Sometimes I presume that "everybody" has....

read or seen or heard or thought something way too often. I apologize. Several years ago I ran across this video/song by Madison Park called Opus One. It was and still is one of the most powerful combinations of song and imagery I've ever encountered. I would caution you that it is heart-wrenching and overwhelming (at least it is for me).



Here is the link to the video over on youtube if it doesn't work well in the blog post.

The imagery and song were very important for me early in my vegan evolution...I would wish that everyone see and hear it, most especially everyone who is not living as an ethical vegan.

A modest proposal...

(with apologies to Jonathan Swift)...it is worth consideration that all who embrace ethical veganism arrange their affairs that...upon their life's end all their resources be bequeathed to a vegan animal rescue facility/operation and/or vegan advocacy group(s).

A proposal that is a bit less modest: Why not configure society such that upon life's end all acquired resources revert to agencies/organizations created to equitably rebalance the distribution of wealth or whatever (this would include all living beings, not just human ones). That way greedy goobers could have at it but the deck would be reshuffled when they hit the floor/door. No more family dynasties, aristocracies, etc. I suspicion it would be fairly easy then to fund important things like animal protection, education, health-care, research, environmental initiatives and on and on. (of course if someone had beings unable to care for themselves that were dependent upon her/him...their needs would be addressed first).

Just some thoughts.

Some interesting passages I ran across...

in a book titled: "The Ptarmigan's Dilemma" by John Theberge and Mary Theberge.

The biosphere is under assault. Climate change is happening faster than species can adapt. Ecosystems are under threat. Tropical forests are falling at the rate of a football field per minute. Amphibians worldwide are going extinct. Passerine birds are declining. The sixth great global extinction is well underway, with an alarming number of species slipping into the extinction vortex. Causing , driving, or exacerbating all these things is a current human population s8ize and growth rate beyond any imaginable global, sustainable carrying capacity. (p. 352-353)

Later on the same page they write there is hope but only if human animals align themselves with behaviors to support a sustainable Earth:

The working end of such an alignment would be a rejection of the belief that growth is good, increased consumption is necessary, resources are unlimited, everything natural is stock-and-commodity just there for the taking, and human dominance over nature is a divine right. (p.353)

The number of humans is astonishing, for instance there are now about 1.3 billion people in China...the human population of the whole planet in 1900 was only about 1.6 billion. (source)

The population of the state of California is about 38 million. The population of the city of Tokyo metropolitan area is about 36 million. (source, source). Amazing (horribly so).

Just in my lifetime, the number of human animals on the planet has more than tripled.

We are a species of primates out of control (no disrespect to the other primate species).

Help.

Playing in the snow...

is an activity that various animals enjoy...including crows. Here's a crow in Russia snowboarding by using what is apparently the lid of a jar. Enjoy.



Hmmm...maybe the video will expand perceptions of the other animals (here's hoping so).

I'm doing lots of reading and notions are gestating/percolating...hopefully some more writing to come soon.