Posts tagged: Reply
The company you’re referring to is Foxconn, they make products for not just Mac but Microsoft, Sony, Motorola, Nokia, Toshiba, Vizio, Dell, HP, etc. They are the largest electronic producer in the world. If you own electronics, you have a Foxconn product in your home already.
I should start off by saying that the only electronics I own were bought before I became vegan and became aware of this problem. As for my Mac, it was 1) made before Mac shifted its macbook production from Quanta to Foxconn, and therefore not an issue and 2) mandatory to purchase for entry into my school. As for my phone, again, it was bought before I became vegan or before I even became aware of electronic slave labor. Not only can I not afford a new phone, but getting rid of my current one and buying a new phone would simply mean buying from another company that buys from Foxconn. Buying a new phone would mean supporting Foxconn twice over. Not having a phone would mean not being able to apply for most jobs, not having a computer would mean not being able to be an illustrator, among many other problems that would threaten my chances of making a living and threaten my livelihood in general.
Additionally, in 2012 Foxconn instituted new fair-trade legislation at the prompting of Mac (not at the prompting of Microsoft, I will note) that sends Mac representatives in to inspect the facilities and ensure fair labour laws are being instated, so the information you’re using is outdated.
I do my best to avoid these products and avoid buying electronics, to maintain the electronics I’ve already bought prior to going vegan so as not to cause more harm. I am invested in this and will be sure to research thoroughly, if I need to replace an electronic, what is made by slave labour and what is not. Because of Mac, we can look forward to more proactive labor laws in China.
I understand that not every company is perfect, and short of running into the wild and abandoning civilization, you are not going to be able to buy 100% cruelty-free things. But I do my best. I research what I buy, and I donate and petition, and even write letters to politicians (that will probably end up in the trash) in order to campaign for better treatment of workers and animals.
If you don’t have a choice, I get that, and in terms of electronics, there’s not really much of a choice. The best you can do is to be proactive, be mindful, be informed, and spread awareness. Just because you can’t do everything doesn’t mean you should therefore give up and do nothing. If there are alternatives, I use them and encourage others to use them. I do the best I can, and all I ask is that others do the same.
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Sen.tient n.
1. Having sense perception; conscious.
2. Experiencing sensation, thought, or feeling.
Synonyms: any sentient creature should have the good sense to avoid something so dangerous: (capable of) feeling/thinking, cognitive, conscious, aware.
Things like tumors, plants, and bacteria react to stimuli. This is very different from bugs, rats, and humans that make conscious decisions to enhance their comfort, plan ahead, and are capable of experiencing fear, comfort, attachment, and in many cases, sympathy. Rats will ration their own food to help feed other rats, bees plan ahead for the winter and make personal decisions of how valuable another bee’s information is.
Bees are the proud owners of the second most complex language that we know of (the famous bee dance, second only to human speech/sign language). There is no concrete evidence to suggest that plants are capable of fear or pain, but even if there were, I would still be vegan because it takes less life total to cultivate plants and eat them directly than it does to cultivate plants, feed them to animals, and then kill and eat the animals. Less death total, less pain total, more compassion. I do have to eat to live, but the way I can do that and inflict the least pain possible for others is by eating a plant-based diet.
qschoolcandidate asked you: So I was wondering, I’ve seen a lot of y’all that practice veganism say folks shouldn’t collect honey from bees because that’s exploiting their labor, etc. Does that logic extend to other insects/bugs? Like are you against extermination services for things like…Bee keepers help bees a lot during winter and they move them around all the time in summer to places where they can find more pollen(?) and basically waste a whole day for them, since you need to move them at night, which means you’ll sleep during the day, if you choose to sleep… So they basically work a lot for their beehives.
They also spend a lot of money for them and it’s not just the honeycombs, they also need the bee keeper outfit, the tool for smoke, pay for gas when moving them around…
So yea, it’s not just the bees that work for that honey…And as a side note, they don’t usually replace honey with sugar water. That is usually supplementary during winter, when bees might not have enough honey for the whole family.
This post seems to imply that there is a ‘teamwork’ relationship between bees and their “owners” and that they both deserve the honey. This couldn’t be further from the truth. While the beekeeper consents to that work and consents to selling their physical labour. The bees never once consent to offering up their honey or even discarding it for human scavengers to take from them and turn a profit on. Honey is a bee’s bounty. They work intensively all year to make the honey and they are willing to defend it with their very lives (stinging kills the bee).
A bee keeper pays money and works hard to keep the bees enslaved, of that I have no doubt. I’m sure it costs money to pay for the gasses to drug and incapacitate the bees, of which many get stepped on. I’m sure it costs money to create elaborate cages for them. I’m sure it costs money to find the queen bee and rip her wings off so that she can’t swarm or relocate. They essentially have to cripple the hive in order to leech off of it enough to turn a profit. I don’t doubt that’s hard work, but it’s not compassionate or necessary work by a long shot.
