We understand the image that many people have been “fed” by the mainstream about environmental and animal rights activists. Many of us have been accused of hating humans or of being “terrorists”. The Occupy Movement has begun to see what most activists deal with on a regular basis, considering that the 99% have been labeled as being “un-American” and accusations of their “not wanting freedom” have been cast at them. These are obviously ridiculous accusations fueled by corporate interests.

The truth about most real activists is that we certainly do not hate humans. We get frustrated with apathetic people, yes however, we care a great deal about all life on this planet, including human life. If perhaps, the 99% would have listened more carefully to what we have been trying to tell them for countless years, this movement would have happened long ago.

Animal rights and environmental activists are not proponents of human death, especially that of starvation death, which is oddly, part of an argument I have heard against vegan activists. This is quite actually, the furthest thing from the truth in regard to vegan activism. The fact of the matter is that humans feed roughly half of every edible vegetation resource that we grow on this planet to animals in “livestock” conditions and roughly half of humanity is in the business of growing that grain. There are 2 billion cows on the planet at any given time, exploited to sustain the animal agriculture industry and cows consume 30 times the amount of grain that full grown human beings do.

The planet was never meant to sustain such production stresses. We are growing enough excess food to feed what equates to well over a billion more human beings, by this simple statistical scale, whilst shredding every scrap of rain forest, every drop of fresh water, as 40,000 humans starve and another 6,000 die from poor water source issues, every day. Keep in mind that it requires 16 lbs. (7.25 kg) of grain and 2,000 gallons (7500 liters) of water to produce 1 lb. (.45 kg) of beef.

In the way that we currently live, this planet can only sustain approximately 2 billion human beings without causing severe negative ecologic impact, not 6 or 7 billion, however, if global human society was vegan, we could possibly sustain up to 9 or 10 billion, with minimal environmental degradation. It is even possible to sustain more, but this is not a recommendation for expanding the human population. Every species has its place and we have seriously “over-stepped” our’s.

As far as dairy is concerned, again, the Earth was simply not meant to sustain a billion cows upon it’s surface, or even half of that number (let alone double). The methane expelled, the shredding of fertile lands through over-grazing/feed-producton, loss of rain forest, dismantling of our wetlands in favor of feeding animal agriculture, the fresh water depletion (dairy cows can consume at up to 25-30 gallons per day) and the seepage pollutants from their waste, far exceeds what the planet can ever possibly handle.

Besides, in order to keep cows pumping out milk, they must also be impregnated annually to induce the lactation process, generating an excessive number of baby cows. Males are generally slaughtered for veal, whilst the females eventually take their mother’s places in the dairy industry. It is a vicious, cruel cycle and all facets of the animal agriculture industry are obviously, one in the same.

The argument about veganism being a poor dietary choice is moot when faced with a future of extinction for the human race, which is where we are headed. Even if the negative dietary arguments against veganism were true (which they are not), humans on this planet, especially in the Unites States, die mainly of diseases relating to meat and dairy consumption, anyway. So, what would be the difference if we died of a different dysfunction at roughly the same age, other than the fact that we would not be sacrificing our posterity’s future and destroying all life on the planet in the process? Something to consider, perhaps?

Animal agriculture is the most detrimental industry to our ocean and rain forest biodiversity. The meat and dairy industry is indeed the main cause for both “over-fishing” and the clearing of multiple thousands of square miles/kilometers annually of the Earth’s rain forests. Countless fish species are fed, along with the grain, to the 70 billion land-based “livestock” animals that we exploit/slaughter each year. Fertile lands must be cleared or razed on a frightening scale in order to grow such inordinate amounts of vegetation to feed these animals, as well. We lose hundreds of species to extinction, on both land and in the sea, every single day, whilst devastating the very factors that produce our oxygen and form the basic foundations of all life on the planet.

It is easy to dismiss factually-based statistics by seeking disinformation in order to satiate apathetic tendencies however, for the future of your children, we hope that you would endeavor to investigate more detailed environmental information before coming to any conclusions when judging activists. We are quite terrified for the future of humanity, animals and all forms of life on our planet. Activists have children and loved ones, too. Please do not judge us all, based on the actions of people who scream, “corpse-muncher” at you.

Many activists (including ourselves) have been accused of being emotional. Well, we become extremely upset when we see the horrors inflicted upon life in our world and we are only human, which makes us flawed creatures, just like anyone else. Most of us were also once consumers of animal-based products in the past. We are not claiming to be better than anyone better than anyone. We are simply simply aware of what is happening around us

All personal belief aside, it is simply unethical to exploit any living being. A slave is a slave and there is no “humane” way to treat a slave. There certainly is no “humane” way to kill one, either. There is also no way to get around the fact that we have ignored our responsibility to life on this planet. We must show resolve in our advocacy and we must present factual information that people can use to educate others. It is the only hope for our posterity that we willingly change the way we treat the Earth and all life upon it.

The AELLA Team
Global activism, in unity and for a better world…