Podcasts about abolitionist approach

American households have a debt problem. The problem is not, as often claimed, that Americans recklessly take on too much debt. The problem is that US debt policies have no basis in reality. Weaving together the histories and trends of US debt policy with her own family story, Chrystin Ondersma debunks the myths that have long governed debt policy, like the belief that debt leads to prosperity or the claim that bad debt is the result of bad choices, both of which nest in the overarching myth of a free market unhindered by government interference and accessible to all.  In Dignity Not Debt: An Abolitionist Approach to Economic Justice (U California Press, 2024), Ondersma offers a compelling, flexible, and reality-based taxonomy rooted in the internationally recognized principle of human dignity. Ondersma's new categories of debt--grounded in abolitionist principles--revolutionize how policymakers are able to think about debt, which will in turn revolutionize the American debt landscape itself. Stephen Pimpare is a Senior Fellow at the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

American households have a debt problem. The problem is not, as often claimed, that Americans recklessly take on too much debt. The problem is that US debt policies have no basis in reality. Weaving together the histories and trends of US debt policy with her own family story, Chrystin Ondersma debunks the myths that have long governed debt policy, like the belief that debt leads to prosperity or the claim that bad debt is the result of bad choices, both of which nest in the overarching myth of a free market unhindered by government interference and accessible to all.  In Dignity Not Debt: An Abolitionist Approach to Economic Justice (U California Press, 2024), Ondersma offers a compelling, flexible, and reality-based taxonomy rooted in the internationally recognized principle of human dignity. Ondersma's new categories of debt--grounded in abolitionist principles--revolutionize how policymakers are able to think about debt, which will in turn revolutionize the American debt landscape itself. Stephen Pimpare is a Senior Fellow at the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/critical-theory

American households have a debt problem. The problem is not, as often claimed, that Americans recklessly take on too much debt. The problem is that US debt policies have no basis in reality. Weaving together the histories and trends of US debt policy with her own family story, Chrystin Ondersma debunks the myths that have long governed debt policy, like the belief that debt leads to prosperity or the claim that bad debt is the result of bad choices, both of which nest in the overarching myth of a free market unhindered by government interference and accessible to all.  In Dignity Not Debt: An Abolitionist Approach to Economic Justice (U California Press, 2024), Ondersma offers a compelling, flexible, and reality-based taxonomy rooted in the internationally recognized principle of human dignity. Ondersma's new categories of debt--grounded in abolitionist principles--revolutionize how policymakers are able to think about debt, which will in turn revolutionize the American debt landscape itself. Stephen Pimpare is a Senior Fellow at the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/public-policy

American households have a debt problem. The problem is not, as often claimed, that Americans recklessly take on too much debt. The problem is that US debt policies have no basis in reality. Weaving together the histories and trends of US debt policy with her own family story, Chrystin Ondersma debunks the myths that have long governed debt policy, like the belief that debt leads to prosperity or the claim that bad debt is the result of bad choices, both of which nest in the overarching myth of a free market unhindered by government interference and accessible to all.  In Dignity Not Debt: An Abolitionist Approach to Economic Justice (U California Press, 2024), Ondersma offers a compelling, flexible, and reality-based taxonomy rooted in the internationally recognized principle of human dignity. Ondersma's new categories of debt--grounded in abolitionist principles--revolutionize how policymakers are able to think about debt, which will in turn revolutionize the American debt landscape itself. Stephen Pimpare is a Senior Fellow at the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/economics

American households have a debt problem. The problem is not, as often claimed, that Americans recklessly take on too much debt. The problem is that US debt policies have no basis in reality. Weaving together the histories and trends of US debt policy with her own family story, Chrystin Ondersma debunks the myths that have long governed debt policy, like the belief that debt leads to prosperity or the claim that bad debt is the result of bad choices, both of which nest in the overarching myth of a free market unhindered by government interference and accessible to all.  In Dignity Not Debt: An Abolitionist Approach to Economic Justice (U California Press, 2024), Ondersma offers a compelling, flexible, and reality-based taxonomy rooted in the internationally recognized principle of human dignity. Ondersma's new categories of debt--grounded in abolitionist principles--revolutionize how policymakers are able to think about debt, which will in turn revolutionize the American debt landscape itself. Stephen Pimpare is a Senior Fellow at the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/politics-and-polemics

American households have a debt problem. The problem is not, as often claimed, that Americans recklessly take on too much debt. The problem is that US debt policies have no basis in reality. Weaving together the histories and trends of US debt policy with her own family story, Chrystin Ondersma debunks the myths that have long governed debt policy, like the belief that debt leads to prosperity or the claim that bad debt is the result of bad choices, both of which nest in the overarching myth of a free market unhindered by government interference and accessible to all.  In Dignity Not Debt: An Abolitionist Approach to Economic Justice (U California Press, 2024), Ondersma offers a compelling, flexible, and reality-based taxonomy rooted in the internationally recognized principle of human dignity. Ondersma's new categories of debt--grounded in abolitionist principles--revolutionize how policymakers are able to think about debt, which will in turn revolutionize the American debt landscape itself. Stephen Pimpare is a Senior Fellow at the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/law