If you want to feed bees and make a bee-friendly hutch or garden, that’s fine. I have no more problem with that than I do with someone feeding pond ducks, but the dynamic changes when you capture and keep one animal or hive in order to take something from them for profit.
I would hope bee-keepers could instead put their hard work and effort into something that does not treat an animal like a commodity or a cog in their machine.
Anyhow, all this commercial honey talk is making me a bit sad, so here is a picture of miss bee lady collecting pollen. HUUUU It’s like cookie crumbs in her little puff sweater! ಥ ⩊ ಥ
qschoolcandidate asked you: So I was wondering, I’ve seen a lot of y’all that practice veganism say folks shouldn’t collect honey from bees because that’s exploiting their labor, etc. Does that logic extend to other insects/bugs? Like are you against extermination services for things like cockroaches, termites, fire ants? What about insecticide-treated mosquito nets to cut down on malaria?
Well first of all, I don’t really consider most bugs to be pests! I don’t kill them, I put them under cups and move them outside where they will 1) be able to find more food and 2) be less likely to be stepped on. If it’s winter, I leave them alone. If it’s a dangerous stinging bug, I will put them in the basement where it is still warm/has some left over summer snacks of dead gnats. In the case of an ant infestation in the home you can put a piece of fruit in a tub or on a plate, wait for them to crowd on it and then just move them outside by hand. It might be tedious to get all of them, but personally I would rather do that then crush them or poison them (why would I want to douse my home in poison anyways?;;;; It sounds like a horrible nod to Silent Spring. No thank you!) I could make another post entirely simply about how pesticides are completely harmful to your health and the environment, inhumane, and unnecessary.
I think it’s a little strange that most omnis I know think that the only way to get rid of bugs is to souse everything in poison: souse your food plants in poison, souse your home in poison, get some poison and spray a fine mist of it on your body, etc. Most bugs, like cockroaches, are almost completely harmless and are around because you’re unknowingly inviting them in with snacks. Compassionate pest control starts with taking care of yourself. Clean up all food, crumbs, vacuum regularly, and properly store your fruit. Remove standing water from around your home, keep your doors and windows properly sealed and maintained. This will not only save on heat, but discourages buggies from coming in. In the case of gardens, this is a fantastic vegan gardening guide to compassionate pest control outdoors. http://www.theveganwoman.com/non-violent-pest-control-in-your-organic-garden/
Some of it is trial and error, but you have to remember that bugs are a sign of a healthy and lush ecosystem and not something to wage war against.
For things like termites, it’s a bit trickier, but even termite experts will tell you the best and most effective method is prevention, not finding out too late about the problem and then sloshing around tons of harsh chemicals which is bad for you, your kids, your pets, and your yard.
Just as a footnote about the honey thing, honey is a very special meal with important nutrients that are essential for honey bees and non-essential for humans. It takes one honey bee her entire life to make only 1 1/2 teaspoons of honey. In honey farms, this is stolen and replaced with sugar water. Like with the production of dairy, this deprives the rightful owner of important nutrients with a really shoddy replacement (in the case of calves, they’re given an inferior powder supplement). YOU eat the sugar water, save the real thing for the rightful maker, and try (equally yummy) replacements like agave nectar, maple syrup, or molasses which is very high in both calcium and iron and a lot more nutritionally valuable for you than honey.
My philosophy is actually pretty straight forward; I believe in the sanctity of life and bodily autonomy for every sentient being, but I also believe in self defense.
If a human, lion, dog, deer, parasite, or poisonous/disease spreading bug attacked me, I would do whatever I had to do to keep myself or my loved ones from harm. In the case of parasites like flees, lice, or tapeworms, I would concede that killing them may be necessary. I don’t think it’s great, and I will try to exhaust humane methods before hand whenever they are available, but veganism is about causing the least amount of harm as you possibly can. Don’t kill unless something threatens your livelihood and when all other options are exhausted.
I got this ask on lineplay, but I thought that it was a really good question! *__* I realize I’m still a beginner and I myself have a lot to learn about making comics, but I sincerely hope that someone may be able to find a grain of something useful in my reply:
“do you have any advice you wish you knew/ were glad to have before you started drawing your comics?”
