Speciesism - Our Prejudice Against Other Animals

Speciesism The Movie is going to be no doubt, a conversation starter and eye-opener in the non-vegan world.  I personally can't wait for it to be released at an event near me. In the meantime you can watch and share seven installments as follows:

1 of 7
2 of 7
3 of 7
4 of 7

5 of 7
6 of 7
And it concludes with 7 of 7 

This issue is the ultimate test of our day. It's the pivotal last chance we have to live in a way that is consistent with our intent to civilize ourselves. Recognizing our prejudice against others is a first bold move to progressing as a culture.  We must acknowledge the irrefutable evidence that harming others can never be justified. There are *no grounds* to deny nonhumans the benefit of equal fairness and equal kindness. Nothing justifies our use of anyone.

Please, if you are serious about following the values that you cannot argue against - Live as an ethical vegan. 

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Going Five Animals More by Philip Wollen

This is an extract from Philip Wollen's recent conversation with World Peace Diet author Will Tuttle as part of the Veganpalooza celebration.

Going Five Animals More

Many years ago, as I traveled around the world I noticed the vast number of animal species that other people ate. 

And it dawned on me that here were literally thousands of animals I didn't eat. . . . . . dogs or cats, bears or bats, tigers or turtles, horses or hamsters, rosellas or rats.

Nor did I drink the milk of goats, yaks or donkeys, giraffes, or cats.

I decided to go only five animals more. . . . I simply added cows, sheep, pigs, chickens and fish to the list.

It was a breeze.

I didn't crave lamb any more than I craved lion; I didn't miss beef any more than I missed bandicoot. I didn't miss chicken any more than I missed chimpanzee. I didn't miss pork any more than I missed porcupine.

I replaced dead animals with an astounding variety of colorful, delicious and healthy plant foods.

The consequences for me were astonishing. I immediately felt better. It was instantaneous.

Today, I sleep peacefully and deeply. I now have boundless energy, more than people half my age.

My memory has improved rapidly. I remember what an unexamined life I had lived.

And I care more deeply:
For my family, my friends, my colleagues and associates.
For strangers I have never met.
For causes I have only heard about. 

For ideas. For the arts – music, poetry, theatre, literature, painting, the ballet. 

Everything of beauty seems to come alive. More vividly. More subtly. More completely.

I didn't know what I had been missing.

My greatest regret in life was that I did not do this earlier. 

What madness could infect us so profoundly that we justify the murder of weaker innocent living beings? 

Adding only five animals to an already huge list was the easiest (and wisest) thing I ever did.

Try it. You won't regret it. Not for a second.

The animals will thank you for it. 

The planet will thank you for it.

And the farmers, the taxpayers and your family will thank you too.

Good things will come to you. You can’t miss. You can’t fail.

You will have a rich life. It is inevitable.

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Valentine's Day - A Time To Value What Is Precious...

What is Precious?
I thought I was going to post next about butterflies; About how "Purpose" and "Performance" in creatures is (arrogantly) determined (by man)... But I found that before these words and meanings were interpreted, I'd have to first define what Preciousness means to me.  And what better time to do so than on Valentine's Day?

For me, the concepts behind "Valentine" and "Value" are interchangable.  They both mean "Love".  In the profound sense of Love... What a thing or an idea is truly "worth."  What treasure is so great that only each of us knows completely how deep and endless it really is?  This Love is indefinable... Transcendent. Immesurable.  Sacred and eternally cherished. 


I believe this most precious gift is our lives and the love each of us has of it. And this love is universally felt.  It is a boundless and constant truth that we all hold our own lives - Precious. It's in the make-up of all who have been born.  It is in the biolgical fabric of our personhood.  This infinite love (of our own lives) is in our beingness.  We all have a desire for our next breath... And for our next heart beat.  We all value that we are!

And this "value" that is experienced by each of us, is uniquely special, and completely one's own treasure.  One Precious Life is all and everything that one has.  One life is all each of us gets.

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This life and our right to it, is embedded in our genes and DNA - It is the total "good" of everything. And valued with such high worth, it is the core and root and essence of all that matters to us... And it matters to us all equally.

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The heart is the physical representation of that highest value that we all equally possess.   And we each are gifted with only one life... And only one heart.

It doesn't matter if it's a horse's heart, a goat's heart, a dog's heart, a human's heart, a pig's heart or a cow's heart.   Each heart has a right to beat for it's own sake.

So on this day of Value, I acknowledge that I share with all others, this one critically important interest: To have my heart... My highest Value; My life - continue.  I acknowledge that this Love of Life is of equal worth to all of us.  And I say, that no one's wants should ever override that Precious interest.  I say that no one has the right to make claim on an Other's only absolute Precious possession.  All who knowingly violate this truth, desecrate all that good and just and precious.  For all I am worth, I denounce their authority to do so.


It matters not to me, that all beings cannot understand (or articulate) these complex virtues and values. That's not important to me!  I know in every advantage of my reasoning, that we all share them.  And for me and my (one) BIG heart... That's enough!


As for others who have not yet done so, on this day of Love, I hope you will take seriously, to heart, what is and who is truly Precious... Compassion is a way to live that idea seriously.
Happy Value-time's Day!

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