American households have a debt problem. The problem is not, as often claimed, that Americans recklessly take on too much debt. The problem is that US debt policies have no basis in reality. Weaving together the histories and trends of US debt policy with her own family story, Chrystin Ondersma debunks the myths that have long governed debt policy, like the belief that debt leads to prosperity or the claim that bad debt is the result of bad choices, both of which nest in the overarching myth of a free market unhindered by government interference and accessible to all.  In Dignity Not Debt: An Abolitionist Approach to Economic Justice (U California Press, 2024), Ondersma offers a compelling, flexible, and reality-based taxonomy rooted in the internationally recognized principle of human dignity. Ondersma's new categories of debt--grounded in abolitionist principles--revolutionize how policymakers are able to think about debt, which will in turn revolutionize the American debt landscape itself. Stephen Pimpare is a Senior Fellow at the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/finance

American households have a debt problem. The problem is not, as often claimed, that Americans recklessly take on too much debt. The problem is that US debt policies have no basis in reality. Weaving together the histories and trends of US debt policy with her own family story, Chrystin Ondersma debunks the myths that have long governed debt policy, like the belief that debt leads to prosperity or the claim that bad debt is the result of bad choices, both of which nest in the overarching myth of a free market unhindered by government interference and accessible to all.  In Dignity Not Debt: An Abolitionist Approach to Economic Justice (U California Press, 2024), Ondersma offers a compelling, flexible, and reality-based taxonomy rooted in the internationally recognized principle of human dignity. Ondersma's new categories of debt--grounded in abolitionist principles--revolutionize how policymakers are able to think about debt, which will in turn revolutionize the American debt landscape itself. Stephen Pimpare is a Senior Fellow at the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Russyan Mark Mabeza joins Ethics Talk to discuss his article, coauthored with Betial Asmerom, Dr Rupinder Legha, and Vanessa Nuñez: “What Law Enforcement Can Learn From Health Care About Moral Injury Recorded December 13, 2021

Note: There is a typo in the title of the podcast attached. The title of the post and podcast should both read "Jerneja" (not Jerneya). We know that food and politics are involved, especially because we know what is being subsidized...so at this point, being vegan is really a political stance. The 18th interview in this series, features Jerneja Caserta (Tomsic). Jerneja is one of the most interesting and outwardly passionate people I know. Her compassion for sentient beings has no bounds, her dedication to distilling and disseminating knowledge about veganism is perpetual, and her courage to speak her truth is admirable. Jerneja has been vegan for over 6 years. In this interview, she shares a glimpse of what she has learned and the evolution of her personal vegan journey. Mentioned in this interview: Gary Francione & the Abolitionist Approach, Abolitionist Approach on Facebook, Tom Regan's A Case for Animal Rights, Vegan Shift, Eriyah Flynn, Sarina Farb's Born Vegan on YouTube, South Florida Vegan Education Group, and Be Fair Be Vegan

Listen HEREThanks for listeningIf you hear a sound like angry bees it's the car racing that happens near my house all summer long :/ Sorry about the noise.Happy New Year

In this episode of Knowing Animals I am joined by Professor Gary L. Francione. Gary is Board of Governors Professor and Nicholas deB. Katzenbach Distinguished Scholar in the School of Law, at Rutgers University. Gary is also a member of faculty at UEA in Norwich. Gary has published extensively on animal rights, in particular the abolitionist approach. His publications include: Animals, Property and the Law, Rain without Thunder: The Ideology of the Animal Rights Movement, Introduction to Animal Rights: Your Child or the Dog?, The Animal Rights Debate: Abolition or Regulation?, which was co-authored with Robert Garner, Animal Rights: The abolitionist Approach, which was co-authored by Anna E. Charlton, and Animals as Persons.  This episode of Knowing Animals is brought to you by AASA. AASA is the Australasian Animal Studies Association. You can find AASA on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/AASA-Australasian-Animal-Studies-Association-480316142116752/. Join AASA today!  

Reflections will cover recent activity on our page which has proven controversial or which invites a bit of reflection / further discussion. In this week's reflections we comment on a share on our page from Professor Gary L Francione, who in turn was commenting on the non-veganism of Paul McCartney. What was our share really getting at, what were we not saying, what is our view on Abolitionism and the Abolitionist Approach? This is our first Reflections recording and our first audio recording with podcast in mind, so it is something of an experiment. It was not scripted, there was no planning and so it may be something of a ramble. It may also not be word perfect in terms of conveying our viewpoint. We're not perfect ;-) Notes for further reading and listening: Francione and Charlton, Abolitionist Approach: https://www.facebook.com/abolitionistapproach/ http://www.howdoigovegan.com/ https://www.facebook.com/abolitionistapproach/videos/1436568696362880/ https://www.abolitionistapproach.com/audio/ http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/category/podcast/ https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/animal-rights-the-abolitionist-approach-commentary/id327041563?mt=2 Tom Regan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_pNsWs6_Ho https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0dl1BMEZCc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj-MJKFM0Zs Introduction to Tom Regan’s The Case for Animal Rights: https://animalstudiesrepository.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1003&context=acwp_awap http://www.animal-rights-library.com/texts-m/regan03.htm Charlton and Francione discussion of the history of the animal rights movement, following the death of Tom Regan: http://onhumanrelationswithothersentientbeings.weebly.com/the-blog/charltonfrancionelinden-countermovment-on-tom-regan Francione, Between the Species: Reflections on Tom Regan and an Animal Rights Movement That Once Was: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.co.uk/&httpsredir=1&article=2165&context=bts On Specieism: https://theresanelephantintheroomblog.wordpress.com/2018/01/22/speciesism/ On Intersectionality: Human rights and non-human animal rights: http://arzone.ning.com/page/arzone-intersectionality-interviews https://sanctuarypublishers.com/ Go Vegan Scotland: www.goveganscotland.com

