Saturday, February 25, 2012

Circle Of Life

A common argument that people seem to have when I tell them about what I eat, and why, is "Eating meat, and death is kind of just the circle of life," or something to that effect. This is true. It is a dog eat dog world. Kill or be killed, eat or be eaten.

It is also worth noting that in this 'circle of life' people would die in harsh winters, without a way to keep warm. People would starve to death or be eaten by a predator should they break a leg. Chances are there would be no blind or deaf among us. Certainly no special ed left. Why? Because that would be the circle of life. A disability such as any mentioned above would render the person unable to care for themselves, and therefore they would die. So why don't they?

Because we have overcome the circle of life. With our highly developed brains capable reason and understanding and caring and compassion and love, we have found ways around the circle of life. In the same way that it should be no trouble to avoid this so-called 'circle of life' that means ruthlessly and unneccessarily murdering other species for various reasons.

So why haven't we? I feel that at this point, we are still a relatively primative species. We have the brains and the capability - but we are still exploring them.

Imagine an eight year old who has inherited billions of dollars. Essentially, an inexhaustible amount of money. He uses it to buy video game systems, toys, fun things for himself. As he grows older, he learns to invest it, use it in wise ways to better his life, and probably those of the people around him. I would say we are somewhere in between these two stages, maybe closer to the second. However, as this lucky person grows even older, he is exposed to people hurting, starving, suffering. He realizes that his money will do so much more good being used to help benefit the entire world, rather than just he.

At this 'stage' in 'life' we realize that the world isn't all about us. This incredible intelligence isn't for making us as comfortable and happy as we can be personally, it's not for shutting us away from the world, removing us from its problems. No. These brains unlock a world that other animals havn't got access to, because, primitive as we are, they are more primitive - not even producing the capacity to love or care or reason (or so it would seem. I suppose I don't know for sure).

For this reason, it must be us that set the example for everything else. We need to be the ones to make our own decisions, based on our own ability to think and reason, not a primal animals urges to eat and procreate. We need to set an example. We, with the highest developed brains and highly developed societies, need to be an example to lesser species - not the other way around. Eating meat because your cat does would be like a 15-year-old girl peeing her pants because her 1-year-old sister does it.

We have the ability to reason and think and love. We have the ability to realize the beauty, the purity, the freedom, and necessity, of living a life of harmlessness and non-injury. All we need to do now is realize that, no matter how much we love the taste of chicken quasadillas, or grilled salmon, what we really want is to make the world a better place - like they taught us when we were young: Leave it better than we found it.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

For The Sake Of Science

Dissections today in science. Made me so mad. How is it so important that a few science students witness a few freaking organ systems, that it's worth these living organisms not getting a chance at life? It's freaking sick.

I started crying. It was sort of embarrassing. People kept hugging me, trying to reassure me, "It's okay." NO! It's not! All these innocent organisms were murdered, deprived of any chance at a life - and people are saying its ok?

And the teacher, kept going on and on about how we had to look at them as lab tools, not pets that we are cutting into - but either way, they should be alive right now. They should be free, rooting in the ground, having more adorable piglets - but no. They were killed just before they would have been born.
And everybody was handling them SO disrespectfully.
The least the teacher could have done was take a moment to stop and thank the animal for its life, apologize that it had to be taken so that we could learn - but no. Instead, he tries to reassure us that it's ok, by reminding us that these pigs were killed FOR science, that otherwise they would just be slaughtered, that lots of pigs are born every year, this one doesn't really matter. What gives us the authority to decide that THIS one didn't deserve to live?

It's so frustrating, though, because if we weren't dissecting them..they would be raised in a barn, living in their own feces, then boiled to death in a disgusting, inhumane slaughterhouse...

Its so wrong. There's so much left to improve. So much to get better; But despite this, once more, I will continue to believe that things will get better in time. I do believe that it may well take a long time. Far longer than my own life. But eventually, as a dominant, intelligent species, we must realize that every life is as valuable as our own, every life is significant and beautiful and one of a kind and unreplaceable.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Which Lives Are Valuable?


So I have this cat. His name is Alfonzo. He has caused me some moral dilemmas and all, including how and what to feed him, how to live with myself while feeding him his natural (I have a theory on this..but it is not what I'm discussing right now) diet of meat, and even whether I really should have him - I shouldn't have taken him away from his mother, siblings, his home..it was rather selfish of me to do it. But it is done, and I have grown to love him like crazy, and he happens to seem rather fond of me and my family as well.

And now he is very likely dying. We started letting him out recently, because our Wisconsin winter has been crazy warm these past few months. He really loves it, and spent a lot of time outside - and all of a sudden he started getting a little more lethargic - day before yesterday, he spent the day sleeping..he does this sometimes, so we weren't really worried. The next day, yesterday, he wouldn't eat or drink - and now today, he's stumbling around, barely able to stand, barely any response to his environment whatsoever.

He ingested rat poison. One day he is perfectly fine, running around, purring, curling up in our laps, playing, getting between my girl and I when we're making out - and three days later, we don't know how much longer he is going to live. It's a real eye opener - really, live every day like its your last, because you never know when that day really will come.

