WOW: it's discouraging that this happened in The Narwhal, a paper considered one of the most hard-hitting among 'alternative' media, & one that's gained my respect.. Did I GO TOO FAR/ HIT BELOW THE BELT? Express too much emotional & not enough 'factual' data? Maybe.. [I dunno]..
FACT IS, I respond IN KIND to aLL an article conveys --& may carry over other built-up feelings/ opinions from recent related articles/info to form a 'Big Picture' gleaned from accumulated sources. And with recent in-depth exposes on the BC Govt. abounding, THIS piece REVEALED iN 3D just how dangerous & dishonest our Govt. iS..
Given the BCNDP's obvious heinous disregard for BC's future & acTuaL 'Reconciliation' with 1st Nations peoples --& the false public image with which they (& the corporations to which they consistently pander) MISLEAD the public, again & again-- as a dedicated BCer rallying to protect our native biodiversity & our precious old-growth ecosystems from destruction via BCNDP permits handed out recklessly like candy, I feel my response is MILD in light of Govt's obvious [UNETHICAL & UNJUST] trajectory.. & the clear conclusion that our provincial Premier Horgan & Co. are USING the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to 'get away with' heinous corruption & eco-crimes -- i.e. BIZ AS USUAL for BC Govt's shameful history of corporate pandering & indigenous GENOCIDE.. [Just sayin'..]
EXTREME DISHONOUR & DISRESPECT FORCE EXTREME REACTIONS-!?
The Narwhal piece in question hit me square-on with realization that compounds cumulative essays upon news items upon commissioned reports ETC. over the past year & a half of murderous ECORUIN aided & abetted by the BCNDP [directly opposing their elected platforms/ promises] -- so yes, I responded with blatant honesty & open eyes to the appalling direction the BC Govt. is dragging this province --i.e. DOWNHILL, FAST-- as reported in THIS Narwhal article:
[Here's my comment:]
EXTREME DISHONOUR & DISRESPECT FORCE EXTREME REACTIONS-!?
The Narwhal piece in question hit me square-on with realization that compounds cumulative essays upon news items upon commissioned reports ETC. over the past year & a half of murderous ECORUIN aided & abetted by the BCNDP [directly opposing their elected platforms/ promises] -- so yes, I responded with blatant honesty & open eyes to the appalling direction the BC Govt. is dragging this province --i.e. DOWNHILL, FAST-- as reported in THIS Narwhal article:
B.C. orders Coastal GasLink to stop pipeline construction near protected wetlands
[Here's my comment:]
Where are the BC Greens when they're desperately needed to step in & OPPOSE the BCNDP's reckless issuance of permits to corps B4 they fast-track catastrophic destruction of important natural ecosystems?
It's SICKENING that Horgan's SHAM BC Govt. (like those b4) are letting forestry/ O&G corps get away with widespread ECO-RUIN --including clear-cut logging of our last remaining precious old-growth forests-- while claiming to be on track with their 'CLEAN BC' "plans": WHERE's Govt's compliance with their self-proclaimed respect for indigenous rights? Where's Horgan's [promised] Species At Risk law protecting BC's threatened wildlife habitats??
Equally heinous is Coastal GasLink's reckless --illegal-- disregard of their own "wetlands mgmt. plan" (?), along with their LiES (eg. "Environmental protection is a top priority for us"). Since CGL have already cleared 80% of the pipeline's "right-of-way" without a single concern for ANY of the 300 protected wetlands subsequently harmed, HOW can Govt's confidence in "resolving these issues" be trusted --esp. as the Wet’suwet’en's opposition IS UNCHANGED?
Bottom line: Govt.'s benefit agreements [/MOUs] coerced from some #1stNations are clearly A FRAUD (proven repeatedly w/ past resource rapes) & Govt's pipeline push --for a toxic LNG-soaked future that refuses 1st Nations autonomy AND reconciliation-- is ANOTHER BETRAYAL THAT DENIES EVERYONE A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE.. (SHAME)
[OK, i feel slightly better now..]
BillyGoat, you possess a particularly enticing writing style –-esp. your visceral descriptions placing yourself in the thick of a landscape where close contact with the earthy, heady ecology of ‘mixed farming’ inspires your most poetic efforts; ALL V. historic, raw & seductive —tinged with an old-timer’s wisdom of the land.. That is, until your brutally opinionated attempts to turn vegans/ vegetarians into the ‘misappropriated scapegoats for heart disease’ whom you blame for this ‘Brave New’ chemicalized monoculture of vegetable farming..
First, the knowledge that monocropping is an ‘ecologically malignant system’ is surely widespread among farmers (even non-farmers!) everywhere-!?That this most basic of farming fundamentals is ignored –-along with pollinator-starving herbicide spraying & other diabolical insults to key wilderness ecosystems-– has little to do with ‘veganic fanatics’ & more with corporate homogenization driven solely by profits & sales. Most vegans i know are among THE most conscious/ conscientious consumers of all –-at least in Canada, where vegans actively generate ‘continuous learning’ groups/ platforms to share info on ethically-sourced/ non-GMO/ organic/ regenerative farming (markets that continue to expand due to their efforts).