Dear Friends: Here is a podcast that Anna Charlton and I did on an easy way to start a conversation about veganism. ********** If you are not vegan, please go vegan. Veganism is about nonviolence. First and foremost, it’s about nonviolence to other sentient beings. But it’s also about nonviolence to the earth and nonviolence […] Related posts: Abolitionist Approach Podcast: On Anthony Bourdain, Veganism, and Bad Behavior by Some “Animal People” Abolitionist Approach Podcast: On the Misuse of “Abolition” Thought of the Day: A Very Brief Introduction to the Abolitionist Approach to Animal Rights Thought of the Day: Abolitionist Veganism and Arguments About Health Webinar: Abolitionist Vegan Advocacy: 2017

Dear Friends: Here is a podcast that Anna and I did on the misuse of “Abolition”. ********** If you are not vegan, please go vegan. Veganism is about nonviolence. First and foremost, it’s about nonviolence to other sentient beings. But it’s also about nonviolence to the earth and nonviolence to yourself. If animals matter morally, […] Related posts: Abolitionist Approach Podcast: On Anthony Bourdain, Veganism, and Bad Behavior by Some “Animal People” Thought of the Day: A Very Brief Introduction to the Abolitionist Approach to Animal Rights Commentary #18: A Step Backward, the Importance of Veganism, and the Misuse of “Abolition” Upcoming Abolitionist Approach Podcast on Effective Animal Rights Advocacy: A Preview Thought of the Day: Abolitionist Veganism and Arguments About Health

Dear Friends: Here is a podcast that Anna and I did on Anthony Bourdain. I was sitting too far away from the device. The dogs were walking around the room. We will do better! ********** If you are not vegan, please go vegan. Veganism is about nonviolence. First and foremost, it’s about nonviolence to other […] Related posts: Abolitionist Approach Podcast: On the Misuse of “Abolition” Thought of the Day: A Very Brief Introduction to the Abolitionist Approach to Animal Rights Thought of the Day: Abolitionist Veganism and Arguments About Health Thought of the Day: Meatless Monday–A Very Bad Idea Upcoming Abolitionist Approach Podcast on Effective Animal Rights Advocacy: A Preview

Let’s Rage Together Podcast — In this episode we talk about the abolitionist approach to animal rights and liberation, and discuss the problems with single issue activism. White Nonsense Roundup · Abolitionist Approach to Animal Rights · Akashinga · Vegan Feminist Network: Single-Issue Campaigns are the White Feminism of Animal Rights · Anonymous for the Voiceless · Sea Shepherd · Earthlings · Land of Hope and Glory · Cowspiracy · Goldfinger - Free Me · Single-Issue Campaigns in Human & Nonhuman Contexts

Listen HEREWow. I was sheltered for so long at my job.  This is getting back out into the real world and I am finding out again about all my limitations and the things holding me back (myself, basically). It's a painful look in the mirror but worth doing.Here is Peggy's video from The World Vegan Summit - it is so inspiring.  All the videos from the abolitionist approach advocates are so please watch them all.PLEASE learn The Abolitionist Approach to Animal Rights.  Read the Six Principles.  Go on the website and watch all the Videos.  Read the Books - try to get them at your local library if you can't afford to buy them.We can do this people!  We must.Here is my badge I was talking about, that I wear every dayNotes and corrections:1. ARGH so sorry the condition I was talking about is IRITIS (not Rinitis!!!) or Uveitis - here is information about it, it's good to learn about different things people are going through. https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/798323-overview2. I completely forgot that years ago I had heard of one situation that a vegan was going through, who did have a terrible medical condition in which her body could not make or maintain its own cholesterol, and therefore was in an awful situation as was really really struggling to find a way to maintain her vegan diet without dying, literally.  It was a very hard thing, and a long struggle, that was very real, and this was a situation in which animal products (which unlike plants contain cholesterol) seemed to be the only medically viable option for them.  Luckily, and also because this person believed in animal rights they finally found a way (I don't know the exact details) to manage it without having to compromise their veganism.  So I actually also relayed that story to the person I was talking to as well, using it as an example to talk about the animal rights point of view. 3. Sorry if the quality is so bad, I was just planning to do a 10 minute video but it turned into 40 minutes so too big for me to figure out how to upload, so it's now a podcast with really bad audio quality.

Listen HEREPlease check out the Six Principles of the Abolitionist Approach to Animal Rights: http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/about/the-six-principles-of-the-abolitionist-approach-to-animal-rights/Please read ALL Gary Francione and Anna Charltons' books: http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/books/Please read this article about violent imagery in advocacy:  http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/violent-imagery-in-animal-advocacy/#.Vz2nmmMyeA0Here is that article I mentioned by Frances McCormack that coincidentally was published on the weekend about graphic imagery http://www.ecorazzi.com/2016/05/13/vegans-dont-need-graphic-imagery-to-advocate/Thank you for listening.Dedicated to Buda the cat.RIP my darling.  Miss you forever.