You know, this is all tragic, and horrible, and I hate everything about this... But it's really not just that that bothers me. It's the fact that people get all upset when their beloved pet ingests the stuff, but it doesn't matter to them, doesn't bother them at all... That they are knowingly, willingly, purposefully sentencing so many other innocent little animals to the same fate. And that's okay. What makes all those poor animals any less alive, any less deserving of life than the cat or dog who's owners will go to all lengths to help?

I told daddy that I assumed he would be getting rid of the rat poison (I hadn't known about it previously, but now that I do, it makes me want to fucking cry..) - and he told me that he would get a little contraption that would make it so only small animals can get at it. How is that supposed to make me feel any better? How is that supposed to make anything any better?

How can it be that people don't see, that they are so absorbed in their own world - that what they are doing is wrong. How can it be okay to kill? To take lives, destroy this one of a kind miracle - because they make us uncomfortable? How can we be do self absorbed, so selfish? When I mentioned this to Dad, it's like he couldn't even fathom it being so terrible that we are killing all of these innocent creatures. How can we have possibly become so, so desensitized? How can there be so few people that question the system, so few people out there who really, truly value life? We humans were given these incredible brains. This amazing ability to think, and reason, understand, and empathize. For what? We have all this ability, but we can't get over this disgusting, primal selfishness that seems so ingrained in us that we don't even notice anymore.

And more than that, when someone does, they are the ones that are wrong. Who do I think I am, saying you are a murderer for eating at Taco Bell? I am crazy to believe that it is wrong to kill things, innocent living things, inflict pain. I am naïve to think that I could ever make a difference.

And since I have got to end my post reminding myself and anyone who's read this far to keep a positive outlook, and that harmony, love, true world-wide peace can be achieved:

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."
-Mahatma Ghandi

I have said it before, but.. No matter how wrong, how downright fucked up and hopeless our world is, there are people out there. Good people. Brave people. Individuals, who know that things have to change, that evil can never win. That no matter how small we may seem, good has so much more power simply in words of love and truth, than anything corrupt, violent, sick, wrong, disgusting. So do something about it. Change the world, be that crazy, fanatic, naïve person - and let them call you crazy, fanatic, naïve for not bowing spinelessly to what society tells you is alright.

Fruitarianism & Religion

I'm going to precede this post with the statement that I don't know a lot about a lot of religions and belief systems. However, I do know something about a few - and of you really look, they all seem to point to fruit being the best and purest of foods for humans to eat.

Seeing as I was raised in a Christian community, in a semi-Christian home, and it's really a pretty simple concept, I'll adress this first: People of the Christian and Jewish faith (and maybe even Islam? I don't know) believe in the Garden of Eden. From what I understand of it, in this Garden of Eden, nothing harmed anything else. Essentially everything was perfect. What did they eat in the Garden of Eden? Fruit. They had to, to have been living truly in harmony with everything else, and not harming anything else. Therefore, the Christian and Jewish Bible (and perhaps Muslim Qu'ran) seem to illustrate fruit as being the first, natural, purest, and ideal food for..well, everything.

Buddhism, too, seems to advocate a fruitarian diet, perhaps even more clearly than Christianity.
8. "'Having abandoned the destruction of life, the recluse Gotama abstains from the destruction of life. He has laid aside the rod and the sword, and dwells conscientious, full of kindness, compassionate for the welfare of all living beings.' It is in this way, bhikkhus, that the worldling would speak when speaking in praise of the Tathāgata.
11. "Or he might say: 'Whereas some honorable recluses and brahmins, while living on food offered by the faithful, continuously cause damage to seed and plant life — to plants propagated from roots, stems, joints, buddings, and seeds — the recluse Gotama abstains from damaging seed and plant life."
These are two small excerpts from the 'Digha Nikkaya,' one of many Buddhist religious readings, which I feel speak for themselves. Enough said.

The last religion I want to touch on is Hinduism, seeing as it is the..3rd (I believe?) most popular religion in the world. Admittedly, I don't know a heck of a lot about this religion. All I do know is that Ghandi, who was pretty much an amazing guy and an exemplatory Hindu, aspired to be fruitarian. He did follow a fruitarian diet for a while, but I have heard that he was somewhat addicted to goat cheese or something, so he had some trouble with that. Nevertheless, his intentions were clear. I suppose perhaps his wish to eat this way had nothing to do with his faith..but I doubt it; I assume he made the decision based on principles that he learned growing up Hindu, meaning that such principals are indeed ingrained in the Hindu faith.

One last thing I want to point out, is that it's not just religion that suggests we ought to be fruit eaters. Most of us believe in evolution. Most of us believe that we evolved from apes, or some sort of monkey like species of the like; I don't know specifics. But I do know that generally, unless I am severly mistaken, animals in this family are frugivores. If we evolved from these frugivores, it is not such a huge leap of faith to realize that - hey. Perhaps we are designed to be frugivores as well.