Suggesting vegans ‘unknowingly’ cause ‘degradation of soil fertility’ belie their core beliefs, which are rooted in compassion, evolution & science-forward learning —as opposed to corps laying waste to healthy ecosystems via mass applications of toxins to yield crop outputs & nothing more.. (& there’s NOTHING beneficial/ worthy about corps' undue influence on global food production/ security: theiR scourge of the Earth needs to die out along with their murderous influence on the future of farming!)
While i empathize with your nostalgia for mixed farming’s magical symbiosis of yore (how can i not, given your expose of modern-day monocrops draining soils of their natural nitrogen-rich healthfulness?), I'm certain most vegans/ vegetarians would prefer to preserve that ‘ethereal relationship flowing between the soil, the crops, the livestock and the landscape’ than support monocropping -- iF the ‘livestock’ in question weren’t destined for inevitably violent, bloody ends on slaughterhouse assembly-lines bereft of an ounce of the compassion needed to bring that idyllic vision to life-!?
The reality today is that meat-eating has become such an aggrandized ‘staple’ in people’s diets that animal-protein-related diseases abound –-including heart disease & obesity.. & in Asian cultures, encroachment on wildlife habitats is widely affirmed to bring contagious pandemics like COVID-19 into human populations. And that’s nothing to ignore. Whereas, even the most small-scale farmers on the planet have learned that the oppressive 'Big 3' demands of modern corporate farming --fungicides, herbicides & pesticides-- are degrading healthy plants & soils with long-term harms such as acidification & pollinator wipeout, which could well NiX the idealized goal of global food security.. & herald worldwide famine instead..
Here on Canada’s west coast, my vegan peers bear no resemblance to youR mistaken IDs of blind but well-meant NAiFs. So I must refute your view that vegans finagLed these sweeping veg-over-livestock revisions by making meat/ dairy 'the misappropriated scapegoats for heart disease'. Being vegan myself, i know firsthand that veganism's core raison d'etre revolves not around myopic obsessions with human health --but rather, abhors the way humans have corrupted their innate Dominion over all non-human beings, & thus REJECTS & BOYCOTTS aLL cruelty & disrespect of those whom WE see as our EQUALS who deserve to live happy lives free from oppression by heartless 'humans' who treat them as objects to use & abuse at will, without any thought of their inmates' feelings/ desires..
So while vegans eschew the products of human-inflicted oppression --including animal-derived clothing, 'entertainment' et al-- we welcome all efforts to better animals' lives & ease their pain. Sadly, the dynamics of yore --wherein humans may have taken to heart their roles as stewards respecting Mother Nature in taking from her what was needed to live (while replenishing that which was reaped--hence, 'SOW WHAT YE REAP') are mostly NO MORE.. Such lofty limits on human consumption/ exploitation, demanding CAREFUL BALANCE in managing nature's abundance, are RARE --if nonexistent-- in today's economics, wherein thoughtless acquisition/ extraction/ harvesting/ mining is the name of the game.. Sadly, it's a 'game' in which animals used for human consumption (of any kind) are condemned to unspeakable cruelty/ discomfort/ violence not of their choosing, from birth to death. Veganism aims above all to create a world that respects nature's laws & frees all living beings from the misery of entitled human enslavement..
False characterization aside, being a vegan consumer in a largely non-vegan world entails witnessing --daily-- the suffering of those that long to be free of human tyranny (alongside much opportunity for improvement, which i create/ take when i can).. Residing in Canada means sharing this country with miles & miles of treeless prairie grasslands eaten up (literally) by beef cattle ranches providing fast-food outlets with their best-selling menu items –still, despite the growing trend of their meatless/ ‘plant-based’/ vegan burger sectors: {YUP} BeeF burgers..
So much for the runaway, tyrannical success of veganism flooding the globe..😔 YES, in a way you’re depressingly right about the viral ignorance of the consumer majority: even during the most stringent lockdowns forced by COVID-19, they emerged in droves in single-driver bliss to line up end-to-end idling emissions at ubiquitous A&W/ BurgerKing/ McDonalds/ ETC. across North America in ‘social-distancing’ obedience with a renewed catatonia glazing over their short-lived eco-idealism that had so adrenalized NY’s 2020 with promises of rising collective Climate Action — only to be shot down by the sobering (almost freezing) new ‘normal’ of pandemic-paradigm rigidity. A giant PALL over ALL has STALLED the PROGRESS presumed to bring new hope for future gens with the influx of heartrendingly enthusiastic YOUTH to science-based Climate Activism. & THAT's a CRippLing SHAME..