Hmmm I think it’s important to remember who you’re drawing this for. There were a lot of times I almost changed something because I was worried others wouldn’t like it. But at the end of the day, a comic is just too fucking much of a hassle to ever do for anything other than personal enjoyment. Please keep your interests in mind and try not to worry about what others are into! >w<
My other point to impress upon anyone trying to make a comic is kinda obvious but really important!!! If it’s a long comic, you’re going to improve! You might look back and really hate the early pages. Please don’t freeze, don’t beat yourself up over the style, the story, or the art. Please do try and make it the best it can be, but please please please don’t beat yourself up (this applies to art in general and not just comics) because eventually that part of you is gonna chip away and win. And then you hate your stuff too much to even bother improving and it’s just BAD NEWS!!;;; Take pride in your art! Because everyone has something valuable to offer!
You should keep in mind that mistakes are normal, and a lot of readers really enjoy seeing art improve as it goes on! If there’s something giving you trouble, try to remember that a comic is a long project, mistakes are okay, the fact that you recognize them is a healthy sign of improvement, and that a comic is about the larger story, not necessarily each individual page! > w <
And just for fun, a comparison of the first page of StTA I ever did, and it’s 3rd version equivalent
First version of StTA
Third version of StTA. > w<;;;
Good luck, comic sweeties! I know you can do it!
(edit: if anyone can explain to me why the line spacing on this post is so messed up, I would be glad to hear it. ;*__*;)
This is a very interesting message! I think that a lot of people have carelessly hurt an animal (closing their cat’s tail in a door, tripping over a dog running around your legs) There was a time last summer when I rolled over onto a lizard in my sleep and woke up with it in my bed, horrified with the knowledge that I had killed it. Do you know what I did? I laid in bed the rest of the day and cried off and on. Children also carelessly hurt animals without fully understanding life and death, or empathizing with pain, and as sad as that is, I can understand they don’t know any better.
How old are the members of BAP? 16, 18, 19, 19, 22, and 22. They. Know. Better. This was not an accident, this was not coming from a place of severe naivety like they’re fucking 3 years old or something, this was a heartless action by people that are supposedly adults. Flushing an animal down the toilet ensures they die a very slow and painful death from drowning in sewage or harsh chemicals, perhaps being crushed slowly by pressure or filtration systems. Once more, an action that resulted out of both neglect (on Zelo’s part) and laziness on the part of his hyungs. Once more, this is laughed about and turned into a silly joke. By both the fans, producers, and band members.
I think it’s interesting that you seem to think that, in order to judge an action one must be completely and totally faultless themselves. I’m sorry that I’ve accidentally hurt animals (both non-human and human), and if I could take it back I would in an instant. Intention is very important when considering someone’s actions (the difference between murder and manslaughter), and therefore, I will judge them, who, in full knowledge, caused intentional death and suffocation to an animal and then laughed about it on national tv while everyone else patted them on the back and laughed along. This is the most obscene case of fanbias I have ever seen, and I understand that no one thinks of frogs like they would if this were say… a kitten? Despite the fact evidence tells us that frogs, like other vertebrates have as sensitively developed pain receptors as do cats. A frog values its life as much as a cat and experiences the terror of drowning just as a cat would. I get that frogs are not cuddly or as outwardly lively, but if it experiences the same pain as a drowning cat, should not that take precedence over whether or not it can do silly tricks or cuddle??
I’m frankly sickend by the whole scenario, especially as this was recent. If this were one of the hyungs recounting a childhood memory of the same event but with remorse, I would see this in an entirely different light. But it’s not. The way you phrased this question makes it sound like you honestly believe most teens have participated in intentionally harming or killing an animal. I don’t understand what you’re trying to accomplish but to suggest that animal abuse is so routine that it can’t be criticized.
zelo’s traumatic pet experiences ｡：ﾟ(｡ﾉω＼｡)ﾟ･｡
I’ve heard this might be a script? and that Zelo did own a frog but let it go outside, but maybe that was just panicked clean up?
I think…. if you want a really fast way to get me to dislike you, intentionally kill an animal and then laugh about it. This is the most tasteless script I have heard from one of these idol shows. Whether it’s true or not, I don’t think I can listen to B.A.P anymore.
Reading the fans response was equally disheartening. 3 members of suju body shame (which is totally disgusting btw) and are rightfully called out on it/lose fans over it. But When BAP kills (or pretends to kill??) a helpless animal for no reason, the fan response is “lol Do you want him to apologize to the frog? It’s DEAD HAHAHA” or “So what? It’s a stupid frog!” It’s… a living creature? It’s a very troubling sign in psychology? It’s a being that Zelo took responsibility for and then neglected and that instead of releasing it at the very least, his seniors kill it out of laziness I guess? I’m really not sure why taking a life is such an unexceptional event.
Good, because that mental image is canon.
I just started watching it recently and I’m really enjoying the show! I admit, some elements I find… distasteful?