For decades, I have been writing that the anti-fur campaign (among others) is sexist. For example, various groups have been using this sort of imagery for years now: (click to enlarge) But fur is no different from wool, leather, or silk. In my book, Rain Without Thunder: The Ideology of the Animal Movement, published by […] The post Go Vegan. See the Connections. appeared first on Animal Rights: The Abolitionist Approach. Related posts: Still Doubting the Connections? Human and Nonhuman Rights as Inextricably Intertwined: In a Nutshell Some Thoughts on the Abolitionist Approach Do Abolitionists Have a Position on Human Rights? You Bet We Do! Human Rights and Animal Rights: Perfect Together Click here to play

Listen HEREThis is a big subject, and I realize there are so many more things I could say than I said, and so many more reasons I could add to the ones I gave, but I hope I at least got it across why I feel the way I do about this issue and why I personally agree that we should not have companion animals or pets anymore than we should have food animals, clothing animals or animals for entertainment or scientific research. Firstly this is the link to the video from Hurricane Katrina of which I extracted the audio clip that appears in the podcast. https://ia600504.us.archive.org/18/items/OprahOprahsaveddog/OprahWinfreysaveddog_512kb.mp4 Please access the following links if you are interested in the words that made me think about this issue of companion animals and agree that the possession of companion animals is not morally justifiable and therefore not right. I hope you read it because it is very well written! I hope it makes as much sense to you as it does to me. This whole article is great, the chapter on pets in regard to this specific topic is question number 3. http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/faqs/ Also here is a great clip from an interview: scroll down to the interview called: ARGUES AGAINST “THE RIGHT TO HAVE PETS” http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/audio/ click on mp3 to hear the clip. A great article: http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/pets-the-inherent-problems-of-domesticationAnother great article: http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/animal-rights-and-domesticated-nonhumans/#.UZf-ApX9tzMThe following is a link to a link to a debate in which the arguments presented by Professor Francione make utter and complete logical sense to me, and if they don't make sense to someone else who reads them, then there is no way that this podcast episode will :-) http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/a-debate-on-pet-ownership/ I would say that the arguments presented in the above debate are the best ones to read if you want to know how you really feel about the issue. I cannot see anyone who successfully refutes Professor Francione's statements, I just see the utter sense, logic and reason in the philosophy. However I am very aware that not everyone agrees, although I have never seen, read or heard anything by someone who doesn't agree that has convinced me otherwise. P.S. here is a link to the vegan (/vegetarian *sigh*) childrens book! I think it is the first of its kind! Rock on! That's Why We Don't Eat Animals P.P.S Adam Kochanowicz's show is called Vegan FM not Vegan TV - sorry! Here is the link (it is also in the link list) http://vegan.fm/

In this episode I try to answer the common objection that humans were made to eat meat, as well as some common variations of this argument such as "Humans evolved to eat meat", "Early humans ate meat, so why should we stop now?", "We need to eat meat to stay healthy", "God put animals on Earth for us to eat" and "Other animals kill each other for food so why shouldn't we?". Later, I also talk about, "Is eating other animal products such as dairy, eggs and honey natural?"Click here to download the podcastWhen I started recording, I found out my webcam had a handy "suppress background noise" feature that just hadn't been turned on properly, even though it was checked. So hopefully now there isn't too much background noise!Here are the links to the podcasts/blogs I mention in this episode:NZ Vegan PodcastFood for ThoughtCoexisting with Nonhuman AnimalsMy Face is on FireAbolitionist ApproachVeganaciousThanks for being awesome, guys! ;)

In this episode I try to answer the common objection that humans were made to eat meat, as well as some common variations of this argument such as "Humans evolved to eat meat", "Early humans ate meat, so why should we stop now?", "We need to eat meat to stay healthy", "God put animals on Earth for us to eat" and "Other animals kill each other for food so why shouldn't we?". Later, I also talk about, "Is eating other animal products such as dairy, eggs and honey natural?"Click here to download the podcastWhen I started recording, I found out my webcam had a handy "suppress background noise" feature that just hadn't been turned on properly, even though it was checked. So hopefully now there isn't too much background noise!Here are the links to the podcasts/blogs I mention in this episode:NZ Vegan PodcastFood for ThoughtCoexisting with Nonhuman AnimalsMy Face is on FireAbolitionist ApproachVeganaciousThanks for being awesome, guys! ;)

Listen HEREThings I mentioned: My podcast episode about being unequivocal: http://nzveganpodcast.blogspot.co.nz/2010/06/nz-vegan-podcast-episode-57-key-word-is.htmlArticle I mentioned from the Abolitionist Approach website: Veganism: Just Another Way of Reducing Suffering or a Fundamental Principle of Justice & Nonviolence?The supremely important book I mentioned:  Introduction to Animal Rights - Your Child or the Dog?Here is an example of an article from The My Face is on Fire blog that is quick to analyse misrepresentations of veganism in mainstream media: http://my-face-is-on-fire.blogspot.co.nz/2013/04/vegan-challenges.htmlMy website: www.nzvegan.com and the page I mentioned about sanctuaries and rescue orgs I link to: SanctuaryHere is the group in Brasil that I mentioned: GEFRAN (run by http://www.veganospelaabolicao.org)An example of the posters from the Abolitionist Approach facebook page with the motto: Go Vegan, Educate Others, Adopt/Foster: POSTERFinally the New Series: TIWISBD (Things I Wish I had Said But Didn't) that I spoke about on my NZ Vegan facebook page lol. I am sure I will be adding to this repertoire:  https://www.facebook.com/NZVegan/posts/371795796255683Here is the link to the Huffington Post article that I mentioned in the beginning(NOTE - I forgot to mention that it only addresses diet *sigh* oh and don't look at the "celebrity 'vegan'" slideshow - MFIoF could write a few articles about that alone):  Interest in Vegan Diets on the RiseThanks for listening. :)

