There has been a lot of discussion in the press about the consequences of Sandy in the country and the issue of Global Climate Change. Interestingly, the mainstream conservative media finally dares to use the words “Global Warming”. I wondered all these crazy weather months when someone would start waking up. But is it a wake-up call?
I have read several articles in the mainstream press on the cause and effects of global warming. Not once did I see mention of what is called the proverbial “elephant in the room” of climate change: our consumption of meat, dairy, and eggs. We now know from both the United Nations “Livestock’s Long Shadow” report and the WorldWatch Institute’s own report that the main cause of climate change is the type of food we eat. According to the UN report, it contributes a (conservative) 19% of greenhouse gas emissions, but the WorldWatch institute reaches 51% of greenhouse gas emissions in its own reports, as they include more externalities. that the UN report omitted. To say that this is an uncomfortable truth for the mainstream media and even the environmental movement is an understatement. What does the environmental movement tell people? The usual: change your light bulbs, buy a hybrid car and recycle. It doesn’t tell people what they really need to change: their fundamental relationship with food.
This is Dr. Jill Stein, presidential candidate for the Green Party, bringing fruits and vegetables to the people who have been blocking the Keystone pipeline for over a month and how they arrested her. I felt a ray of hope: a candidate willing to be arrested who brings Fruits and Vegetables, not animal meat to help them. What a symbol!
Meanwhile, with only a few days to go until the election, we are stuck with two false options. On the one hand, a president who pretends to be doing something for the environment and his presence to help with the rescue efforts after Sandy certainly helps him look good, as he is apparently pro-FEMA. But let’s not forget that you let TransCanada start running its pipeline across the country, which is in favor of so-called “clean coal” and has never addressed the real issue of our climate dilemma: our eating habits and the big agribusinesses and the USDA. , which determine our food supply. The USDA, after all, believes that ketchup is considered a vegetable (sic!). On the right, we have … well, Mitt Romney. Do I even have to go there? These two candidates are one and the same, two sides of the same coin that simply pretend to be opposite. But they are paid for by the same people, the ones in the shadows, who really run the show: the big corporations (which includes, the Military Industrial Complex, the Big Pharma industry, Big Oil, and of course Big Agribusiness). So who are they going to work for? Who are they paid by? As Michael Moore would say, “Who is your dad?” It’s not us, the 99%, it’s not the planet and it’s certainly not the biggest victim of all of this: non-human animals.
What are the solutions? (If any). Grassroots movements have always changed politics from the bottom up, not from the bottom down. The women’s movement made it possible for women to vote, the anti-slavery movement (which was NOT in favor of “better conditions for slaves,” aka animal welfare) ultimately won out by being uncompromising. The environmental movement should do the same as the animal rights movement. All of this is part of the same. These are continuous struggles. The fact that women have more equality does not mean that they are not attacked by extremists (mostly old white men) who want to tell them how to “manage” their bodies (they probably think that a woman’s body is like running a business). Just because slavery is illegal does not mean that it has disappeared. In fact, there is more slavery in the world now than even before (sweatshops, anyone?). Just because groups like the Humane Society of the United States “win” so-called welfare victories (which they are not) does not mean that animals are better off. (It is far from the case, as they are getting into bed with the animal abusers. It would be like the Jews working with the Nazis to improve food and conditions). And because Obama has invested money in green programs like solar and wind power. It is in your interest to make him environmental president, far from it.
We need to reclaim what we belong to as well. To paraphrase a famous Indian chief: the Earth does not belong to us, we belong to it. Animals do not belong to us, they belong to themselves. And the right to freedom and the pursuit of happiness does not belong to the super greedy rich, it belongs to all of us.
As long as we ‘others’ the animals and the Earth (to quote the brilliant Colleen Patrick-Goudreau), and thus separate their destiny from ours, we cannot have peace and harmony on this planet. As long as we cultivate the selfish attitude of the “other” as if it were our owner, we will not be free. Freedom, peace, and harmony come only with detachment (detachment is not selflessness), respect, and love, as well as the understanding that everything is here for its own reasons.
So in the next few days, if you’re voting, don’t vote for the lesser of two evils, vote with your conscience. But remember, this is a drop in the bucket of what can be done. Whoever is elected can only make changes if there is a mass movement to demand these changes. Our part as vegans is to help people connect the dots between environmental problems and our exploitation of animals. The two are intrinsically linked. Get out there, spread the vegan message of inclusion. The more of us, the greater the changes or God helps us all.