I watched the 3rd season first with my mom, and enjoyed it enough to go back and watch the 1st (can’t find the 2nd.) In the 3rd season it was mentioned that Thomas was gay. I said something like “The evilest character in the show and he’s gay. Let me guess, he’s also the only gay character?” And my mom replied with a fishy “…no.”
Watching the 1st season I realized that she was telling the truth but omitting something crucial; there are a total of two gay characters. One is evil, the other is a monstrous douche: the gay (or bi) duke. Two gay characters, Also the two most detestable men.
I like the show, but this kind of thing I find very obvious and hurtful. The worst thing about it is that if they even had ONE, just one, moderately prominent gay character who was likable, I wouldn’t even think twice about the focal villain being gay. But they don’t. They don’t even have a neutral minor gay character. It makes me really disappointed in the writers for not noticing or not caring enough to fix it.
Hamletmachine and I were talking about this and we both feel like William would literally be a perfect foil for Thomas. The ensuing romance could also be quite cool?
Instead of Thomas hitting garishly on Daisy to make William jealous, he could… GARISHLY HIT ON DAISY TO MAKE HIM JEALOUS??? It’s so frustrating when William has this thoroughly banal “romance” with Daisy when he would make, quite literally, the perfect gay character for this series.
You could have the initial clash of “YOU ARE AN ASS” “ufufufu you are easily wounded” and then some strife like that. Then some gentle, bubbling lust-vibes.
And then more strife from William like “omg am I only into Thomas because he’s my only option and I’m gay and I’ll probably die alone but he’s really mean to me??? Is this okay??”
and then Thomas leaving for war and coming back humbled with his hand shot off. William could help him pick up his pieces and really grow as a character???
That would be great.
This is not just fangirl-speak, but I think it provides some really interesting character development beyond William’s boring crush and Thomas’ horrible and now quite tired evil antics.
Here’s a question mark so you guys can feel free to give feedback/tell me I’m a pathetic fujoshi because the comment system here blows?
childrenoftheredqueen asked:
so i was wondering, and this is not meant be antagonistic or provocative or anything just a question (related to the comments on the university of chicago’s rat experiment) i agree that experiments like that are totally unnecessary and ridiculously cruel, and tbh i’ve always been against animal testing, but i study biomedical science and am planning on going into research, and one of our modules is bioethics, and we had to study some cases involving animal testing, and whether or not it was moral to test on animals or not, and of course some of the (made up) cases we got were cosmetic testing etc HOWEVER some of the cases were using animals (not the higher mammals) for testing things like cancer drugs, alzheimers treatments, immune system diseases etc and no matter what moral conclusion we students came to, we were made aware that short of human trials straight from the shot, it’s animal testing or nothing. so basically what i’m wondering is, as a vegan (i think) whats youropinion?
hmmm well this is a good question, and it varies from vegan to vegan. I can’t answer it as VEGAN OVERLORD SUPREME AMBASSADOR, but I can answer it as onorobo. In my opinion, I’ll start out by saying that I do not believe I have a right to live anymore than another individual. I value my life and the lives of others around me, I would not want to improve my chances of survival by harming someone else.
I also don’t believe that intelligence is the standard by which we should judge the value of a life, but rather we should judge it based on its capacity for emotion: pain, joy, fear, love. Pigs, for instance, have been proven to have higher cognitive skills than young toddlers and certain individuals with cognitive impairments. They can make life-long, loving relationships and express their feelings with others, so why would I ever consider a pig beneath me?
A rat, rabbit, or dog experiences the same kind of pain and fear that I do and they want to live as much as I do. It’s also been proven that vivisection is WILDLY inaccurate (75-95% of all drugs that pass animal testing fail human testing)
So I don’t find it justifiable for me, personally, to test drugs on animals in order to save my own life. I do not buy drugs or medications (much less something as trivial as cosmetics) that are tested on animals, severely impaired persons, or children. However, I would buy drugs tested on consenting human adults, because they have the capacity to fully understand and concede to what is happening to them.
It’s about informed consent; neither a child, nor an animal can give that.
Long answer short, I do not personally agree with any form of animal testing, but I have never had my life threatened with the prospect of impending death. I would hope that in such a situation I could be brave enough to reject animal-tested medication, but I honestly don’t know what I would do and I sincerely hope it never comes to that.
I would never judge someone who takes animal-tested medication in order to save themselves. But as for cosmetics, I think it’s extremely selfish to use animal-tested beauty and hygiene products when testing on human skin cultures is by far more accurate and infinitely more humane. There are lots of alternative cosmetics that are cruelty free, and there’s really no excuse to not buy from companies such as Sugarpill, Tarte, Ecco Bella, E.L.F, and Josie Marin instead of L’Oréal. (they all sell unnecessary products at about the same price, but only 5 of them are interested in consent.)
It cannot be “live and let live” if there is a clear victim.