You Won't Like What I Have to Say...

And so it goes...

2012-01-25T16:47:00.000+02:00

Well, this is it then...

I've decided to move on. I have chosen WordPress as my platform of choice from now on and I have registered my own domain where I will hopefully be doing many creative things soon.

I have decided so expand and diversify. My new blog will deal with some additional things I didn't originally intend to discuss here.

That means that this is the last post here ever. The few old articles have been exported to the WordPress blog and, if the magic of the importer worked, if you were a subscriber, you should automatically be subscribed to the new blog.

If you weren't a subscriber, if destiny so wishes, you might find my new blog. If not - thanks for reading this anyway.

Keep well!

Animal Rights: The Last Ten Years (a talk by Prof. Gary L. Francione)

2010-11-11T20:19:00.001+02:00

In the light of all the recent Animal Rights actions and event that have been taking place in South Africa over the last few months, I thought this would be a very useful reinforcement.

For anyone who attended the seminar on "Animal Rights in Practice: Defending Animals Through the Law" last week, I think this would be especially useful to watch. Professor Francione reiterates on some of the topics that was discussed there as well (including his very simple and succinct take on the "lifeboat problem").

Be warned though - this discussion is just over an hour long, so if you're low on bandwidth (or time), I'd suggest giving it a skip for now.

Animal Rights: The Last Ten Years from Gary L. Francione on Vimeo.

Avatar, Aesthetics and Accountability

2010-02-26T14:47:00.001+02:00

A few weeks ago, I went to see Avatar, the much raved-about new James Cameron film, for a second time (something which I know is slightly ironic, if you consider the rest of this post). The movie impressed me beyond all expectation – and not just because of the amazing visuals – it was truly magnificent. This was possibly because it was the most emotional action-driven film that I've ever seen; the closest I've ever come to crying (in a good way) in a Cameron film. Notwithstanding the fact that it was one of only a handful of original and unique productions to hit mainstream cinema in years. (Yes, I know that this statement is probably one of the most debated and joked-about things in recent years. Let me just clarify what I mean by “original and unique film”. This film, even though it shares many elements with films such as Dances with Wolves and The Last Samurai, was not based on a book, like the dominant share of films hitting the screens these days. Also, it was not simply a remake of an old film, or an Americanisation of a foreign film. But, since this is not the point of my discussion, I will leave it at that).

I have to say that the intensity of the film and the particular topics addressed, set the gears in my mind into overdrive. Aside from the fact that I was emotionally drained after walking out of the cinema, I have not been able to stop thinking about the movie and more importantly, it's implications – both artistically and socially.

As has been well publicised (New York Times, 8 November 2009), Avatar is one of the most expensive films (if not the most expensive) ever to be made. And, even though on one level this is an impressive feat, I haven't been able to stop thinking about the morality of this claim, especially considering the uncanny parallels to what has been happening in the world recently and the big topics in the news. Ironically, the film also opened in several countries, including the USA and Denmark, on the 18^th of December, the date of the final talks of the Conference of Parties at the United Nations Climate Conference in Copenhagen, which, as we all know by now, were a monumental failure.

Yet unfortunately, as with most profound things, I believe that the truths hidden beneath the surface remained obscured from all but those who already know them. The ignorant who need to be informed are most likely the ones upon whom it is completely lost. In my experience, the type of people who would endlessly ramble on about the visual achievements and box-office success of a film such as this, are not the type of people who are activists. The activists are the ones who already know what the film tried to impart onto its watchers.

In a film that so clearly demonstrates the destructive nature of us humans, our utter irreverence for the sacred gift of life and our apparent inability to accept differences in others, I find it ironic that it is, in essence, a product of supreme capitalism. But is it merely self-seeking fortune-hunting. Or is it artistic integrity? Well, when it boils down to a film studio giving you a colossal amount of money to produce a film of this calibre and your main goal thereafter is to make enough money out of it to at least break even, then I think artistic license takes a bit of a backseat. I am saying that, if Cameron had made this movie with the intention of donating the profits thereof to an environmental or social justice organisation, every last cent involved in its production would have been justified. But, since this is not the case, much as I have racked my brain, I cannot find any justification for something as exorbitant as Avatar, regardless of its artistic beauty.

For how can we justify something that costs nearly half a billion dollars when it is done for mere entertainment? When $500 000 000 is spent on escapism when millions are dying of hunger, when the world is in the utmost peril from the destruction we as a species as wreaking upon our environment, how can we possibly justify mere amusement?

But please know this – I am not saying that artistic expression needs to be repressed or regulated in any way. I am not saying that there is no value in a film (or any other artistic endeavour) if the producers made it without charity in mind. It boils down to personal responsibility; to each person's own conscience. Because I believe that, in every action in our lives, we need to consider the greater effects of what we are doing (or very often, not doing). People have become much too frivolous and superficial in a world where grave injustices are the order of the day. As a matter of fact, it is greatly reminiscent of the majestic decadence that reigned supreme among royalty during the French revolution.

