Pondering Activism

Clearly this post isn't going to a heavy hitter.

I was just sitting here, reading through my plethora of emails about petitions for causes, when I started wondering how exactly I ended up being an activist, and why everyone else doesn't want to be one too.

I think that everyone could find at least one cause they would relate to on a deep level, and I think there's a lot out there to find interesting and to enrich life.

Decidedly, I want to map out the pros and cons of activism.

Cons:

• It takes up time. You can't be an activist through osmosis. You have to research and communicate and clarify, and you have to exert your opinion and personality.
• It can be dangerous. If people don't like your opinion or it endangers their place in the power hierarchy, you can make some enemies. Check out Green is the New Red for details on that.
• People may find you extreme: because activism is sometimes painted as being an extreme thing. Hell, caring and being knowledgeable about an issue and frequently discussing it can get you branded as extreme, without even getting involved. It's a matter of perception.

Pros:

• It makes you feel good. Caring about something and doing something about that emotion is one of the most rewarding experiences ever.
• You're making the world a better place: how is the world going to get better if we don't take action to improve it?
• You're helping other persons (including other species) who may be suffering: not everyone is allotted the power to stand up for themselves. I am fortunate in that it's unlikely anyone will harm me for running my mouth. It's fortunate I can run my mouth at all.
• You make connections, both business and personal, which is great, because connections are great and are a basic for happiness.
• You feel like you're a part of something greater than yourself: you're quite literally not alone. There is a community of people who care.

So, today, I'm advocating for activism. Find something you care about and share it with the world, because how else can we really achieve freedom and happiness if we exist in a system where we have no power?

A Culture of Pessimism Conformity

I can already tell you that I am not about to blog what you think I am going to blog about. I am not about to discuss the traditional ideas of conforming to mainstream culture to be accepted, nor am I about to talk about the more complex but equally as discussed topics of culture assimilation, globalization, and westernization.

What I am about to talk about is a disturbing conclusion I have come to about current generations. Current generations are generations of pessimism conformity.

Having recently entered the internet culture of Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, etc., I have noticed that a lot of posts and are pessimistic and accepting of procrastination, sluggishness and low self-esteem.

I am not about to tell you to “cheer up.”

However, I do think constantly spreading these messages of unhappiness, failure and procrastination, things I also experience daily and have been overwhelmed with in the past, are not helping your fellow internet users. It’s perpetuating the cycle of negativity.

The cycle of negativity is something I did not realize existed until I was pulled out of it myself. I find internet culture does not help stay out of the cycle of negativity if you are not constantly aware of the potential effects of what you’re consuming may have on you.

I am not promoting a lockdown of expression. As a journalist, I support free speech in all things. However, I do think we need to take a hard look at the messages we’re sending into circulation and how they affect the general morale of the internet culture and community.

Yes. I do think the internet has developed to the point where it has an overall mass consciousness involving morale. That morale must be cared for and used to help the world, not to spread negativity and acceptance of the constant negativity.

Do not be lulled into complacency. Do not give up hope. Join my campaign to increase positivity on the internet in any way you can.

Have any questions? Comments? Concerns? There’s a comment box. And if you’re actually reading this, you probably have my phone number, so just call me.

Life is like a commercial break.

Reality is tough, really tough. One moment you think you have a grasp on everything that’s going on around you, you believe that you understand how everything works and where everything is going, and the next minute you're flat on the ground with a roaring headache trying to figure out what just happened.

I’ve always loved shows and movies about heroes. I immerse myself in them, letting their bravery and steeliness and perfectly scripted humor build me back up and inspire me to move forward in whatever challenge I'm facing at the moment.

But sometimes these shows depress me. They depress me in those quiet moments when I’m sitting alone, completing some mundane necessity, and waiting for the next moment when I can move forward with some sort of action.

I think about how as much as I like to imagine it in the heightened moments I sometimes experience; life is nothing like a television or movie program.

I’m not constantly surrounded by the constant clamor of a witty cacophony, nor am I some brooding dark horse waiting for the chance to step into the light, nor do I have some great, life changing destiny.

I’m just alive. And that’s okay, even if most of life is more like the commercial break.

After all, the commercial break is what funds the show! Without the in-between, behind the scenes moments, the exciting stuff couldn't even happen. That’s when moments are made; during the hard work and monotony that formulates them.

Bean out.

