Facebook Status: Over
On December 17, 2012, with tortured resignation, I joined Facebook. Essentially, my hand was forced, as I needed direct access to information locked away on Facebook pages for my e-book on Green Mountain College (due out in March). I took what I needed and left my account to idle. Until a week ago.
It was then, after a meeting with my web wizard Steve, that I decided to start posting my Eating Plants columns on Facebook in order to spread the word a bit further. I started, in other words, to get involved. This endeavor required that I make “friends” with hundreds of people I didn’t know. Then I realized something: not only would my posts appear on their pages, but their posts would appear on mine. This only seemed fair. However, as ungenerous as this sounds, things went downhill from that moment on. Yesterday, fed up, I cancelled my account with FB. Done. Over. I will happily fade into the wilderness of nothingdome before I ever again disseminate my ideas into the halls of the world’s largest high school.
Trust me, I get it. I’m well aware of the power of social media to spread the good word. I’m also aware that I could have managed my account a lot better to provide a virtual gatekeeper for the torrents of absolute swill (and worse) that poured into my account. I should also add that I had several productive exchanges with people I genuinely like and whose work I very much admire. I don’t mean for this post to in anyway be of offense to them. In the end, though, I decided that, for me at least, the Facebook experience just wasn’t worth it. It is, all things considered, a venue that too easily brings out the worst in people whose flaws would otherwise have been left in the dungeons of their private lives.
Not surprisingly, I wound up becoming “friends” with an amorphous activist community espousing a wide range of noble causes, most of them related to animal rights. This was fine. What wasn’t so fine was opening my account one morning over breakfast and, with my young daughter in viewing range, looking at a picture of an Indian woman hanging from a tree. Nor was I thrilled to read commentary suggesting that certain producers of animal products should be murdered for their participation in animal agriculture. This was too much raw emotional id leakage for me. Again, I could have managed these messages a lot better, I suppose, but I did a back of the napkin sketch (not really) and decided my time was better spent reading and writing and improving my ideas without the cacophony of the world showing up in perverse microcosm three times a day (which was, sadly, how often I was checking in).
There’s something else that adulterated my FB experience. Something worse. I’m going to tread with tact over this one. But basically I encountered a number of postings from vegan advocates that bordered on rank self-promotion rather than focussed animal activism. I’m not sure why this bothered me so much, but it did. For several of these people, I felt as if I walked into some living room of their imagination. Look, we’re all human, we all have egos, and we all want others to view us the way we want to be viewed. We’re navel gazers by nature, all. I’m as guilty as anyone on this point.
But what I too often saw was the substance of activism for animals being subsumed in strained attempts to present advertisements of versions of activist personae. Yes, I realize that the medium of personality is the message. We want to know about our heroes’ personal lives, however sanitized and packaged those representations may be. But, frankly, I don’t give two tofu balls what movie so-and-so watched last night, or what his mood may be. Is this too cranky of me? Probably. But I’m being honest. Maybe I simply wish that our cause was compelling enough to minimize the role of the “personalities” behind it. And maybe that’s magical thinking.
There’s a great scene in the movie “Bull Durham” where “Crash” (Kevin Costner) instructs “Meat” (Tim Robbins), a talented but dimwitted baseball pitcher bound for Major League stardom, how to interact with the media (find it here.) The gist of the advice from Crash, a seasoned vet who’d been to “the show,” is to recede into the team, don’t be that attention-seeking nail that sticks up, and allow your actions to speak for themselves. It’s damn good advice. And while we’re all inveterate narcissists at heart, Facebook makes it too easy for that heart to bleed all over the place, promiscuously and profusely. So, perhaps to save me from myself, I’m off Facebook.
But, of course, if you feel so inclined to promote ME and MY writing on FB, I’ll be the last to object. 
UPDATE: This piece of mine (a recent blog post) ran in today’s hard and on-line addition of The Gainesville Sun. Tip of the hat to Karen Orr for providing contacts, motivation, etc.
I have a Facebook account. I have “unsubscribed” from all of my 600+ faux friends, except for 8. That’s all — 8 — that ever shows in my news feed, and most of these real life friends never post anything. Problem solved.
I opened up my Facebook account when I started working for an animal rights organization, thinking this would be how I’d network. HUGE MISTAKE. It made me doubt the entire cause of animal rights and my own sanity. Vegans, not just some but VERY MANY of them, are batsh** crazy (not just on Facebook, but I digress).
I was disturbed by 1. the vegans who post every.single.meal.they.ate 2. vegans who post graphic photos of animals [dead ones, of course] every 5 minutes and 3. the vegans who post new age drivel constantly 4. vegans who essentially brag about their awesomeness (though this characteristic spans the spectrum of Facebook enthusiasts). I really could go on and on.