Listen HERE This week I talk about too much stuff to write about here, but the following are all the relevant links:The NEW NZ ABOLITIONIST VEGAN PODCAST from Vegan For LifeNow available in iTunesMylène Ouellet's podcast is also on iTunesVeganacious' Barbara DeGrande new podcast episode is here oo and here is an interview she did with Mylène!  Darn, I knew I had missed something out! >:(Sam Tucker's latest episode can be accessed through this pageLiveVegan's podcast can be accessed through their You Tube channel here *Gasp* I hope I didn't miss something out.OOPS I did it again.  Oh dear.   I said Four thousand eight hunded animals were killed by PETA in 2009 but according to the article it was 2, 352.  However, that doesn't change my point,  still  I apologise for again getting my figures wrong:8 Animals on Opposing Views by Gary FrancioneThat link is to an opposing views page that linked to an Abolitionist Approach blog entry related to the story.  Have a look at the comments and you will see what I mean.  For example, the comment by Heidi Parker, Mail Coordinator, PETA Foundation and the comment immediately following her comment, for that matter. Here is a link to the Vegan Examiner Adam Kochanowicz's article on the Mercy For Animals video: My Thoughts on MFA's videoHere is a link to the article about the UN: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/02/un-report-meat-free-diet Finally, here is a link to Vegan Poet M. Butterflies Katz's blog where she has the articles: The Vegan TruthI hope I remembered everything!

Listen HEREToday I make an announcement, and also finally respond to the hugely publicised campaign by the NZ animal welfare group S.A.F.E to promote "free range" pork consumption. I must admit I really let the side down. I wallowed in a level of self indulgment that is really inexcusable, especially from someone such as myself who claims to be such an activist. I apologise. I didn't write any letters to the papers or participate in any discussions, because I allowed myself to be negative. Well, now I finally made a comment on an animal welfare page (not a local one), maybe it was the wrong place to do it -maybe all the people who read that blog are vegan, I don't know. Here is the article if you want to comment also:Animal Welfare ExaminerThat is the comment I should have left on every NZ paper opinion page and every discussion board across the country while everything was going on, and I didn't. I admit I let everyone down especially all of the poor suffering pigs. The story is still out there though, so I will now be participating - better late than never.I want to thank all of you who did respond on these opinion boards and to the papers and talk about veganism. For example Bea Elliot wrote in, and she lives in America, where they have so many detrimental welfare campaigns of their own to deal with, and I live here and I didn't write anything, so I am put to shame. No excuses, I let the side down. However, I have addressed the issue in this episode and I welcome comments. I am not trying to turn this podcast into a rant, or into a negative website dedicated to criticising S.A.F.E - in fact I hope to not mention them again - they do what they do, I do what I do. However, it was so highly publicised, and I was so disturbed by it that I needed to get it off my chest, and now I feel so much better. This is really a good way to resolve inner conflict - I recommend starting a blog or podcast! It is worth it. Also, as I told someone recently, we can't let the others do all the work for us. Grass roots means community level, and that is what we need, in all languages, by actual members of those communities in their own words. And that is what grass roots activism is all about. Also, in light of campaigns such as this one, we need it more than ever, so that is what I hope to do in New Zealand. Also, I would like to acknowledge another abolitionist vegan in New Zealand! I hope I am not incorrect in pinning this description on you Bron - but I think you get it! Thanks for keeping in touch, and I am sorry I didn't include you in the tally. Now we are FOUR!Finally, coincidentally as I was uploading this post, I checked my email and there was a new update from the Abolitionist Approach about an article in which Gary Francione mentions the importance of seeing animals as individuals - this is how I understand it to be when they are described as persons. So I thought it was a good coincidence.UPDATE: check the comments section of this post to see input from Roger Yates where he also mentions Professor Francione's book Animals As Persons and some quotes to explain some of the concepts as presented in the book.P.S I am aware that Anthony De Mello passed away many years ago, so although I did talk about him and his writings in the present tense I do know he is no longer alive.P.P.S The following is the passage I referred to in this episode. Mr. De Mello was primarily concerned with the human condition, was a Jesuit Priest, and was not a vegan, but even as a non-religious vegan I find his writings very helpful. It appears the Krishnamurti is the originator of the quote."...The great Krishnamurti put it so well when he said, "the day you teach a child the name of the bird, the child will never see that bird again". How true! The first time the child sees that fluffy (sic), alive, moving object (sic) and you say to him, "Sparrow", then tomorrow when the child sees another fluffy, moving object similar to it he says, "Oh, sparrows. I've seen sparrows. I'm bored by sparrows".If you don't look at things through your concepts, you'll never be bored. Every single thing is unique. Every sparrow is unlike every other sparrow despite the similarities. It's a great help to have similarities, so we can abstract, so that we can have a concept. It's a great help, from the point of view of communication, education, science. But it's also very misleading and a great hindrance to seeing this concrete individual..." - Awareness, Anthony De Mello

Listen HEREThis week I am very pleased to welcome fellow abolitionist advocate Jeffrey Coolwater. You can find Jeffrey on twitter as MacVeganHere is the link to the blog article we discussed about Jeffrey's 10 "lost years" as a vegetarian, before he discovered veganism and abolition.Here is a link to the groundbreaking interview that we mention of Professor Gary L. Francioneon Vegan Freak RadioYou can find all the audio interviews of Professor Francione on the Audio Page of the Abolitionist Approach websitePlease read Gary Francione's books! (5 of which are available at the Auckland Library)Here is a link to the book Jeffrey mentioned by Bob and Jenna Torres: Vegan Freak: Being Vegan in a Non-Vegan World (Also available at the Auckland Library)This is the cartoon I talked about in the podcast. (HEE HEE!! I just love it!)~ Credit for this hilarious cartoon goes to Ignatz Ziller.Thanks so much Jeffrey for coming on the show!

