Go Vegan

I said I would mostly keep it tech related.

Take a step back and think about where the food you eat comes from. Not the supermarkets, not the factories, not even the corporations - but the source. When you eat meat, you're eating the (normally cooked) flesh of a now killed, once living, feeling thing. When you consume dairy, you're consuming the secretion of an animal that was systematically raped so that we could steal the liquids made for her babies. When you wear leather, you're wearing the skinned carcass of a possible companion. When you eat eggs you're eating the yellow and white gunk of the vessel designed to create life. Does that not sound insane?

I'm not trying to claim moral high ground. I'm not trying to say I'm better than you. I'm not trying to say I'm perfect. I'm not trying to make you feel bad. I'm not saying you're evil. I'm not saying animals' lives are just as or more important or valuable than humans. But it's insane, right? I said I'm not trying to make you feel bad, which is true, but we really should. We systemically kill, rape, steal, and enslave from species that can't stick up for themselves. I just want you to think about it. I've had people in my life that have made me think about things, like being vegan, that I normally wouldn't have considered, so I'm trying to be that for you.

Animals feel. The same as us. The same as your pets. It doesn't matter if they aren't as smart or aren't as important as us, they still feel and think. They feel every lethal injection or electric shock we give them so we can kill them. They feel every cramped condition we force them into. They know they should be allowed to live outside, not locked in a factory farm for their entire short lives. They could be pets. Companions. You wouldn't eat a dog or a cat, I'm guessing. So why a cow, chicken, or pig? Any emotions you project onto your pet you could just as easily and rightfully project onto any animal that is traditionally livestock.

Plants don't feel pain, or think. At least not in the same way or to the same extent. If it was possible I wouldn't eat plants either, as they are still living, but as of now it isn't possible to be a level 5 vegan by surviving off of, like, salt and water alone.

As I touched on before, eating less meat and dairy is the single biggest way to reduce your individual climate impact (Carrington). Even if it alone might not be a big impact compared to the biggest polluters out there, it's not nothing. If you then advocate for other to do it to, that multiplies your impact.

When you think about it, you can't tell me that the concept of consuming animal milk and eggs doesn't sound gross. Try to explain it in a way that doesn't make it sound disgusting and unethical. In order to produce the milk and eggs society consumes on a large scale, animals are bred to be painful shells of their natural counterparts to produce better results. Animals are systemically raped so that we can steal the milk meant for their likely killed babies that were taken away from them.

But you can't be healthy/strong/muscular being vegan! Vegans are malnourished!
Like with any food you eat, you just have to plan it out. If you eat only fruit (like some of the people anti-vegans use as examples for how unhealthy being vegan is), then yeah, you're going to have health problems. Just be smart about it. There are plenty of "fit" and "muscular" vegans out there, just look.

But we've always eaten meat!
We've also always went to war, always had child brides, always had slaves, always raped prisoners of war, and always died of preventable diseases. If you live your life based on how things "always" were, I'm expecting you to throw away whatever device you're reading this on before moving out to the wilderness without water, sewage, or electric.

But I like meat and dairy!
First, that's ok. Be "vegan, except burgers". No one's perfect, including myself. If there's something you think you can't live without, keep consuming it. There's no vegan police. People might tell you you aren't doing it right or something, but screw them.

Second, I will again ask you to step back before you think of what you just thought. Is it ok to do something just because you like it? Is it ok to, let's say, kill other humans because you like it? That's crazy logic.

But vegans are annoying! PETA and That Vegan Teacher are weird!
I can't argue with that one, to be honest. Hopefully I don't come off as the annoying vegan stereotype. I'm not asking you to become like them or be their biggest fans or anything. Just ask yourself, if you were witnessing the single largest systematic genocide and rape of hundreds of species, would you be silent? That's their motivation (presumably, unless they're psyops to make vegans look bad or something).

Again, please don't take this personally. I'm simply trying to get your mental gears turning. I'm not asking you to instantly convert to being vegan, I'm just requesting you think about it.

As always, below are some links to people and resources who have helped me in my journey to not eating meat and dairy. I'm not going to directly put the violent and graphic videos showcasing the horrid treatment of animals inside factory farms here, but I recommend you check out twoleggedplague for such videos. My favorites/the ones that I especially recommend you to check out are in bold.