to excrete adrenaline into our systems. Animals are no different than us. When we eat other earthlings, we are eating their adrenaline excretions.  This, along with the hormones added to animal feed, makes humans more aggressive. If we continue with all this violence and wars, we soon will wipe ourselves out.

We have to start thinking of future generations, our children, our grandchildren.  What kind of world do we want them to live in? Scientists have predicted that if we continue on our current course, humans could be extinct in less than 100 years. We can end violence. We can reverse global warming. We can feed the world. All it takes is for each of us to take one small step—go vegan.

THE BEE DILEMMA

THE BEE DILEMMA

One of the great vegan debates is whether honey is vegan or not.  Most vegans do not consider it vegan. The debate should be about whether the way we treat bees in modern society is vegan.  It’s not.

Sure bees are little insects most people could care less about, but their numbers are dwindling and they are on the verge of extinction.  When the bees go we will be next.  One third of our food is pollinated by bees and that is where the problem lies.

Human activity is destroying natural plants by plowing fields, building cities and homes, etc. Butterflies, bees, and birds are all losing their habitat.  Bees depend on natural plants. Fruit, nut and vegetable growers have had to import bees to pollinate their plants.  Current beekeepers make more money transporting bees thousands of miles to pollinate plants than they do selling honey.  Bee hives are piled on trailers. The vibration of the trip, the change in weather and the change in sunset and sunrise all add stress to the bee’s life.  Added to that stress is global warming, pollution, and pesticides.  Stress reduces the way their immune systems function.  Disease is wiping out our bees.

Transporting bees thousands of miles to make them pollinate trees is definitely not vegan.  But without that, we would not have the fruits and vegetables we love.

So what can we do:

First, we still all need to go vegan. Two-thirds of the land mass is used to either raise or feed farmed animals.  This land is cleared of plants bees need to survive.  It takes less land to grow fruits and vegetables to feed humans directly than it does to raise animals for flesh eating. Going vegan and returning this land to its natural state will help bees recover.

Second, buying local will help.  Also, we should pass legislation that requires fruit and vegetable growers to have their own bee hives for their crops. Especially those labeled vegan or organic.

Third, everyone should stop using pesticides.  Stop putting chemicals on their lawns, even better forgo the lawn and plant wildflowers and other flowering plants for the bees.

Fourth. everyone who has land should start a bee hive. Not for honey, but just for the bees. Other than checking on them once in a while, just let them be bees.

Don’t buy honey or products made with honey.  Don’t buy products made with beeswax or royal jelly.  Show companies that we will not support the demise of bees for money.

We need to do all we can to help this most important little insect.  When they go extinct, humans will not be far behind. The sooner humans realize that all life on this planet is important to the well-being

of all its inhabitants the better. All life is precious and we are all connected.  It’s important for the future of our children and grandchildren to start to do something now.

Resources:

Vanishing of the bees

Silence of the Bees

A Taste of Honey

PICTURES OF MY FRONT YARD

GUN VIOLENCE

GUN VIOLENCE

Lately, every time you turn on the news, there is another mass shooting, another murder, another gang shooting, or another police involved murder.  Our world has become very violent.  I blame the NRA for a good portion of this violence.

The NRA was established in the late 1800’s to promote gun safety.  In the 1980’s, however, gun sales started to decline.  Gun corporations started taking over the NRA. Now the NRA’s board of directors is filled with CEO’s of gun corporations.  They turned the direction of the NRA from gun safety to promoting gun ownership. They take their members’ dues and use it for lobbying. They managed to successfully reverse and block any gun restriction laws presented by congress. They pushed open carry laws in states.  It is now easier in most states to buy a gun than it is to vote. Gun sales have skyrocketed. This climate of everyone having a gun is a main cause of the violence.

Police have to accept a major portion of the cause too.  Police departments are not properly screening candidates for aggression or racism problems. They are not properly training their policemen in handling tough situations. They are over arming them with military style equipment, giving them the impression they are fighting a war instead of protecting and serving citizens.  So many police are either angry or scared when they approach suspects. The climate of everyone owning a gun increases the violence. Their fear is increased if they are even slightly racist.  When someone is shot 9-15 times, that indicates either aggression, anger, or fear.

Our society bears a good portion of the violence blame.  We are conditioned since birth to think that certain people or species are of less value than ourselves. If we do not grow out of that thinking, we are more likely to disregard the lives of others.  We are conditioned since birth to eat violence and to think it tastes good. "Hate on your dial" shows like Fox News, 700 club, and talk radio promote hatred, violence, racism, sexism and animal cruelty.   Commanders in war always have their soldiers eat huge portions of meat before battle, because they know it will make their soldiers more aggressive and more violent.

Groups that are trying to promote peace and rights for all are often put on the FBI’s terrorist lists. Animal right groups who have killed zero people are considered terrorists, while violent groups, like anti-abortionists who have killed 100’s of people, are not on the list.

