When an archer is shooting for fun He has all his skill. If he shoots for a brass buckle He is already nervous. If he shoots for a prize of gold He goes blind Or sees two targets – He is out of his mind.
His skill has not changed, But the prize divides him. He cares He thinks more of winning Than of shooting – And the need to win Drains him of power.
Zhuang Zhou (369 BC - 286 BC)
AND THE NEED TO WIN DRAINS HIM OF POWER
Can someone go back in time and read this to me before the sixth grade spelling bee? Thank.
thats the solution. Think of everything as fun. A lark. Something of no great importance.
Because this is apparently stick up for wolves day.
Wolf reintroduction in Yellowstone has changed the ecosystem *significantly*.
One remarkable thing that was not predicted that demonstrates how interlinked these things are:
Wolf eat elk.
Elk eat fewer willows.
Willows become healthier.
Number of beavers increase.
Number of songbirds increase.
Overall health of streams increases.
Number of fish increases.
Water table stabilizes.
This is called a “trophic cascade” and we normally see them as bad things. But a positive trophic cascade is an amazing thing, and apparently nobody predicted this one.
What they didn’t predict was that wolf predation would keep elk on the move so they wouldn’t overgraze a specific area.
When the elk overgrazed the willows, they removed the best source of food for beavers during the winter.
Once that stopped happening, the beaver population rebounded and it turns out beavers are pretty good for the entire ecosystem.
Kim Possible was like I’m an extremely adept martial arts fighter and world hero and this is my sidekick Ron who comes along because he’s my best friend and I like him
I think a surprising amount of writers don’t realize that tragedies are supposed to be cathartic. They’re intended to result in a purging of emotion, a luxurious cry; the sorrow caused by a great tragedy is akin to fear caused by a good horror movie – it’s a “safe” sorrow, one that is actually satisfying to the audience. It can still be beautiful! It’s isn’t supposed to just be salting the earth so nothing can grow.
But that’s how you get grimdark: writers who don’t realize that they’re supposed to be doing something with the audience instead of to the audience.
I think one good reason to not overly focus on some imagined inherent moral goodness of people who have been horribly oppressed throughout history, and it’s better to focus on the fact that the violent oppression of any people is inherently horrifying and worth fighting against, is that it leaves you incapable of properly assessing why, for example, the Spanish colonization of Mesoamerica was a crime against humanity. For all intents and purposes the Aztec state was itself a major regional oppressor, and its practice of raiding other neighboring peoples to obtain victims for human sacrifice earned it the hatred of practically every other indigenous group in the region, to the point that when the Spanish laid siege to Tenochtitlan the vast majority of its army consisted of indigenous people who they easily recruited due to their collective grievances against the Aztec Empire. None of this changes the fact that what the Spanish went on to do, the systematic annihilation and subjugation of every culture in the region, Aztec civilization included, is among some of the worst crimes against humanity in history. The Aztecs don’t need to be good or moral or anything like that for us to understand that what was done to the people of Mesoamerica by Spain was utterly monstrous and has had horrible consequences for the indigenous people of Mexico up to this day.
This is why a huge chunk of South African white supremacist propaganda is based around proving that “the blacks were equally as bad” during the colonial period. Yes, the Zulu kingdom was absolutely an oppressive state based around assimilating nearby clans and tribes. Yes there was warfare between ethnic groups and tribes which ended in mass blood shed. No, this doesn’t excuse apartheid or the genocide of numerous groups in the country. Colonized peoples don’t need to be perfect to be victims of horrendous crimes againsf humanity which still effects people to this day.
“…
she returned to eating meat after learning that the soybean and corn
monocultures that accounted for much of her vegan diet were wreaking
havoc on the environment.“
“When we first opened, people were surprised at the prices,” he said.
“But our costs are much higher than what a giant company pays. We are
paying to have control over the quality of our animals, what they are
being fed, how they are being treated, transported, slaughtered and cut
up. Once people understood that, the business took off.”
“As soon as I started eating meat, my health improved,” she said. “My
mental acuity stepped up, I lost weight, my acne cleared up, my hair got
better. I felt like a fog lifted.”
“You can’t be healthy unless the animals you eat are healthy,”
“Rather than being passive and just not supporting an industry I don’t
like, I’m taking an active approach by taking thousands of dollars out
of it, “ he said. “When people come to me, they aren’t going to Costco
for meat.”
“Referring to themselves as ethical butchers, they have opened shops that offer meat from animals bred on grassland and pasture, with animal well-being, environmental conservation and less wasteful whole-animal butchery as their primary goals.”
Instead of trying to poise this as “haha vegans look even y’all can’t do it” express it for what it truly is.
“It’s a sharp contrast to the industrial-scale factory farming that produces most of the nation’s meat, and that has come under investigation and criticism for its waste, overuse of antibiotics, and inhumane, hazardous conditions for the animals. The outcry has been so strong that some meat producers say they are changing their practices. But these newer butchers contend that the industry is proceeding too slowly, with a lack of transparency that doesn’t inspire trust.”
I think it’s also worth noting that this highlights the way that it’s not meat-eaters or vegans that are a problem. It’s the way that our food supply has been shaped by the forces of business.
Fixing it means not fighting about who’s identity is better, but fighting against the business practices that allow companies to torture animals and produce unethically grown and unsustainably harvested foods.
And as a reminder of the past, the US meat packing industry and food production industry have often tried to cut corners and serve filth in order to make a profit. That changed after the release of Upton Sinclair’s 1906 novel The Jungle, which portrayed the conditions in the Chicago meat packing industry in such stark relief that it lead directly to the creation of the FDA and the wide scale adoption of food safety regulations.
He told the US that we might be getting the occasional human finger in our ground beef and it worked. We listened and forced the system to change. I think it’s time for another dose of that same medicine.
it’s not meat-eaters or vegans that are a problem. It’s the way that our food supply has been shaped by the forces of business.
So much this. This is why I post so much about food. We’re so dependent on a massively destructive and wasteful food production system, no matter our dietary choices or needs. Our very lives are tangled up with food miles, monoculture, deforestation, food waste, pesticides, exploitation, slavery, and the reality is not everyone has a choice of what to eat or where to shop, and frankly most people don’t have the option not to participate. Any amount of food that you can produce for yourself is a piece of your own liberation.
Any amount.
Even if all you can do is grow a chayote or sweet potato vine in your kitchen for greens, or a few windowsill herbs, or a box of mushrooms under the sink, or a tank of algae, do it. Just because you can’t grow ALL your own food doesn’t mean you shouldn’t bother at all. You will save money, you will reduce your carbon footprint, you will be that much more independent.
