FROM THE EDITOR

WE HAVE a riveting assortment of articles for you in this issue, as always. Lyndal Prime watched the film China Blue and was moved to stop buying clothing that comes from sweatshops and to start a blog about her adventures. Then the floods hit Brisbane and Lyndal’s house was just a bit in the way. In the end it remained high and dry, which was lucky because we don’t have so many vegans that we can afford to lose one.

Geoff Russell is focusing on climate breakdown and he says other vegans should be too. The animal rights focus on factory farms is understandable, says Geoff, but everything has changed. We need to stay focused on the main game – global warming for humans and nonhumans alike.

Our friend Dave Warwak is living the high life in California. No home, just him, his dog and a van. Oh, and a great deal of commitment to the animal rights cause. Read Dave’s exploits and marvel at the man’s approach and vision.

Leigh-Chantelle Koch has the ability to remain positive no matter what gets thrown at her. In this issue she provides budding activists with a list of just about everything an inspired vegan can do to effect change.

“On Your Soapbox” is back, with a bit of encouragement from me. I informed Susannah Waters she didn’t have to do a Liz Dealey (see last issue) and scribble her rant with a glass of bourbon beside her. All you have to do, I told her, is be your normal passionate self. Now how scary could that be?

Dr Glen Barry runs Ecological Internet and writes Earth Meanders, the confessions of an eco-warrior. He too is nothing if not passionate and committed, and he’s more than aware that we’re living on borrowed time. If you don’t care or if you obstruct the ecological revolution, he writes, you are ecocide.

We also spoke to 85-year-old life vegetarian Coby Siegenthaler in Los Angeles about growing up in Holland in World War II and how she came to be vegan. We asked her how and why humanity has come to this place where we now kneel. Coby tells it like it is: people just don’t care enough.

Regular contributor M. Butterflies Katz demands to know why people should be legally allowed to oppress innocent animals. Our laws are uncivilised and archaic, she writes; what we must work towards is that all animals be regarded as legitimate holders of legal rights.

IF SOMEONE asked me what I regret most in my life, I’d nominate not being raised vegan. This, above all the bad things I’ve done. When I read about vegan kids and the way they are around nonhuman animals, it makes me sad and ashamed I never grew up that way with them. I loved animals but I was indoctrinated to treat them as if they were somehow not all there, not quite right. Less than me.

I carry that indoctrination with me even now, still, knowing what I know. I might be watching a bird and find myself thinking, “I wonder how she knows to do that” or some other stupid thing, as if the bird were blind, deaf and dumb. We’re taught in childhood to treat other animals as if they’re beneath us and we never fully recover from it, much as we might try. The freedom of thought and open heart that a vegan kid must possess makes me want to weep with envy.

More than anything I wish I could speak the wild people’s languages. Instead I have to rely on my useless, atrophied senses to understand what they’re saying to me. Luckily they’ve always been patient with me, showing me they’d like to have the door opened or that they want a piece of banana, treating me like the demented, damaged being I am.

IT’S BEEN a mind-blowing few months, this summer past. Trying to work through my head problems and find a way to live with some sort of peace on this planet, I got to thinking about Elisabeth Kubler-Ross’s book On Death And Dying. In it she talks about the “five stages of grief”: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Some days I feel like I’m going through all five at the same time.

I know many vegans are experiencing similar feelings and looking for a way of dealing with the pain. It hurts like hell to know there’s a way out – or at least a better way than the one the world seems to have chosen. Other than reverting to drinking, doing other drugs and retreating into my shell, all I can do is keep on fighting the machine and working as long as I’m allowed to. That’s all any of us can do. Andy Warhol once told Lou Reed “the only thing is work”. I used to think that was a weird statement. But now I get it. Important, meaningful, creative work is the answer. And that’s what we vegans are here to do.

It was a struggle writing this column. I wrote it and rewrote it. These are serious times.
VV has always told the truth, and in this world that’s something most people do not want to hear. Some readers can’t handle anything that’s perceived as being bleak. Most humans prefer to live in blissful ignorance. The truth hurts, so it does. And the truth is that the way we’ve been living has brought us to the point where we are now fighting for our planet and our lives.

