Vegan Extremism

Well, tonight thank god it’s them, instead of you
Bob Geldolf and Midge Ure

Think of the animal on the farm, it doesn’t matter if it’s free-range, organic, or factory, they all end the same way, hung upside down by the hind leg to have their throat slit.

Think of the animal in the lab, with electrodes in his head or shampoo in eyes or oven cleaner on its back or addictive drugs in its veins, or sensory deprivation.

Think of the dog tied up on a chain in the backyard, with no food or water, and cover in snow with concrete to sleep on. Think of the 200,000 bulls to be slaughtered for a religious festival to appease some goddess.

Image via Wikipedia

Think of the sheep to be skinned and turned into shoes. Ugg!

Think of the cow to be raped and have her babies stolen for her to have them locked in a tiny cage then called veal.

Think of the battery hen, in a cage with three others, no room to turn around, breathing in ammonia and decaying chicken all day to produce eggs.

Think of the kittens turned into footballs, bound with gaffer tape and kicked by bored teenagers.

Image via Wikipedia

Think of the fish, turtles, birds eating tar and so covered black sticky oil they drown unable to escape, the turtles eating plastic bags thinking they are jelly fish, think of the baby seal creatures getting stuck in plastic 6-pack rings, and growing larger with that cutting into them.

Think of the insects crushed in the peanut butter machines.

Think of the hare or the fox or the lion or kangaroo hunted down by rich white elitists on horses or drunk hooligans in trucks and then shot dead while their babies starve without them.

Think of the bees, who fly the equivalent of a trip around the world, collecting nectar for their babies, to have that food stolen and turned into a teaspoon of honey, that’s it, that’s all, they are worked to death for a teaspoon of honey.

Image by Farm Sanctuary via Flickr

Think of the pigs whose heart valves are cut out and put in the body of person who lived on a diet of bacon. And think, why is it the animals who are most like us, are the ones that we eat the most often.

Think of the whale with an exploding harpoon shot into their head so some scientists can discover a cure for ‘empty menu syndrome’.

Think of the baby seal unable to run away having its head smashed open with a hakapik in the name of ‘employment’.

Think of the horses made to sit on chairs, the monkeys made to drive cars, the lions made to jump through hoops of fire, elephants made to dance, and decide of that is “entertaining”.

Think of the dog kept in a cage its whole life until one day it has its skin cut off its back while it is still alive, feeling every stroke of the knife.

Think of the animal that will never know sunlight or peace or grass and dirt beneath its feet or clean air to breathe or know its mothers love.

Think of the animal as it takes its last breath in agony and wonders “why me?”

And to fight this is called EXTREMIST?
To be vegan is extremist?
To believe in animal liberation is extremist?

Really?

Feedback welcome.

Capitalist swine flu (via Workers World)

Bill Maher talks about swine flu

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Capitalist swine flu
Published Apr 29, 2009 3:35 PM

EDITORIAL

Every disaster—whether earthquake, flood or epidemic—exposes the fault lines in society.

Such is the case with the possible pandemic—worldwide epidemic—of a virulent flu caused by a newly mutated virus. This human version of swine flu has hit Mexico most severely, with the United States a close second. It has rapidly spread to a dozen other countries.

Politically, the greatest threat is that right-wing demagogues will try to scapegoat Mexicans, especially Mexican immigrants, for the epidemic’s spread. This is a serious political challenge to progressive forces in the U.S. It will require a redoubling of the already necessary effort to build solidarity between immigrant and U.S.-born workers, a solidarity that will be emphasized at May Day events across the country.

The attempt to blame Mexicans is not only despicable, it is way off. Look at these facts.

ABC News reported on April 28 that “Mexico’s first suspected case of the swine flu was detected in the remote farming village of La Gloria” a month ago. Some 800 of the 2,000 people there got sick. “The most likely way that this young boy got the infection was from another person who had been in contact with the pigs,” said Dr. Kathryn Edwards of Vanderbilt Medical Center.

What ABC failed to report was that the pigs were on a nearby industrial farm run by a subsidiary of Smithfield Farms, the anti-union, polluting, factory-farm monopoly based in Virginia and North Carolina. For years, the communities around these farms have been complaining about the unhealthy conditions and stench from thousands of pigs and their waste crowded into small areas.

Historian Mike Davis, a professor at the University of California at Irvine and author of “The Monster at Our Door: The Global Threat of Avian Flu,” wrote in the Britain-based Guardian newspaper of April 27 that the “fecal mire of an industrial pigsty” was the likely environment in which a new flu virus could develop. Smithfield, wrote Davis, will ferociously resist any efforts to change its dangerous but highly profitable production processes.

An experienced writer on these issues, Davis also mentioned three obstacles to an efficient and effective defense against any pandemic: the weakness of the U.S. public health system, the negative attitude of the U.S. and other wealthy countries toward promoting cutting-edge public health facilities in the poorer countries, and Swiss-based Roche Pharmaceutical’s patent on the flu medicine Tamiflu, which prevents poor countries from developing generic anti-viral medicines.

The first lesson of this is that the U.S. has a disgraceful record regarding health care. The trillions spent on war should be used instead to set up a world-class national health system and bypass the overpriced, profit-guzzling health care industry.

Secondly, don’t blame Mexicans for this outbreak. Investigate Smithfield and take action against the polluters.

Next, pressure from imperialist banks over the last 30 years has forced poor countries to cut their public health outlays. This has not only debilitated health care, it has increased the danger of pandemics. Instead of criminalizing immigrant workers and militarizing the border with Mexico, the U.S. should be supporting Mexico’s efforts to improve its health system—especially since U.S. corporations like Smithfield are making huge profits there, by super-exploiting Mexican workers.

And lastly, the monopoly on new drugs held by a few privately owned pharmaceuticals impedes the development of a worldwide supply of generic medicines. For the health of humanity, medical knowledge must be shared and all countries be free to manufacture their own medicines.

This all points to one conclusion: that the capitalist system as a whole is an obstacle to protecting the life and health of humanity when faced with swine flu or any other possible pandemic.

Articles copyright 1995-2010 Workers World. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is preserved.

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Feedback welcome.