That said, I WAS one of those vegans; I posted all sorts of annoying crap related to my job [because I was expected to and just because]. Facebook turned me into something gross (of course because I willingly played along). Now, I post the occasional photo of my dog — which is annoying in its own right. But my senior citizen boston terrier is very cute. So there’s that.
When I left the animal rights organization a few months ago, I happily got to delete 100 of the most toxic, crazy nuts from my friend list. It was liberating. I have made good use of the block function on Facebook. I hung onto a few of the crazies, too, so that I can occasionally check in, and see if they’ve gotten the help they desperately need.
Oh, I also witnessed over the course of several years, several “hardcore vegan activists” stop being vegan — through Facebook, natch. In all the cases that immediately come to mind, I personally believe they stopped because other vegans drove them crazy. Is it rational to start eating animals because of this? No, of course not; but I would be lying through my teeth if I didn’t admit that I, too, became filled with doubt because of how much I grew to despise some people; because of how frustrated I was with our dysfunctional community.
One more judgmental comment and non-sequitur: some of the most famous people in animal rights are some of the most insane. I won’t name names, of course, but it’s shocking to meet in person some of the people you’ve admired from afar.
I consider myself to be a major polyanna and overall optimist, however: when people ask me what it was like working in animal rights, I always give the same answer: dealing with animal issues, fine; the vegans are awful.
Vegan activists are their own worst enemy. But I disagree it’s because they’re earnest. If only.
Very bold, Justin. Thank you genuinely for your thoughts.
-jm
I know I am going to be crucified sharing these thoughts…and using my real name. Oy.
Not by me! I greatly appreciated reading your post (and everyone else’s here, too)
It’s all a reminder to continue effective advocacy to reach as wide an audience as possible by remaining sane, polite and accurately informed.
Not by me! I “get it” 100%. I’m on FB a LOT and the vast majority of my FB “friends” are AR activists. Facebook is different things to different people, and yes, there’s a lot of toxicity and narcissism out there, which I do my best to tune out. For me, though, as well as allowing me to keep casually up to date with real-life friends, it’s also an activism network. That comes with nuts, zealots, people whose egos are bigger than all outdoors, and the genuinely emotionally disturbed. It also comes with people, though, who are really good-hearted, smart and funny, and they make it worth it for me. Some of them have *become* real-life friends! Part of it is learning to manage your account, but I digress. To each his own! Even as a Facebook lover, I understand what you’re saying and applaud you for saying it!
Agreed 100% that vegans, or at least how they conduct themselves online, weakens the overall cause tremendously. I will have been vegan for six years this year and on a personal level I have never doubted that choice. But some of the people I met online made me at times so frustrated that I felt like I was questioning that decision.
I turned off my FB in November last year because it was making me cranky, but my primary exposure to crazy and or overly self righteous vegans has been some of the vegan forms online. First vegan freaks, which I admit was helpful when I was transitioning my diet, but I left that one pretty quickly. If you are familiar with them, although I think they are defunct now, it’s no big shock why. I then moved on to another big forum that shall remain unnamed. But pretty much weekly I was rolling my eyes at some of the major posters and ranting to my fiancé about how crazy other vegans can be. Finally I just said enough and haven’t logged on for months now.
Is it sad that I feel happier as a vegan when I minimize my contact with most other vegans? Yes. But at the same time I do my best to come across to my non vegan friends as an example how perfectly normal, politically moderate, polite, nice smelling, and non granola you can be and still be a vegan.
I relate to all of this; and I, too, felt infinitely happier being a vegan when I disconnected from most other vegans. (Thank goodness I have a few wonderful real-life vegan friends.)
Hi Dustin, What do you mean by crazy, without naming people? I assume it is not the frequent use of all caps that tips people off.
I’m only going to say that I’ve seen everything you described from meat eaters as well in just as large numbers. I think this is a modern human issue and not a vegan one.
As I said, bold. Thank you, again.
My FB days ended a year ago as a form of protest against Biopolitical control and a desire to reach a middle class audience who might actually have changeable minds. So weird to have seen the print version of “Facebook” at Harvard many years ago when the computers were still in a lab somewhere North of the Quad. So wanna friend me on the new FB — Academia.edu?
And Narcissus pic is apt
Thanks for noticing that detail, John.
j
I smiled the second I saw the Narcissus painting, and read the entire post to my appreciative husband. Great timing! I was just yesterday being swayed towards finally signing up for FB for communicating with an organization I volunteer with, but didn’t. I’ve avoided it for all of the reasons everyone here validates, and from what I’ve seen looking over my husband’s shoulder on his FB page, though I’d say it reminds me more of junior high combined with . Love the phrase “perverse microcosm.”
