You don't have to agree with me but...

Just a thought on how veganism, anti-racism, anti-sexism and anti-speciesm tie together.

Vegans hear the phrase "But what about human rights" a lot. A lot more than you'd probably realize. And some of us at first scoff... why should we care about human rights when animals have NO rights? That's just the wrong approach all in all. In fact what I've witnessed most is that a lot of vegans relate human rights to animal rights.

Many vegans are anti-sexist. Many vegans are anti-racist. Many vegans are humanitarians. Many vegans are environmentalists. We don't simply choose to value one cause over another... instead we see how they relate to each other.

If you think of it from a feminist point of view... Everyday thousands upon thousands of females of an entire species are being forcibly impregnated, forced to give up their babies and then milked while they are impregnated again. Thousands and thousands of females of an entire species are forced to live in tiny cages in dark buildings, sitting in their own fecies and unable to act out their most basic of instincts so that they can produce eggs for another species to devour... etc.

It shouldn't be too hard to see the parallel between racism and speciesm. To think that the human species is the superior species and that all other species on the planet are free for us to use and exploit is just plain ridiculous. Just as the thought of one race being inferior to another is. Every person has a right to live their lives the way they are naturally meant to live. Every species should have that right as well.

When you see the full picture of what really goes on on a day to day basis in the animal industry... it's overwhelming. Billions of animals are used every year for food, testing and exploitation. Most of which is needlessly done and is merely an excersise of the human race taking advantage of the fact that they can take advantage of something.

Many of you have companion animals. Can you look into the eyes of your companion animal and honestly believe that it doesn't have wants and needs? Have you ever seen the way a mother cow shows affection to her calf? Most likely not unless you were raised around smaller farms that allow them to remain together.

For my honeymoon my ex and I went to Disneyworld and stayed at the Animal Kingdom resort (not vegan, I know, this was years ago so :-P) and the most memorable thing about it was there was a family of African cattle that stayed outside of our room for most of our vacation. They would spend most of their time grazing but the calf would play and the parents would give affectionate nudges to each other. I took a picture of them once when they were all huddled together licking each others faces. The sense of caring and affection was absolutely beautiful.

Did you know that when a mother dairy cow gives birth to her calf she only has hours to spend with him/her before it's taken away, most likely to become someones veal plate or to be brought up as yet another dairy cow? Meanwhile the mother is impregnated again so that it can continue to produce milk. This is their life. Pregnancy, birth, milking, pregnancy, birth, milking, pregnancy, birth, milking... plate.

I recently saw a video of a calf being taken from it's mother... and I couldn't imagine the sense of loss and confusion the poor creatures go through... and yet that's the cycle that we put them through. So we can satisfy "supply & demand." There is so much money tied into the animal industry, of course they're going to tell you milk is the healthiest drink for you. Nevermind that there are too many calories in milk, not to mention hormones that were given to the cows and the fact that if you drink too much it could result in too much calcium which only increases the risk of osteoporosis.

But anyway... this blog is getting lot and it's getting late and I've forgotten where I was going with it so I will end it there.

Stop supporting the speceist, racist, sexist agenda and go vegan.