Ghoztt #fundie reddit.com

Outside the internet, I have always kept quiet about my reasons to refuse to consume meat, eat sushi, wear leather shoes or eat jello. I have never wanted to be the "militant vegan" - people would offer me bacon doughnuts or meat lovers pizza and I would smile and say "no thank you" - fuck - I would even lie saying "I'm already full" as my reason in order to avoid any conversation about the realities of animal exploitation with friends, strangers and people from work.

Attempting to approach the subject rationally, scientifically, with real data from public sources like the FDA or a large University still devolved into the meat eaters yelling pseudoscience ("plants scream when you eat them") and anti-intellectualism ("yeah, but bacon! AM I RIGHT GUYS? HAHAHA") - which taught me very, very quickly that I should hide, hide, hide and fucking run and hide.

But the truth is, I think we may be approaching a point of no-return: in which no one -meat eater or vegan- will be able to run nor hide.
The oceans are becoming polluted and acidic while the sum of humanity feeds upon the delicate eco-system within. If the oceans collapse - we may risk losing the largest oxygen producer on the planet: phytoplankton, which contribute between 50 to 85 percent of the oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere
Around 1.4 billion cows emit methane which, pound for pound, has an impact on global warming 25 times greater than CO2 over a 100-year period.

80 percent of all antibiotics sold in the United States are for use on livestock and poultry, not humans. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a antibiotic resistant bacteria which I have personally seen outbreak at my town's hospital. How long before a super resistant strain evolves from extreme exposure to antibiotics in livestock? If life uh... finds a way- then I don't want to be anywhere near the evolution of a new bacteria.

Population expansion: As worldwide population increases, we could begin to see wars fought solely over fresh water. If we look at California we might be seeing our first glimpse at a disturbing future. First we must recognize a few scientific realities:
1 - 10x more people can be fed on one unit of land with a vegan diet than the current omnivore diet.
2 - 47% of water in California goes to animal agriculture.
3 - Climate change, and specifically the trapping of heat in the atmosphere through carbon and methane is real.
1960- 3 Billion humans. 1990- 5.2 Billion humans. 2014- 7 Billion humans.

So if trends continue, could we see a drought and famine stricken India invade Bangladesh to get to the Brahmaputra River? Will Thailand, Burma and Cambodia attempt gorilla warfare with China over the disappearing Mekong River when their populations start starving? Will more nations follow suit as population growth next to the inefficiency of meat eating unintentionally promote famines?

The more I study the more it becomes clear that humanity is running the most dangerous experiments in the history of the world: How much carbon and methane can we pump into our atmosphere before the life support systems on our planet fail? How much antibiotics can we pump into for-food animals before a dangerous microbe evolves from them? How much can the 196 perfectly regulated countries of the world fish the 140 million square miles of ocean before a key link in the oceans eco-systems upsets the balance and we see phytoplankton die offs? How much rainforest do we need to destroy to produce soybeans to feed for-food animals before we see a dust bowl disaster a la the 1930's?

I do not think we are at a point of no return. But we must guard ourselves in the knowledge that the point of no return won't be some super loud event like seeing a massive asteroid in the sky. It will be sitting in the office on some idle Tuesday, sipping coffee, and typing up some fictional report for a fictional corporation - while the ecosystem - the real life out there silently tips over the breaking point. We won't get a text alert. No memo.

It will be as silent as the last Dodo bird dying. When is that point of no return: 100 years from now? 50? 10? I have no clue. But I think we are all in the same boat. And if we don't all agree that the current is taking us away from shore - there will be a point in which - no matter how hard we try to paddle - there will be no possibility of making it back to shore.

So - are we coming to the end of the Neutral Vegan? Am I insane? Are the vegan redditors that say "It's just a diet! I eat plants my boyfriend eats meat" unmistaken? Or are we on an express elevator to hell - in which silence toward and the acceptance of meat in society will lead to the demise of our species. Will mother nature go door to door doing surveys of who promoted the imbalance and give sanction to all the vegans or kill humanity in entirety?

Will we be laying in bed dying naturally of old age 50 years from now while the tempest of a dust storm blows outside the house, whispering that the luxury of death by old age will not be given to the children gathered around our bed?
Or maybe those silent vegans like me can start calmly, patiently talking about the importance of veganism. With patience, a cool-headed approach, and small doses of reality... maybe we can change course.

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