John, do you mean the print version when Zuckerberg was an undergrad, or do you go all the way back to my era (very early ’80s) with an actual hardcover, paper freshman facebook?
I’m not on Facebook so I don’t know how much this skews my experience, but I find it harder to relate to nonvegans than to vegans. Maybe I haven’t met many “self-righteous” vegans or maybe I’m one myself. Or maybe there is some process that goes on in learning how to be vegan in a nonvegan world. I can understand how over-zealous vegans would turn-off nonvegans – and I certainly don’t want to do that. But I understand the passion and/or urgency of “self-righteous” vegans/AR activists. But since I’m not on FB, perhaps I’m talking about something very different than others’ experience who are on FB.
My experience is that on-line exchanges can bring out the “worst” in people and I’ve decided to minimize the energy I put there and find other productive things to do with my time.
I’ve been so impressed with how this blog and comments stays so respectful even in different views.
SM,
It has taken a while for this blog to rise above the fray in terms of toxic communication. I’ve dedicated several posts to the issue and had to ban a few troublemakers. Decency and intellectual integrity are huge priorities that I work to cultivate here. When I went on FB one the banned commenters found me and harangued me for blocking her from my page. Yet another reason to escape.
JM
Not to do with Facebook but over the years I’ve subscribed to many listservs to do with a variety of environmental issues. Those listservs weren’t about animal agriculture or animal rights. The topics of the lists were mostly energy matters or general conservation matters.
The ugliness, the lack of governors, the inability or lack of desire to distinguish between public and private behavior – and the nuttiness – displayed on these listservs was often astounding. Something about these sorts of forums inspires the worst in some people who might appear fairly reasonable in person.
My guess is, whatever the topic, if you regularly read a listserv or Facebook discussion about it, the people participating seem like the worst.
Having said that, James’ piece on hunting and conservation was published in The Gainesville Sun today. It got good placement.
James McWilliams: Hunting Doesn’t Help Conservation
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20130210/OPINION03/130209588/-1/opinion?Title=James-McWilliams-Hunting-doesn-t-help-conservation
If you have a Facebook account, you can comment on James’ column. There’s already one rant about it from a hunting supporter.
I think you are right about online forums and bringing the worst out in people. With regard to animal activists specifically, however: in my experience, a lot of them in real life (at protests, vegan festivals, social events, etc.) and they were just as nuts in the flesh–sometimes more so. I am not trying to say that vegans have the market on crazy.
Or maybe I am?
Having spent much time around vegans and meat-eater’s alike in a variety of personal and business ventures, I can definitely attest that vegans do not have the market on crazy cornered. Most of the “craziest” people I know, are proud meat eaters.
We have to be careful about using the word “crazy” to describe an already marginalized population. I have become sensitive to it and see the other side (as Lori says) the insanity of meat-eaters, the cross-fit culture that glorifies eating meat and the Paleo dieters who continue to consume cheese, bread and pasta (what’s up with that?). And these are the most vocal on my Facebook feed. I almost quit Facebook a few months ago also because I had invited all of my non-vegan friends to participate in Meatless Mondays and got “advice” from one of the Paleo persons how veganism is not nutritious. There are truly veg-curious people on my friend list and one cousin just went vegan 9 days ago. Sharing photos of food on Facebook is something that I did pre-vegan days because I love to cook. Now, I see it as an educational tool for non-vegans. The veg-curious really appreciate it and it is the least confrontational form of vegan activism.
Jennifer, thanks. I totally agree.
I also share photos of our dogs using their brains, not performing tricks but doing things that they want to do, evidence of sentience to remind non-vegans that they are not here to entertain us or be dolls, that they have their own world and desires. Just as the animal sanctuaries use photos of farm animals to widen our compassion, we can be woken up by the animals in our own lives if we just observe them and empathize.
Well, they definitely don’t, which is one reason I use Facebook, too. If we never listen or hear from people who aren’t just like us, how can we ever hope to understand or come to a consensus on anything? I agree Facebook can be a time-waster, but only insofar as each user lets it become. I have many “friends” I greatly admire who use Facebook, and who regularly point me toward articles and blogs in other forums that broaden my understanding of humanity in general (not that it’s always pretty). If they occasionally post a picture of their lunch or puppy, I’m happy to see it – there’s only so much doom and gloom I can take.
Rebecca, I feel the same way. Facebook really is what we make of it.
