we live in a world that's not necessarily honest...a world where words are manipulated to sound good but hide the underlying truth. we know this to be true so we either become distrustful or we become embracers of anything that actually sounds decent and good.
remember the days of coconut oil and noni juice? miracles in a bottle guaranteed to cure whatever ails you?
remember People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals that killed 95% of the companion animals that came into their care?
remember the No kill Nation that sent hundreds of thousands of dogs into k9 concentration camps when death might have been kinder?
what about not euthanizing healthy animals?... what is healthy? does thyroid disease that is managed by a twice daily pill count? what about needing a dental, or daily eye drops? arthritis, diabetes? are those with these conditions healthy or not if they can be successfully managed medically?
look, lets be honest...we don't want to talk too much about the actual specifics here...its the general feel good idea that counts. but the truth of the matter is "healthy" is a relative term, it can mean a lot of different things depending on perceptions, policies, budgets and beliefs.
and it is not just animal rescue that suffers from a lack of bottom line truth....we in fact learned these techniques from a larger not so honest world.
we don't trust our governments, we don't even necessarily trust the people we actually cast our votes for...sometimes we vote for what we perceive to be the lesser of 2 evils.
but we pretend to trust what everyone is telling us because to do otherwise would mean we either become mindlessly compliant or we become one of those rabble rousers rocking the boat.
we need to understand what we are fighting for...in my case respectful and compassionate care for all animals. and how can i advocate for this if i am not actually practicing it?
it is the hard stuff, it is the crappy stuff, it is the heart breaking unnecessary stuff that some days became necessary that teaches us that this world has to become a better place. the warm and fuzzy fairy tale shit just reassures everyone that everything is really ok.
but its not.
we live in a world that is filled with white lies. it softens the multiple blows to the egos of mankind.
we want to be great because we said so not because we do so.
saying it is easy, doing it is hard.
and there is the risk...we are afraid to drown in the hardship of it all.
fear keeps us from moving forward. and what are we afraid of?
that we are not good enough or strong enough to learn how to swim in endless oceans.
so we stand on the beach of "sounds good enough" and wish we had the courage to plunge in.
we can do more than just imaginary puddle jumping, we can build real boats and bridges but we have to tell the truth regarding the problems and issues or else how can we possibly find real solutions?
"it is the hard stuff, it is the crappy stuff, it is the heart breaking unnecessary stuff that some days became necessary that teaches us that this world has to become a better place. the warm and fuzzy fairy tale shit just reassures everyone that everything is really ok."
This is what I battle with everyday when I choose what I eat. I feel better about myself for not eating meat, but then I struggle to kick the dairy products completely even though I KNOW what those cows go through... and I think of Emily and it breaks my heart. It's much easier to turn a blind eye to things... But I think if we don't to some degree, we will make ourselves crazy. Things that are our of our control will eat us up if we let them.
But at the same time, educating yourself about the realities of every day practices helps you decide what companies and industries you're going to support, and which ones need a huge wake up call.