veganarky

Alongside sporadic thoughts, on occasions I am asked what led me to become vegan. I had narrowed it down to a handful of memories which I think planted seeds and laid foundations for later coalescences, intersections. These are memories stretching back to my youth. I consider my first to come from watching the Australian film Storm Boy, released in 1976 (I can’t recall when I first saw the film, though it was quite a few after its release). Storm boy also exposed me to what might be my first recollections of Aboriginal people, and the immense talent of David …

Australia has quite a (recent) history with bushfires. Some of them very tragic, with significant loss of human life. Of note, the lives of animals rarely rate a mention, unless they are cute — pictures of a koala seeking/receiving water from a human — South Australia 2013; 2015; Victoria 2009 — or there is significant economic loss to a farmer — the death of untold numbers of ‘livestock’. The human impacts of fires, more‐so at this time of year, are very much a part of mainstream media and community discussions here. Responses are routinely anthropocentric, both obliv…

Episode 20 of Escape Velocity Radio, hosted by Derek Hogue and Chris Hannah (of Propagandhi) — a monthly podcast which journeys into the depths of science, philosophy, history, ethics, the origins of consciousness, professional hockey and the very nature of reality itself—included what they called a ‘leftist defence of genetically‐edified foods’ by Leigh Phillips. Whereas the content of the episode was not the first with which I had a different view to the hosts and their interviewees, there was a stark distinction between my views and theirs. What also stood out for me was…

The introduction of non-native species to regions and islands, and the ongoing implications of these, are a legacy of human chauvinism. Our ideological arrogance continues to shape decisions and forms of (strategic) ignorance will have long-lasting implications based on the actions we take today. Apparently we have learned, and continue to learn, little. The Australian government has funded a program seeking to address the introduction of non-native species to Macquarie Island, which is located half way between Tasmania and Antarctica (see video). The hundred thousand or more rabbits, in parti…