At any rate it’s not our job to have you agree with us. We’re here to make you think and act on it. One reader asked if we’d consider publishing an entire issue with the theme of joy. It kills me to say it but it’s hard to find good-news stories of any consequence these days. When we do, we print them. Friends, you’re going to have to make your own joy. I’ve always found it to be the best there is.

Let’s be clear. The vegan movement must grow even faster than it is. We need to tell people the truth, the blunter the better. There’s no time for half measures. What – or who – people eat is not a personal choice. Animal agribusiness must go, totally, wiped off the face of the Earth. It’s the only solution that will have the most impact in the shortest amount of time.

We’re all in this together. Don’t forget that. None of us have walked this path before. To all you vegans everywhere, it’s an honour to share the planet with you.

HERE AT WEBSTERS CREEK we share our small solar shack with our friends: rats, birds, mice, snakes, spiders and lizards. The wild people feel casual enough about us now just to come inside. So when a human visits, we don’t even try to clean up, we just blame the mess on the critters. Even if it’s not entirely their fault. The last visitor who crossed the threshold told me it had changed her life and stopped her being such a neat freak. Always happy to help. After all, it was Quentin Crisp who said he never bothered dusting because what was the point, the dust was only going to come back.

Anyway, word’s spread on the forest grapevine that we keep an open house. Everyone comes close or inside and everyone hits us up for food. But they don’t overstep the mark. They’re very polite, though one day I did stretch out on the sofa and accidentally dislodged a bush rat from her sleeping position under the quilt. I never saw anyone move so fast. It gave me a big laugh that felt pretty much like joy.

Sienna

From The Editor appears in our March–May issue, out around 21 February.
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Please read our letter to the world below.

LETTER TO ALL SUBSCRIBERS, FRIENDS (AND THE WORLD): 26 February 2011

Climate Breakdown and the Vegan Solution

Dear All

We at Vegan Voice magazine have decided to focus on climate breakdown and the promotion of veganism as the fastest solution to a growing crisis. We want to start a people-power movement including those who would normally not care about the animals, but might just stop eating them out of self-interest.

If you go to the editorial that appears in the new issue you'll get the idea what we're on about and how we feel. It is not a happy future we are facing unless we give it our all now, immediately. http://veganic.net/from%20the%20editor.htm

We know this is heavy stuff. It's heavy enough that if the world does not do something this year, we could be doomed to a worst-case scenario of perhaps 5 degrees warming by the end of the century. We understand that could mean 100 million climate refugees in the next five to seven years. Just use your imagination. It's all happening much faster than most people realise. There are no animals on a dead planet. We can't think of much else.

We have been blitzing journalists, TV/radio presenters, high-profile types and politicians with climate breakdown information http://suprememastertv.com/SOS/, a copy of the new Vegan Voice and a DVD http://www.vegsense.net/our-diet.html. We are not remotely religious or connected with either of these websites but we know hard facts when we see them. The Supreme Master website contains an exceptional amount of information on climate crisis, and the group has been targeting politicians worldwide throughout January and February. Vegetarian/vegan group VIVA! in the UK have informed us they are on board, having just completed a 60-page booklet Diet Of Disaster and being in the process of organising talks around the UK.

Send this link to everyone you know: http://suprememastertv.com/climate-change-kit/. We believe that's the best way you can help, apart from being or going vegan. We need to get this message out extremely quickly. The vegan movement, despite all its good intentions and hard work, has failed to bring about fast enough change in these times. It has become obvious that not enough people care about the animals or even their own health – they are getting ever fatter and sicker. The only logical thing is for the worldwide vegan movement to concentrate on promoting the vegan diet as the solution to climate catastrophe. And we need to be hard hitting. No more pussyfooting. Really, the public needs to be told that if they insist on eating meat and dairy, they may as well be putting a deposit on their children's funerals. We make no apology for these words.

Please let us know your thoughts. We are starting a cohesive people-power movement, the urgency of which cannot be overstressed.

Please help us. Please join us. If you're not already vegan, go vegan.

Sienna & Max
Vegan Voice: Australia's Celebrated and Singular Quarterly Magazine
PO Box 20030 Nimbin NSW 2480 Australia
Ph: (02) 6689 7498
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Here is a radio interview we did on Sunday 27 Feb at Byron Bay, titled Climate Breakdown and the Vegan Solution. http://www.coloursofbyron.com.au/2011-shows.html
Please circulate far and wide.