Karen,
Your experience of there being a lot of unpleasantness, etc. across the spectrum of online social groups is one that I experienced as well. Without data, we’ll not know if vegan-related groups are more problematic than others, but they may be and there may be psychological/sociological reasons that apply to any population addressing the most critical and unpleasant issues. I don’t know. I have found some of the more science-based membership groups to be less of a problem, but it is a real effort to get them to consider individuals from other species in the subject thread at hand. You may want to try looking for a few of them to connect with. Still, veganism challenges the entire worldviews that carnists hold, and there will be a few objectionable responses no matter how civil and transparent your honesty is. It’s difficult and part of our struggle.
You can sort of tell James’ Gainesville column was edited to death by someone with a tin ear. Sad. The prose in this blog is occasionally mellifluous but there is evidently no delectation in editing at the GS.
I hate to sound like a FB cheerleader (I’m not, but I do see it still as a powerful tool), but FB does allow you to hide, block, and otherwise tweak who you can see, who can see you, and who you want in your feed and/or on your page. It’s all about privacy settings on your account and on each post.
“Then I realized something: not only would my posts appear on their pages, but their posts would appear on mine.”
I don’t mean to sound snarky, but this shows a basic lack of understanding of how FB works. No one or nothing can appear on your “page” that you don’t want. There is no tit-for-tat on FB, not technically nor etiquettely speaking. As for your feed, you can hide, block and tweak just what kind of posts you want to see. There are other options as well, you could have a business/organization page or personal page. It sounds like you had a personal page, which allows for slightly more interaction than a business page.
I have found FB invaluable recently in certain campaigns I’ve been involved with (such as the Coyote Project). It can work for you, but you do have to invest some time in understanding all your options. And I do know people who are just not “social media” kind of people, and that’s cool, but know you are limiting your range of ways to get your message out there.
Lori,
I understand, and tried to make it clear, that there are ways to manage the account to cut out all the garbage. It’s a time thing. There’s only so much one can do, and keeping crazies off my FB page is not how I want to spend my time. My post should not cause defensiveness in FB fans, and I admire people like you who make it work. I was just offering my experience.
JM
I understand and didn’t mean to sound defensive. I’m not a FB fan, I just see it’s power. And I have my settings such that I see exactly what I want to see in my feed and no one can post on my page. I now get all my updates, news, personal, blogs, etc, in one convenient location (except yours of course.
. I do get your point though, and without these important settings and the time invested in the tweaking, I can see very clearly that it can be overwhelming. And yes, I still do see the narcissism, even with my feed tweaked. It seems no matter who one is these days, meat eater, hunter, vegan activist, Hollywood Star, factory worker, there’s a good chance of that person being a narcissist. It seems to permeate our culture, now more than ever. Even a Honey Boo Boo can be a star! And yes, social media fuels it for sure. I totally respect anyone who doesn’t want to participate. I’m just saying, it does limit your getting your message out.
I am sorry that you had such bad experiences. I have had some wonderful experiences on FB. Several years ago, I joined, posted a couple of things and then pretty much forgot about it. However, when I went vegan I started to use it more. I have found a great community of vegans. I used FB to continue my vegan education. I began following plant-based nutrition pages, finding lots of support, recipes and information; animal sanctuaries which taught me more about the amazing groups who are advocating for farmed animals; pages of activists, columnists, scientists and educators and more. As far as the individuals I have met on FB, sure there are some rabid vegans. However, more often than not I have met caring, friendly people who are on their own vegan journey and who are trying to find ways to educate others about non-violence and compassion. There are several pages where the posters couldn’t be more supportive. We cheer each other on and give each other advice. And, we also laugh a lot. I don’t think there are more crazies on FB. I just think sometimes they make the most noise making it seem like there are more.
I’m guessing that because your blog gets so much attention you draw all sorts of people that an individual, like myself, would not. So, perhaps that is why our experiences are so different. And as Lori says, we do have the ability to screen and tweak what we see on FB. I’ve found it well worth it.
Sums up my experience too. But I have also discovered that if you talk about animal welfare on FB all the time, people stop reading. If you want yo make an impact on FB, you have to pace you animal welfare post very carefully, you have to have other, interesting posts to attract a wide following, and you have show an interest in other people’s posts & causes too. Basically, you have to be a friend, not a self-centred narcissist with an agenda.
Exactly! I am very careful about how many vegan postings I put on my page. The majority of them are very positive. I have some great friends and am very interested in their posts.
Yup. Excellent point. I do the same.
Perhaps Facebook (and even narcissism itself) is merely a symptom of a larger post-post-postmodern problem?