We are all one tribe, one people, one species—Earthlings. No matter what race, sex or species we are, we are all connected.  The loss of one of us touches all of us. The sooner we realize this; the sooner the violence will end.

If you truly want to end the violence, start living a more compassionate life yourself.  Go vegan and know true peace.

For more information:

Please watch Earthlings at Earthlings.com

Please read Our Conscious Planet by Neil Pine and World Peace Diet by Will Tuttle. 

I'M VEGAN AND I HATE PEOPLE

I’M VEGAN AND I HATE PEOPLE

My car is a moving billboard for veganism.  I have many vegan bumper stickers all around the car and “Watch Cowspiracy” signs in my windows. It’s a small thing I do to try to get people to open their eyes.

The other day, the FedEx driver asked me, “Who owns the decorated Subaru?” 

After I told him it was mine, he said “I have heard that eating meat is really bad for global warming.  But the problem is I have tasted ribs and I really love them.”

I told him I haven’t eaten any meat in over thirty years and find it gross—it’s decaying flesh of dead animals. Then, thinking he was concerned about the environment, I listed the facts about the harm animal eating does to our planet—51% of greenhouse gases, water pollution, cause of drought, land degradation, rainforest destruction and world hunger.  He replied “I read it takes 10 gallons of water to make one almond.”

To which I replied “I love almonds, but I don’t eat them because of the water usage. It takes over 5000 gallons of water to make one burger.”

His reply “I don’t eat many hamburgers. I have to go, but I will think about it. I really like ribs though.” Then he left.

This same conversation I have had many times. I pull my hair out trying to understand flesh eaters.

Thirty years ago, when I found out how animals were being treated for food, I stopped buying and eating their flesh. When I saw how egg laying chickens were treated, I stopped buying eggs. When I saw how cows and calves were treated in the dairy industry, I stopped buying any dairy products. When I saw orangutans being killed for palm oil, I stopped buying products with palm oil in them. When I saw how workers in the berry, chocolate and banana industries were being treated, I started to make sure I buy only fair trade. When I saw a picture of a turtle suffocating on a plastic shopping bag, I stopped using them and only use cloth reusable shopping bags.  When I heard about the plastic island in the ocean, I stopped using plastic water bottles and containers.  I only use glass now and they are healthier—less chemicals. They also keep my water colder naturally.  When I heard about the disappearance of the bees and that almonds were a big part of the problem, I stopped eating almonds.

Many flesh eaters are fully aware of the damage the dairy, flesh, and egg industries are doing to our planet.  They are fully aware of the animal abuse in these industries.  Yet, they continue to purchase these products. Why? Because they love bacon, or they love cheese, or they love their ribs. Basically, selfish reasons. How can someone like me, who cares about animals, our planet and future generations have any respect for people who only think of themselves? How can I even look at them without seeing a selfish greedy slob?

It is not hard to do the right thing, you just have to stop and think. Think about the future of your children and grandchildren. Think of others over yourself. Start living a moral, responsible life. Go Vegan.

DEPRESSION

DEPRESSION

Like many vegans, I have struggled with depression my whole life. A German study from 2012 (Michalak) showed vegans have higher rates of depression than flesh eaters. This is not hard to understand. Vegans are compassionate and empathetic. We don’t just see the suffering of others we feel it.  It is a great weight on our shoulders.

We see the pictures of animal suffering and want to do something about it. We try to educate flesh eaters, and what we get in return are attacks or indifference. The indifference flesh eaters have to the suffering of others is probably the hardest to endure. I just do not understand it and have given up trying to.

I do not know what causes my depression or what triggers it. Sometimes nothing triggers it. The round I just had, was triggered by a very simple incident. I stopped to rescue a turtle on the way to work. While carrying him to the other side of the road, I noticed many of his friends had been hit and killed by cars. I was sad that no one cared. Then at lunch time, one of my co-workers started talking about how this one restaurant had great turtle soup. Yuck. The turtle population is declining rapidly and people are still eating turtle soup? That was enough to start feelings of despair which soon lead to depression. It took me over a month to start to get out of it. 

I have learned to live with depression and have accepted it as part of my personality. Over the years I have learned survival techniques to help cope. One is I don’t drink any alcohol as it intensifies the sadness.

Second, is I tell myself over and over—my kids need their mother, my pack needs their leader, my flock (I have rescued ducks and chickens) need their leader. This keeps suicidal thoughts at bay as it takes feelings about me and focuses it on others.  It works for me, but it may not work for everyone.

I have tried taking prescription drugs, and they have made my depression worse. I only take Sam-e now. Support groups and therapists, did not help me, but it may help others. 

Again, what works for me may not work for you. Everyone is different. My point is that we need to accept our depression as part of us, and learn how to cope. Far too many vegans are suicidal and we need them for the movement.

 You may think you are doing nothing for the animal rights movement, but you did a lot just by going vegan. That speaks volumes.

So please, if you need help to cope with the depression, get it. Try different things-see what works. Some days I sleep 12 hours or more just because I feel I can’t go on.  Do what you need to do to cope, but stay here. The animals need you.