Nature's Retribution: How Killing Animals Could Kill You.

So I just read a TED blog post about nutrition and its link to diabetes (http://blog.ted.com/2013/06/25/why-our-understanding-of-obesity-and-diabetes-may-be-wrong-a-qa-with-surgeon-peter-attia/) and posted a comment linking to my blog because although there was a faint mention of nutrition being a significant factor in the reduction of obesity and type 2 diabetes, there was no information as to where to research further nor exactly what a change in your diet and therefore nutrition could do for you.

The following information in this post I give full credit to The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted: The China Study: Startling Implications for Diet, Wright Loss and Long-Term Health (I must have a thing for wordy titles or something) by T. Colin Campbell, PhD and Thomas M. Campbell II, MD. Forward by John Robbins, Author, Diet for a New America. I will cite page numbers, which hopefully will not vary from the hard copy version of this book because I have one of those nifty, virtual book devices.  

Keep in mind; I am taking these quotes out of the full context of the book to provide to you tidbits of information that may promote your interest in the concept of vegan nutrition. If you’re interested, get the book. Most libraries and bookstores carry it. My blog serves to promote discussion and interest in research; it is not a source of irrefutable factual information.

1.      “We spend far more, per capita, on health care than any other society in the world, and yet two thirds of Americans are overweight, and over 15 million Americans have diabetes, a number that has been rising rapidly” (pg.3).

Holy crap. That is terrifying information all on its own. Think about it, if we’re making such great leaps and bounds in medical science, why are we all so ill? How many people do you know with high cholesterol? High risk of heart disease? Cancer? Osteoporosis? Diabetes? How many of these people are on medications? How many of these medications are actually reversing the effects of the disease and not just alleviating the symptoms. If evidence was presented that a whole foods, plant based diet could reverse your disease, improve the quality of your life, or lengthen the life of your loved ones, would you make the switch?

2.      “What made this project especially remarkable is that, among the many associations that are relevant to diet and disease, so many pointed to the same finding: people who ate the most animal-based food got the most chronic disease. Even relatively small intakes of animal-based food were associated with adverse effects. People who ate the most plant-based foods were the healthiest and tended to avoid chronic disease” (pg.6).

‘Nuff said folks. READ THE BOOK.

3.      “We initiated more studies using several different nutrients, including fish protein, dietary fats and the antioxidants known as carotenoids. A couple of excellent graduate students of mine, Tom O’Connor and Youping He, measured the ability of these nutrients to affect liver and pancreatic cancer. The results of these, and many other studies, showed nutrition to be far more important in controlling cancer promotion than the dose of the initiating carcinogen” (pg.66).  

The argument presented in The China Study is that although the carcinogen is the initiator of cancer within the body, it’s the nutritional environment within the body that promotes the development of cancer. Evidence is presented that a plant based, whole foods diet can prevent the development and spread of cancerous cells. Dude. It’s worth a try, right?

       4.      “It is extremely puzzling that these new government-sponsored 2002 FNB recommendations now say that we should be able to consume protein up to the extraordinary level of 35% as a means of minimizing chronic diseases like cancer and heart disease. This is an unbelievable travesty, considering the scientific evidence. The evidence presented in this book shows that increasing dietary protein within the range of about 10-20 % is associated with a broad array of health problems, especially when most of the protein is from animal sources” (pg. 308).

Some of the most common questions I face as a vegan are “what about protein?” or “how are you healthy?” or “don’t you need to eat animal products to survive due to the evolution of humans to eat animal products?”

I get plenty of protein. I am healthy because I attempt to vary my diet. No, you don’t need animal products to survive and be healthy. There’s plenty of evidence out in the world that shows that vegans are healthy, often healthier than omnivores, as long as we’re not junk-food vegans (which, honestly, I started out as before learning how to sauté vegetables and grill eggplant burgers. I ate two packs of Oreos in one month. That’s gross.)

Seriously, read this book. What I have provided are only the summary passages after a crap-ton of evidence on why a whole foods, plant based diet is the best way to go. There’s also plenty of evidence as to why we all think large amounts of protein are so important, how the only vitamin D you need is 15 minutes in the sun every three days (although I highly recommend getting outside a LOT more that than), and how big corporations are in cahoots with the government regarding nutrition education and guidelines for purely fiscal reasons, and not for the much more important reason of protecting the health of the American citizens.