How many different ways to we need to be told, how clear does it need to be for us before we realize that we aren't supposed to be ripping flesh like wild cats, nibbling grains like birds, or munching herbaceous matter like cows? We are frugivores. We are designed and meant to eat fruit. Forget what the doctor, who won't have a job when you are perfectly healthy, told you. Nevermind that biased experiment funded by the meat and dairy industries, and listen to me; a person who has nothing to gain, but the satisfaction of knowing that I helped a fellow human realize a simple, essential truth: We are frugivores. Eat fruit, be healthy, be happy.

Monday, February 13, 2012

My Inspiration For The Day

It's perfect.

Right this moment, I am in Botany and we're learning about how unicellular organisms slowly evolved to become multicellular. It took thousands, probably millions of years of evolution, but they got there. They eventually figured out how to work together as a perfect maschine, so that they would all be better off as a whole.

And it may take another million years for us, but the pattern suggests that we, too, can and will get there eventually.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Reasons

Recently I've been wishing my friends and family could experience this reality, being fruitarian.. And I've been thinking about the reasons I became fruitarian.. So I thought I'd eternalize them here.
  • I never get sick.
  • Don't have to worry about getting fat from the food I am eating
  • Its freely given. No negative karma. It doesn't subconsciously weigh down on my conscience
  • It's easy - no complicated recipes. (:
  • It's delicious.
  • My parents never make me eat things that I don't want to anymore, just because 'it's what we're having tonight'
  • Don't have to worry about food addiction or anything
  • Don't have to worry about what's in it.
  • Feel light and energized after eating, rather than weighed down and tired.
  • I just couldn't live with myself, knowing I was killing things to nourish myself..
  • It makes me feel more empathetic, I think - more in tune with other living things around me.
  • It's controversial. It's fun to discuss with people, because it's something a lot have barely heard of or considered before.
  • Fruits are naturally detoxifying - don't have to worry about having loads toxins and stuff in my body
  • I..feel..just amazing. No negative adrenaline and fear hormones from meat, no heavy vegetables like carrots or tubers weighing me down.. I can't describe it to someone who's never tried it.
  • No guilt after eating
  • It is our ideal diet. We are all genetically frugivores. Therefore, we are at our best on fruit.
I'm sure there is more, but these are the things that come to mind right now. The biggest reason, is of course the ethical reason, that fruit is freely given, I don't have to kill to eat. The rest are really just extra perks... But there are so many of them, there's no end to reasons to eat fruit.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

The Starfish Story

Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.

One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up.

As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean.

He came closer still and called out "Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?"

The young man paused, looked up, and replied "Throwing starfish into the ocean."

"I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?" asked the somewhat startled wise man.

To this, the young man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die."

Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, "But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!"

At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, "It made a difference for that one."

-Lorren Eisley


The most beautiful short story/poem I have ever read. I don't want to post other peoples work in my blog, but I don't think I could ever say anything, better than this.

Optimism;

My family all eats meat. And it bothers me, so much. I try so hard to comment very little..but they still complain that I bitch about it too much. It hurts. I don't mean to be one of those people who tries to force their opinions on everybody around them - but at the same time, it's not just about me. It's not about me at all. Its the animals that were sacrificed. It's the animals that they are ingesting, without even considering the fact that once upon a time, that was a living, breathing, feeling organism. How can it be ok? How can they live, not giving it a second thought, not even considering that perhaps it's wrong, the fact that we as a people murder millions of animals a day, for the express reason that we like the way they taste? How can so few people care? How can we be so completely desensitized, to the point that, when someone does see a something wrong with it - they are the crazy ones, the fanatics, annoying for fighting against what society just accepts so easily?

It's sick. It is so wrong, that I am considered an idealist, as if it is a bad thing. So horrible that people who believe that everything deserves the right to life are such a minority. And so sad to know that people feel that I am naïve for believing that one day, it will get better. That one day, the world will change. That one day, we will no longer feel the need to murder for food, for pleasure, enjoyment. We won't destroy plants for food, much less animals.

Sometimes, not going to lie - it is so hard for me to remain optimistic, believe that things are going to change for the better one day. I talk to people about the all things I believe in, and it gets so hard to remember all the reasons I hope for the future.

And to be completely truthful - sure; maybe I am crazy. Maybe I'm wrong, and a hundred thousand years from now, we won't have gotten any better. Maybe we will have destroyed ourselves in nuclear war because we couldn't give up the crutch of hatred. But then, I must remind myself - that I need to believe things are going improve, one da everything is going to be beautiful, pure, wholesome. No matter what the reality is, it is so much healthier to believe that somehow, what you're doing is benefiting the world. A world that is changing. A world deserving of the hope we have for it.

So though I may have spent a chunk of my morning crying for people, for all the animals being murdered daily for us monsters to devour... I need to remember that every time I refuse to eat meat, I am saving a life, and I am supporting a movement that I believe in with everything I am. I need to look to the future, and believe that we will get there one day. Because one day, a million years from now or one, we will win. Not me, not you, not one group of people, not even one species, but the whole world. We will finally be able to live in peace and harmony, with everything. There will be no killing, no hatred, and no jealousy, no judgment.

Against any and all odds, I will go on believing.