LISTEN HEREThis week I revisit something that is old news but I think still very relevant for the coming year and all years of the vegan movement, which is that we have no excuse for not promoting veganism unequivocally."All compromise is based on give and take, but there can be no give and take on fundamentals. Any compromise on mere fundamentals is a surrender. For it is all give and no take." ~ GhandiI mention a discussion where things "clicked" for me and I always recommend to all advocates to listen to this discussion between Gary Francione and Erik Marcus: listen here or access it on the Abolitionist Approach audio page (scroll down to find the interview)I mention this article by Corey Wrenn: Academic Discrimination Against VegansHere is Randy Sandberg's fantastic Quotes on Slavery website where you can find a lot of history about the history of the Abolitionist Movement against slavery in the human context which can teach us a lot about the movement today to abolish all slavery, human and nonhuman.I mention that Peaceful Prairie Sanctuary residents need hay for the winter, but anyway they always need help and also I have links to some local sanctuaries and other rescue groups in NZ - please if you are going to donate money to anyone please donate directly to helping animals such as sanctuary, adoption and rescue, rather than to welfare campaigns and organisations.Here is a message of nonviolence for 2012 from Trish Roberts of Lobsa and LiveVegan: A Message of Nonviolence for 2012Here's a great new article just released by Dan Cudahy and Angel Flinn for the New Year: Make the Vegan ResolutionHere is a great new article by Vincent Guihan: Vegan Outreach: how not to do itHappy New Year everyone! :)UPDATE: I just want to add that this particular rant of mine was not a commentary on vegans who are unequivocal vegans in their own lives, and live vegan uncompromisingly, yet don't advocate it as such as an extra activity outside of normal life as vegans, because they are just not really interested in actually being an 'activist" as it were or they are advocating other social justice issues that take up all their free time, however they live vegan; it was specifically due to experiences with vegans who are welfare advocates, with whom I was discussing activism, and their preference of promoting welfare reform, their resistance to promoting veganism at all, and their absolute refusal to do it unequivocally.I recognise that these vegans and all vegans are challenging the status quo by being vegan, and are to an extent being advocates with regard to the example they set to those around them. I am glad for all vegans for being vegan. So I want that to be really clear. This is specifically in regard to the above-described position of welfare advocates.

Listen HEREThis week I talk about lots of things, including the wonderful cupcakes offered by the Vegan Education Cupcake Stall from The Alice Springs Vegan Society and their inspiration for offering free cupcakes to people, and I mention the Six Principles of the Abolitionist Approach to Animal Rights among other things. I also talk about focusing on IDEAS not PEOPLE. "Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people"~ Anonymous or Eleanor Roosevelt. Podcast by Angel Flinn "The Vegan Evolution" - great vegan speech! -listen or you can read it here: VEGANISM: A TRUTH WHOSE TIME HAS COME: Best vegan speechThanks for listening :)NOTE: I wasn't going to do this because I really didn't want to spend the time, but someone left a really long comment and I am not going to publish it, and I know they would have spent time writing it, so out of an attempt to be fair I am offering this heads up in order to prevent anyone else wasting their time on a comment that I won't publish, and I hope this can be seen as an action I am taking out of respect for other people's time:Anyone who wishes to make guesses about any individuals I may refer to in any podcast episode whom I choose not to name (for reasons I think I have done my best to make very clear), well if that how you want to spend your time then that is your prerogative; but please do not attempt to do so here. I am really not interested in talking about people per se, except to talk about actions and ideas, and how they relate to the issue of exploitation, and I do my best, as a human being can, to stick to that. I don't claim to be 100% successful and but I try.When I am speaking positively, I feel comfortable naming individuals, also of course I want to promote work and ideas that support nonviolence, and the abolition of exploitation. When I am speaking critically or negatively, I prefer not to name individuals because I loathe drama, but even if I didn't it inevitably takes the focus off the real issue which should always remain the victims of exploitation, and I refuse to allow that to happen. And as this is my blog I thankfully have that ability. I also thankfully have the ability to refuse to join in on any drama to do with egos and personality clashes that are going on anywhere else. Thank goodness. :)As hard as it is to believe, I really do just want to focus on the issues of exploitation and violence and animal use, and stand up unequivocally against them in everything I say and do, and I refuse to promote or support anything that I believe is in opposition to that. Or to waste time on anything that detracts from that.In fact, that was the whole point of this podcast episode. Thanks for your understanding

LISTEN HEREIn part two of the interview we discuss single issue campaigns, in relation to the recent debate that Professor Francione took part in with Dario Ringach which was partly the inspiration of the blog essay:Why Veganism Must Be the Baselinewhich I recommend as a must read for all advocates.We also discuss the latest Abolitionist Approach blog essay:Nothing to Do with Sciencein which the latest attempt at using the age old "plant question" is addressed.Thank you, Professor Francione!

