Yesterday, I learned several terrifying facts. These facts alone are disturbing, but the wider context in which they sit, touched on below, is truly not for the faint of heart. I believe in sharing information widely, including the philosophical and ethical views I take on the world in which we live and the basis for these (perhaps increasingly controversial) opinions. But only read on if you are prepared to confront deeply uncomfortable truths...

1. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗲𝘁 ('𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗽𝗼𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻') 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝟴 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻! I remember when the world population hit the 7 billion milestone, which really wasn't that long ago (2011 in fact). So, the fact we've grown by another 1 billion people in such a short time is truly shocking, and scary. Remember, each human being requires huge amounts of fresh water, food and energy throughout their lifetime - the production of which has enormous implications for the environment. Indeed, just feeding this incredible population requires that vast swathes of natural habitat which would otherwise host a diverse array of species are instead destroyed and replaced with industrial-scale plant monocultures devoted entirely, and preserved exclusively, for the satiation of human appetite.

2. 𝗢𝗳 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗵, 𝟵𝟲% 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘀, 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗮𝗶𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀. Every non-human primate, from gorillas to lemurs, every giraffe and elephant, every dolphin, whale, and seal - along with every other non-human mammal neither a farm animal nor pet - all of them combine amount to just 4% of mammals living on this planet today! This alone is a perversion of nature, but especially so when remembering the horrific nature of the life experienced by most animals raised for slaughter, a brutal existence typically marked only by suffering, pain and then death at human hands. Nature can be cruel, but humans are - as a collective civilisation - far crueller and, for the most part, without mercy for their fellow sentient inhabitants of Earth.

3. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗺𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻-𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲, 𝗻𝗼𝗻-𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀 (𝗲.𝗴. 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗲, 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗹, 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗲𝘁𝗰.) 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗶𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗲𝘁 (𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘀). Thus, without a long-term plan for the proper management of these materials, including their reuse, recycling or breaking down into their naturally occurring components at the end of their useful lives; no amount of green energy production will, on its own, create a sustainable civilisation living in harmony with the environment on which we all depend for our very lives. This is especially important to remember as the production of components needed for green technologies (everything from solar cells & panels to lithium-iron batteries) could itself lead to further catastrophic pollution of the natural environment if we don't take seriously the need for proper resource and waste management.

Just as our civilisation willingly, gleefully even, threw back into the atmosphere in just 250 years the amount of carbon it took countless millennia for ecological processes to take out; we are again failing to live up to the immense responsibility our great power over this Earth places upon us today. Our lack of empathy for non-human animals is truly grotesque. And we seem to have learned nothing from the grave mistakes of the recent past - with populations around the world continuing to elect climate deniers and those determined to preserve the privilege of today for a few more short years at the great expense of both future human generations and present non-human animal populations.

Of course, there is perhaps a somewhat poetic irony attached to all this. For if artificial intelligence has only humanity to learn from and is ultimately made in our own image; we ought to be very, very worried.

____________

#veganism #veganfortheanimals #sustainability #eco #ecology #animals #animalrights #animalequality #nature #environment