Redact! Redact!

Hi all,
I have lately been listening to the excellent podcast found at www.wearecitizenradio.com and it has really helped me to do that political plugging in that I was missing before. I just think it's important that I say,after the last post where I was questioning some stuff, that I believe in the "socialist government" that Conservatives want so badly for us not to trust. We shouldn't trust it, but for very different reasons than the right wingers would want us to.

Since listening to this podcast I have had some wonderful/sad conversations with friends and family members about rape culture and how prevalent it is, as well as white privilege and patriarchal privilege. I've also baked my first batch of vegan cookies and served them to my students who were impressed at how tasty options that don't involve animals products can be, as was I.

Being aware and awake is a painful feeling, one that makes a person feel like it's a hopeless fight, when things like three women being locked in a basement for 10 years while being ignored by police and neighbours while suffering unimaginable abuse comes to light and the only thing people can focus on about the story is the funny black man who rescued her and his personal life. Why don't we know as much about the perpetrators, or the victims and how their recovery is progressing as we do about a man named Chales Ramsey and his relationship with McDonald's.

However, as easy as it is to feel overwhelmed with heart sickness, the important thing is to find a community of people who not only see behind that curtain, but who are positive influences in your life to help you find positive ways to take action and who don't judge you on the things you aren't ready to do yet. Something I like a lot about this podcast is their attitude towards veganism.

I realise that philisophically, I should be a vegan already. I don't at all agree with the way that meat comes to my local supermarket, knowing that living creatures were killed so that I can enjoy a hamburger, or that terrible, immoral companies are reaping profit and are being positively reinforced by my purchase. I am also an environmentalist who is deeply afraid of what is on the horizon with climate change and the environmental impact of the lifestyle we enjoy in the West. All that considered, I cannot yet being myself to stop eating meat and animal products.

What has been my excuse since hitting my teens has partially been based on my feeling of unwelcomness in the vegan community and fear of the judgement I felt from people who were already to some degree practicing this lifestyle. What I like about Citizen Radio is how non-judgemental they are about people trying to start cutting out meat and animal products, or to vegans or veggies who slip up and eat something they shouldn't. It's taken a long time to find that underlying message in the podcasts, but I am happy to have realised that small steps are better than none, like cutting down smoking, I can start modifying my way of eating in a way that more closely fits my ideology.

Just wanted to put that message out there because I think it's a really important one because I think there are a lot of people out there like me and if all of us started eating even just vegetarian for one day a week, the impact that has can be massive. It's worth at least trying!