Listen HEREI am honoured to have again as my guest Professor Gary L. Francione of The Abolitionist Approach. We talk about the abolitionist approach and why it is fundamentally different from the welfare reformist approach, and we refer to the frequent discussions that occur between the two separate groups of thinkers, which is wonderfully illustrated on the blog My Face is on Fire, in a recent blog post. Please read the post and the ensuing comments to see what Professor Francione is talking about in this interview.I also very strongly urge everyone to read this wonderful essay A Revolution of the Heart at The Abolitionist Approach which, as well as being wonderful in itself, is pertinent to the aforementioned article and commentary.Also keep an eye out for "The Animal Rights Debate—Abolition or Regulation?" written by Gary L Francione and R. Garner - to be released from Columbia Press in the coming weeks...A MUST read for ALL involved in non human animal advocacy/activism, no matter what your position on strategy.Thanks for coming on the show again Professor Francione!

Listen HEREThis week I am very pleased to have back as my guest William Paul.  We talk about his experience as a peaceful activist and how about an occurrence where he was challenged on his nonviolence stance while speaking out against violence.  We also talk about the NZ Vegan Society's Big Book of Vegan Products which is a fantastic new resource by this great new NZ Vegan Society.  We discuss the up-and-coming (we hope) SAFE vegan campaign and whether it will actually happen, how it will happen and whether it will it actually be a vegan campaign that we can get behind, among other things.Also as both William and I have unfortunately been without internet access for a week, coincidentally, we came back online to discover the recent development of a wonderful new resource for vegan advocacy by Gary Francione and the team at The Abolitionist Approach which is based on John Lennon and Yoko Ono's "War is Over if you want it" Times Square Billboard:The World is Vegan! If you want it.Links:theworldisvegan.comWilliam Paul on FacebookWilliam Paul on Twitter The NZ Vegan Society on Facebook (please join and show your support!)Please look at all the resources for The World is Vegan! if you want it resources from:Vincent Guihan at We Other AnimalsAdam Kochanowicz at The Vegan NewsJohn Colvin Please also read this NOTE from Professor Francione about the billboard:Thanks everyone for all this great work and thanks to William for coming back on the show!

Listen HEREThis week I read an essay written by Eva Batt, long standing member of the UK Vegan society. It is so well written, I am going to print it out and hand it around as part of my activism. Thanks to Nathan Schneider who has it available on his blog Vegan Abolitionist and to Randy Sandberg who added it to the text page here at Abolitionist ApproachOne of the things I loved about the article was this point:"...veganism has no connection with any political party or system, national or international. Similarly, individual vegans may be deeply religious, perhaps devout Christians or disciples of one of many other faiths and creeds in this world, but this is not a requisite of veganism, which is an everyday, fundamental way of life concerned with living without hurting others. The hereafter may, or may not, solve all our problems; but what we do now certainly affects all those around us..."That is a wonderful statement is it not? There are many more gems like this in the article. It is worth a read or a listen, and I will be passing it along.Enjoy!Cool! - as I was uploading the audio, I watched Episode 7 of The Vegan News hosted by Adam Kochanowicz, and the show featured this very same article! Check out the coverage at Vegan FMUPDATE: Professor Roger Yates left the following comment, and we were trying to get the links to become hyperlinks but I can't figure that out in the comments section either so I am posting the comment here, so you can access the links here:Hi Elizabeth,There are a couple of things I’d like to say on this important issue. First, we should remember that we are also vegan pioneers but in different and better circumstances. For example, we have the advantages of the internet and need never feel as isolated as the first vegans probably often did. Being a vegan is easier now than in the 1940s and 1950s (even compared to the 1970s when I became vegan). However, some new vegans are going to find it harder than others and we should help these new pioneers as much as possible, for mainstream animal advocacy neglects the fact that there is a vegan moral baseline to animal rights advocacy.This brings me to the second point: what are we campaigning for. It seems to me that campaigning to grow the ethical vegan community (the surest means by which we can help other animals at this time) is campaigning for what we WANT as opposed to campaigning for what we DO NOT WANT in the name of politics, or pragmatics, or ‘living in the real world.’For example, look at this 3-min video (just released this very week) about a cage-free system: http://www.worldpoultry.net/news/video-special-layer-aviary-system-4066.html Do we want to campaign FOR this sort of thing as many do, or do we want to campaign against by growing the numbers of ethical vegans?Look at the pictures here: http://www.ciwf.ie/farminfo/farmfacts_egghens.html We could say, ‘spot the difference,’ but the picture on the left is an ‘enriched’ battery cage and the other is a standard one. The first will probably have a perch in the back and maybe some ‘nesting material.’ Leaving aside the issue of who is going to monitor this new way of regulating atrocities, do we want to campaign FOR this sort of thing as many do, or do we want to campaign against by increasing the numbers of ethical vegans until we have enough numbers to make some real changes for nonhuman animals?The real question is where do we put our energy, commitment, time and money. Do we concentrate on what we actually want, or on something else - which we then have to campaign against anew later on. The advocates of ‘cage-free’ (or one big horrible cage) must assume that, later, they will be campaigning against the system they helped to put in place in the first place.Roger Yates