Have we gone full circle? Have we forgotten empathy and the meaning of democracy which people have been fighting for for centuries? Can we speak of any sort of civilised society when we are still, after all these years, segregated into different classes? Are we civilised when we consider only ourselves and live with utter disregard for those less fortunate than us and feel no need or duty to assist in liberating those that have been condemned by capitalism and the American Dream to be the new lower class, the peasants of the 21^st century?

Where I live, there is constantly talk of 'programmes' to help the poor and the previously disadvantaged, many of which involve art workshops to guide people to discover and explore their own creativity. Yet, when so many of these are sponsored by big corporations that are generally concerned only with increasing profits, I can't help but wonder about the seemingly flawed logic in teaching people art and then releasing them into a world where only business matters.

I often wonder about the thought patterns of the extremely rich and famous. I wonder about how people manage to justify buying a television set at a price that could feed a small family for a year.

So where do we draw the line? Where does artistic expression border on excessiveness, where do we renege our social duties in favour of personal creative license?

I am not advocating a world in which artistic expression needs to be regulated (a la Equilibrium), but I am advocating a world in which the inhabitants become socially responsible and accountable for the direct and indirect consequences of their conscious choices. We live in the information age and there is no excuse for ignorance any longer. If you didn't know that there are thousands of people starving in Africa, it is most likely simply because you don't care.

So when it comes to a film such as Avatar – is it justified in having spent that much money on entertaining the world's trouble-free? How about using half a billion dollars rather for feeding starving children in Africa? But then, we wouldn't have entertainment – we wouldn't have something to help us forget about the annoyance of starving Africans...

What did I take away from Avatar? That the human race (in general) truly is a virus. We consume with the most blatant disregard for sustainability and what the future might hold; (in general) we are solely concerned with our own needs and don't care about the needs of others. We are not willing to take responsibility for our actions and always expect “them” to do it.

We are greed. “I am a cancer... I am humanity...”

EDIT:

In the light of my criticism of Cameron's intentions, I need to remark on something I have noticed.

I have seen lately that James Cameron has become very much involved with environmental actions, so I commend him for that. It's fantastic that such high profile people are taking a stand.

I still don't think it alters the original sentiments of my piece though (the debate about the value of doing good for the sake of good, or doing good to get something out of it; the case for accountability and being responsible in a world that has finite resources and an apparent insatiable greed).

I wonder if he had these points of view before he made the film, or whether his own work changed him... :)

How it came to be

2009-10-26T01:03:00.000+02:00

A few months ago one evening, my closest friend asked me a question. She wanted to hear my opinion on blogs. The first thought that went through my mind was, “So that's it then... She's gone emo...”

I asked her what exactly she meant and why she was asking. She then proceeded to tell me about an idea that she had had. The basic concept was a single blog with multiple contributors, all focusing on the same subject, yet telling their own unique stories.

We had both made rather significant changes in our lives shortly before – she had gone from being an omnivore, to being vegetarian. I progressed from a nine-year stretch of being vegetarian on to veganism.

So, in describing the concept , she asked me if I'd be willing to contribute to such a blog, writing about my experiences as a newly converted vegan; to tell people how it has affected my life and what changes have been brought about as a result of my choices. Furthermore, she wanted to find other people to contribute to this blog too - all types of people who have made positive changes in their lives, whether it was changing their diet, taking up a new exercise programme, taking their spiritual views to a different level, or even finding God.

So, after her explanation, the more I thought about it, the more I started thinking that a blog like that was actually a really good idea and had the potential to affect many people positively. I decided to put aside my often somewhat extreme opposition to pop-culture phenomena and started thinking seriously about her suggestion.

And now, all these months later, I finally commence this blog. Unfortunately, my friend, whose brainchild this was in the first place, seems to have lost a bit of her initial enthusiasm for the project, and after discussing it with her, I decided that I would start it on my own (at least for the time being), until she, or someone else with similar aspirations, decides to take it up with me.

As I will be flying solo for now, I won't only be focusing on my vegan lifestyle – I would be severely limiting the potential audience by going that route. Since I am more than just the lifestyle I choose for myself, I will be filling the shoes of the 'other people' who, it was initially assumed, would be writing for the blog as well (I will, however, not be writing much about my new exercise routine though, as I'm not really one for physical exertion). And as far as politics go, most of the time, I can't be bothered – it just seems more ridiculous than sensible to me at the best of times.

Everything else, however -science, technology, religion, spirituality, love, art, design and pancakes - is fair game and will most likely find its way onto these pages sooner or later.

And, as far as discussion goes – I encourage it most strongly. There is no point in some obscure polemicist sitting somewhere conducting monologues. Nothing that is done can be beneficial in any way if it is not done to someone, whether directly or indirectly. Anything that is said can only be of benefit if someone hears it. Yet, I feel that nothing that is said should ever be accepted indiscriminately. Everyone has their opinions and the only way for different opinions to come together and somehow benefit others, is if discussion takes place.

So please let me know your views on what I write, should you happen to agree with me, but especially if you disagree with me.

And with that, I believe that I have come to the end of the obligatory introduction post. The first proper essay will hopefully follow in the very near future.