Once again, read the book if you want the facts. Do not make nutritional decisions based off of this one blog post. I am not a professional. I am just a concerned college student.

Bean out.

Citation:

1.      Campbell, Thomas Colin, and Thomas M. Campbell. The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health. Dallas, TX: Benbella, 2006. Print.

Judgement face.

So I finished reading Vegan Freak: Being Vegan in a Non-Vegan World Version 2.0: Revised, Expanded & Updated by Jenna and Bob Torres just now. I never did find that “Vegan Freak” forum that people were talking about. However, I have concluded that these authors were definitely spreading the right message about how to communicate veganism to others in their book. Negatively impassioned endorsement of one’s beliefs is not recommended. It is stated to be counterproductive. I’d like to expound on that.

San read my last post on the blog and told me that she was surprised I had never heard of the online “vegan culture” that involved ethical vegans tagging pictures of food on Tumblr with words such as “murder” or “corpse” or “dead flesh.” While I would not necessarily disagree with these tags or wish to euphemize the issue of animal cruelty, making harsh public judgments on others using only trigger words and using these trigger words within posts not related to animal rights seems wrong to me and counterproductive.

We all have different beliefs. We all think that we’re right. Telling someone they are wrong without circumstantial and factual evidence and a clear understanding of that person’s world view will not change their mind. In fact, it may make them want to rebel against your argument further. I’ll update this later with a citation containing text evidence from a psychological study relevant research (assuming Blondie can find the sheet for me). Later the next day...

Blondie found it. The article is titled:

How facts backfire

Researchers discover a surprising threat to democracy: our brains Here's the link. Check it out: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2010/07/11/how_facts_backfire/

That copied and pasted a lot bigger than I expected...

Anyway, Vegan Freak is a good book to read and it provides some great advice to vegan peeps. I’m still working on finding a time to post the excerpts from The China Study along with my own summary and commentary. Presently, I’m trying to read all of my library books before I return them on Wednesday.

Bean out.

Oxymoronic.

I was going to post another "in the rain" story, but this takes precedence.

So, I am a vegan. And now I am a confused vegan. I am a confused and alone vegan who hits my six month mark in about four days. I started reading this book about Veganism called Vegan Freak: Being Vegan in a Non-Vegan World Version 2.0: Revised, Expanded & Updated (dude that is a long title) by Jenna and Bob Torres. In the book, they mention a vegan freak forum. I guess the site got shut down because I can't find it. I'm also astonished because it appears that this site is (or was?) some sort of hardcore, clandestine community by invite only that had a lot of issues with judgmental members.

This really makes me sad.

We're not going to be able to help one another and convince others of our mission and morals if we're too busy making others who are trying it out feel bad about themselves. I think criticism at that level only makes people want to give up more because who wants to be part of an isolationist community that doesn't wish to accept others who are not quite at the same level of hardcoreness as they are.

Obviously, I am not blaming the forum or jumping to any conclusions (because I have no flipping idea where the forum is), and I am enjoying the book very much, but I do think it needs to be put out there that not everyone can just change what they were raised doing and eating at the drop of a hat. I recommend reading the book The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg. It's enlightening, and it will make anyone think twice before judging another who has trouble breaking a habit. I used to judge people about stuff like that too, so now I really understand both sides of being a habit-breaker and being someone judgmental of people who cannot break habits.

 Anyway, back to the forum. Does anyone know where this thing went? Also, it'd be interesting to hear both sides as to whether an "invite only" social-issues forum would be helpful because it keeps out spammers, or harmful because it can leave out people who want to be part of the community but are having trouble succeeding or finding someone who can invite them in.

Veganism is hard, even if you understand all the humanitarian and nutritional reasons to quit. Animal products are DEEPLY ingrained in our culture, but it is not as difficult to quit as one would think.

 My next entry will probably expand upon veganism. I've pulled a lot of passages from The China Study by T. Colin Campbell PhD and Thomas M. Campbell II, MD backing up the nutritional argument for veganism. I'll just turn it into a series because there are a LOT of medical reasons to drop animal products. I am an ethical vegan too. Actually, I am an ethical vegan first and foremost. But I'll get into that later. I don't want to alienate anyone from the blog, and I'll post disclaimers up before sharing any particularly disturbing ethical reasons to be vegan.

 Hoping to hear feedback. Bean me up, Scottie.

Bean out.