Listen HEREThis episode I talk about my support of non violence and of the abolitionist approach and peaceful non violent vegan education. I give my reasons why, based on my own personal experience and non-expert opinion, and my core beliefs, which is all I can do. In this episode I am specifically talking about some of the things that I have read over the last few weeks in which proponents of violent tactics in the name of animal rights have been getting a lot of attention, and I have read some things that I thought were not only misguided and tactically wrong, but also deeply immoral. Not all those involved are supporters of the extreme physical violence that a couple of writings and advocates are proposing, however it was very distressing to see support of these advocates by anyone at all. I realise that a lot of the really extreme positions come from people who are deeply disturbed by what is going on in our world and are perhaps totally overwhelmed with everything, the horrific amount animal exploitation and who feel desperate. I say they need to snap out of it and help us create a peaceful vegan movement, but of course they don't agree with that, nevertheless I stand firmly in my beliefs, as always.I also object to people who are trying to confuse the issue by dragging things like Open Rescues into the debate about violence, I think that is muddying the waters and taking the focus of the debate off where it originally began and where it should remain, which was an objection to the hate mongering, propositions of actual physical violence and an escalation in violence in general by some advocates.Finally I think we must realise that it is important for us to be there for new vegans who may be overwhelmed by their new knowledge, and help them stay sane and positive, because they are our ethical vegan movement and we need them to not lose control, we need them to help us get the ethical vegan movement going, and that is not going to happen if they spiral down into despair and hate.And now for the good news! These are the podcasts I mentioned in the episode:Professor Gary L. Francione from Abolitionist Approach:Abolitionist Approach Commentaryat the iTunes storeVincent Guihan from We Other Animals:animalemancipation.com - We Other Animals Radioat the iTunes store: We Other Animals RadioAnd Dr. Roger Yates from On Human-Nonhuman Relations:On Human-Nonhuman Relations Podcastat the iTunes storeThis is the link to Barbara DeGrande's Veganacious bloghttp://veganacious.com/and this is to Corey Wrenn's Vegan Examiner articles, I hope to have Corey on as a guest very soon.Roanoke Vegan ExaminerThanks for listening.

Dear Colleagues: In this Commentary, I discuss three issues. First, I talk about my new book, The Animal Rights Debate: Abolition or Regulation?, co-authored with Professor Robert Garner, and published by Columbia University Press. This book focuses on the debate ongoing in the animal advocacy community: should we pursue welfare reform as a means to […] Related posts: Commentary #8: A Discussion of Abolitionist Principles Commentary #17: Discussion with Ronnie Lee and Roger Yates Commentary #16: Responding to Questions: Single-Issue Campaigns and MDA Opposition to the Abolitionist Approach OUR NEW BOOK: “Animal Rights: The Abolitionist Approach” Upcoming Abolitionist Approach Podcast on Effective Animal Rights Advocacy: A Preview

Dear Colleagues: Several weeks ago, I asked for questions that people would like me to address. I received approximately 80 questions. I plan to do several Commentaries in which I discuss at least some of these questions. A number of the questions that I received concern single-issue campaigns so this Commentary deals primarily with that […] Related posts: On Johnny Weir, Single-Issue Campaigns, Treatment, and Abolitionist Veganism Commentary #21: “The Animal Rights Debate,” the Abolitionist Approach Discussion Forum, and a Response to Nicolette Hahn Niman Single-Issue Campaigns in Human & Nonhuman Contexts Welfare Reform Campaigns, Single-Issue Campaigns, and Animal Exploitation: Perfect Together Why Welfare Reform Campaigns and Single-Issue Campaigns Necessarily Promote Animal Exploitation

Vegcast 76 kicks off 2010 with an extra long, in depth interview with Gary Francione, whose Abolitionist Approach web site and podcast are gaining ground worldwide. Gary discusses how an activist movement must be founded on nonviolence and how people can now get a vegan message out and connect better without depending on large organizations. There is also a new song from Dada Veda looking forward to an improved social world. This is a larger download than most but it is worth it.

Vegcast 76 kicks off 2010 with an extra long, in depth interview with Gary Francione, whose Abolitionist Approach web site and podcast are gaining ground worldwide. Gary discusses how an activist movement must be founded on nonviolence and how people can now get a vegan message out and connect better without depending on large organizations. There is also a new song from Dada Veda looking forward to an improved social world. This is a larger download than most but it is worth it.

Dear Colleagues: Would Martin Luther King have had an “I’d Rather Go Naked than Sit in the Back of the Bus” campaign? Of course not. He would have recognized that such a campaign would trivialize the important message of civil rights. Why don’t animal advocates recognize that sexist campaigns similarly trivialize the issue of animal […] Related posts: Commentary #4: Follow-Up to “Pets” Commentary: Non-Vegan Cats Commentary #23: Lennox and Moral Reasoning in Animal Rights Commentary #6: Aspects of the Vegetarian/Vegan Debate Commentary #21: “The Animal Rights Debate,” the Abolitionist Approach Discussion Forum, and a Response to Nicolette Hahn Niman Commentary #16: Responding to Questions: Single-Issue Campaigns and MDA Opposition to the Abolitionist Approach

Dear Colleagues: There are some advocates who claim to be abolitionists but who support welfare reform or who support violence. In this Commentary, I explain why welfare reform and violence cannot fit into the abolitionist approach. Gary L. Francione ©2009 Gary L. Francione Related posts: Commentary #17: Discussion with Ronnie Lee and Roger Yates Commentary #11: Discussion with Professor Gary Steiner Commentary #21: “The Animal Rights Debate,” the Abolitionist Approach Discussion Forum, and a Response to Nicolette Hahn Niman Commentary #4: Follow-Up to “Pets” Commentary: Non-Vegan Cats Commentary #16: Responding to Questions: Single-Issue Campaigns and MDA Opposition to the Abolitionist Approach