How can Contra have such good, nuanced takes about so many things but just be utterly dumb when it comes to agriculture and veganism?
Not just her, though, the whole left. This uncritical “veganism is a key component of leftist ideals” shit has gotta cease. Can I get ONE passionately pro animal welfare, anti animal rights leftist (who KNOWS shit about animals) out here??? Hewwo?!?
It has to do with the disconnect that urbanites have with agriculture. I see this problem most commonly in the left but also sometimes from the right in isolated pockets, certainly not a uniquely vegan issue, which just makes everything worse.
If there’s one thing vegans are right about in certain respects, it’s that a good majority of people either aren’t informed about where their food comes from, or worse, have no personal interest in thinking about it.
It’s frankly becoming an epidemic, this lack of food honesty and education amongst the city-dwelling majority who unfortunately are in the position of passing legislation which fucks over a lot of both rural people and animals alike (Prop 12 in this state is a fabulously shitty example of this; a completely redundant new set of regulations that will put small farms out of business and drive up prices of animal products for the consumer without actually doing much to improve animal welfare), as often the only exposure these people have to the workings of modern agriculture or husbandry are media depictions or like… The Dodo. It makes them very receptive to propaganda, because they have no personal experience with the subject matter.
And it really doesn’t stop there either. This trend of anthropomorphism is the primary reason people aren’t bothering to educate themselves on even basic animal care, which is the reason animal abuse by ignorance is so common in pet-owning communities. Free roaming cats. Inadequate housing and feed for rodents, reptiles and fish. Impulse buying.
This is why public school programs that incorporate agricultural education into their curriculums are so, so important. Teach children to garden, how to care for chickens and rabbits, take them on field trips. SHOW them what they are apart of.
I am an anarcho-syndcalist or something, albeit one who considers herself to be still learning. I am also a dirty, flea-bitten scavenger who thinks backyard hens and goats and bunnies may well be every bit as important as backyard gardens. If that piques your interest: feel free to hit me up, at least until the site implodes under the weight of its own folly on the 17th.





















