Compassion

Although I love the passion, the feelings, the full heartedness of vegans, sometimes the brain goes out of the window when venting.

And I do understand. I have been 'militant' and obnoxiously vegan myself. But I very quickly cottoned on to the fact that bashing up against what you don't want in the world simply makes a lot of noise and annoyance. It doesn't necessarily help the cause - I mean, really, look at wars. What is left behind from those? Devastation and death and empty, hollow, so called victories. If we look at these objectively, we would see that actually, not much was achieved. And each war simply is the start of a new war anyway.

Add 'com' to 'passion' and you get compassion. And that is the key. It's important to feel compassion towards those who do eat meat - they are still asleep. Just as I once was. They are still disconnected, I took many years to connect and see the light. So, compassion towards those who still cannot see.

And once you follow the path of compassion, all its friends come and join you too - gentleness, kindness, care, patience, love...all will join you in your journey into what is possible. And what is possible is that humans turn into humankind.

Be bold, yes, be outspoken, be brave, be sturdy and steadfast. But do it all with compassion not just to the animals, but to humans. They are being cruel to themselves too, but just don't see it. Show them the light and the way, don't hit them and cause them more damage. It only damages further the actual cause.

Just my humble opinion, of course.

Compromising principles

At first, my initial reaction to Jeremy Corbyn's choice of Kerry McCarthy to be the Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs was one of simple 'Good!'

Kerry McCarthy is a vegan of 20 years, and prior to this she was a vegetarian for 10 years. So, of course! Perfect choice for the job. If anyone will change things, surely she can.

But of course, the reality is, is that a politician has to remain 'credible'. Which means Kerry has to now compromise her principles in order to remain 'credible'. So, her whole belief system, her whole backbone is now weak, which in turn weakens the political party itself. Because if she has to say that she wants us to 'consume more British lamb and British apples' simply to be acceptable, the compromise is too much.

The one thing that Corbyn has going for him is principles. In a world where politics and principles are almost always alien to each other, Corbyn was a breath of fresh air. But this with Kerry McCarthy just makes a mockery of principles.

To compromise her principles to this extent - and it's a massive compromise, to have to accept the enslavement, torture, rape and slaughter of billions of animals a year - then what else will the party itself be weak in? What else will they be happy to adjust?

My advice to Corbyn, put Kerry somewhere else where she can maintain the parties backbone OR Kerry, don't drop your standards. Stick to what you honestly and truly believe is right. Because right now, I am disappointed that already the Labour party is becoming just the same as it ever was, which is just the same as any other political party which all seem to stem out of the same stagnant pond right now.

Introduction and a bit of a rant

I am no writer. But I do have a lot to say. Whether I say it well, or whether I can get my points across succinctly and intelligently...well, we will just have to see. No one is forced to read it. I am not being forced to write it.

One of the things that people seem to accuse me of are my 'extreme' views. I suppose they are shocked at some of the things I come out with, the comparisons I make when pointing out the suffering that animals go through at the hands of human'kind'  (Snort!).

I don't hold back.

For instance, I consider factory farming to be equal to any concentration camp that humans have had to endure at the hands of their own people (and by people, I simply mean humans - screw any differences of birth place, religion, culture or colour - we are ALL human) and I am happy to point out that female farm animals get raped - yes, rape most definitely is the word for what we do to make them pregnant. Plus a load of others that I will get round to over time.

I needed things to be CLEAR and OBVIOUS before I could make the connection. I was as conditioned as anyone else. Not knowing what happened to put meat and dairy in my fridge and on my plate. The 'happy' farm animal lie was well and truly believed, not even consciously. I just didn't have a clue.

I gave up meat because something instinctual took over and told me it wasn't good for my health. That was the start of an ongoing journey. Time went by and bit by bit the truth of the matter was slowly revealed to me - animals were being used, abused, tortured, slaughtered in horrific conditions. My eyes began to widen, my mind expanded, until finally, one day I simply could never unknow what I now knew.

I was a vegetarian for 20 years before I became vegan.

For 20 years I continued to believe the lies that a vegan diet was not healthy. That it would make me weak, that I needed at least dairy and eggs to ensure I didn't become ill, that I wasn't deficient in anything, etc etc etc

But the human part of me exploded into action one day and threw off the shackles of slavery to dairy and eggs and I have never looked back. And weirdly, that final realisation simply opened the doors to thousands more doors that I am still journeying through each day, discovering more and more lies and more and more cover-ups. The environment, the pharmaceutical industry, the educational system, the financial systems, the politicians, the list goes on and on.

The whole human world is one gigantic prison that we simply continue to live in mindlessly. Well, no more.

I feel better, having got that all of my chest.