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/opinion/sunday/bruni-the-land-of-the-binge.html?ref=opinion&_r=0
I wholeheartedly agree with you, John. I read an article once in the early 2000s which described the ego boosting My Space and the then newly emerging FB provided. It all turned me off. Then came the number of media reports of all the breaches of privacy FB committed over the past several years. Uh uh, not for me. Email is as breached as I can stomach. And that’s not even considering the wasted time involved in, as you say, spending three sessions a day keeping up on it! Just another distraction to keep people from paying attention! From what little I’ve read about these media and what even littler I’ve experienced viewing FB, I too came to the conclusion to that earlier article how ego driven it all is. The only usefulness I can see is perhaps the instant protests (can you say Tahrir Square?) FB and Twitter posts can generate that can bring down a govt. Occupy is another good example–well, til the govt brought it down. And yes, I loved the painting you used in your blog to illustrate your point. Spot on!
Thank you for letting me know it was a process. And thank you for taking the time and making the effort to make it a safe place.
I have learned so much – including this discussion here – reading other people’s opinions and ideas and experiences.
As a first year university student in a rather rigorous academic program, Facebook is incredibly useful for me to tap into the knowledge of my peers, and an easy way for them to ask me questions about schoolwork as well. Of course this COULD be achieved through e-mail, through phone communication, etc., etc., but honestly, Facebook is much better crafted for this purpose. Which makes sense, since it was established for college students.
Maybe it’s because I’ve grown up with social media around me, but I feel that it’s more important to just be aware than to denounce as crazy and annoying those who do post stuff about their daily lives on Facebook and create a dichotomy between us. Yes, I post profile pictures hoping to get likes. Yes, I post statuses that are sometimes just about stuff that happens to me — though I try to only post things which will bring amusement to others.
Glancing through my news feed, of course there are a lot of kids my age who are just posting stupid stuff. If it gets too stupid, I delete them. It’s really nothing I can afford to get annoyed about.
When I see comments on the internet — on vegan videos, on forks over knives posts on facebook, whatnot — I initially get discouraged by the staunch defense of carnism, by the so called ‘crazy’ vegans, etc. But they’re comments on the internet. They remind me that the world is filled with darkness and bitterness.
But that reminds me that I — that we — cannot afford to be anything but beacons of light. I try to make my veganism something of positivity. It’s hard when you see exactly what disgusted you on these social media sites, to remember that we are all just animals on this planet, and we can’t keep supporting all these false dichotomies of us vs. them.
A year ago I was not a vegan — my comments on the internet (if I made any) would probably have made my current self sigh in discouragement. But you know what? I’m a vegan now. And not a too crazy one.
We all have the potential to be beacons of light and positivity. So we must be sympathetic to those who we want to rank as different from ourselves. If the door to their hearts is closed for no, there are billions of others for who the door is half open, and those are the people we should talk to.
As a final note, I’d just like to thank you for your blog. I originally went vegan because of “health reasons” (body-image issues, really), but thanks to you and so many others out here on the internet, my veganism has become much deeper — an integral part of who I am, and a true passion for social justice.
(also, there’s a typo in the title of this page, which I’m assuming should read “why I quit Facebook” not “quite”
)
James, I understand why you quit FB but I wish you could find a way to tolerate it. I think it’s such a wonderful way to spread your message! In my past two years of being vegan I have found so much information and support via FB. Yes, I spend too much time reading online as a result of things I discovered through FB, but it’s educating and informing me and supporting my vegan values. Regarding the vegan activists who are “crazy”: Name one successful social movement where the leaders were considered “normal” by anyone, including their own supporters. It takes people who live outside the box to change the world. Will some of these people have pathologies that others consider crazy? Yes, they unfortunately will. Let’s make the “saner” voices louder and more widespread by using all social media to get our message out.
I agree with you Karen. While FB has an abundance of what James and others have described above, I feel that the sane, level, and veteran vegans are obligated to do what they can to influence misguided vegans to get on the right track as much as they have an obligation to work with influencing carnists in making a vegan shift.
Being a revolutionary isn’t easy. Many people are using many approaches to move a vegan message, and many of them, are in a lot of pain. Indeed, dysfunctional communication is definitely not a vegan problem, but a human one. I really feel most vegans are suffering PTSD and THAT, largely, and negatively, impacts their experience in coping and dealing in their interactions with others, and with the state of insanity we vegans are aware engulfs our species’ destructive dynamic with the earth that presently sustains us.
The connections with the many sane vegans on FB has been a tremendous asset to me, they are global, and I would not have found them for many years, if ever, had I not been there. I likely would not have discovered the treasure trove that is within this blog had it not been for FB.
Try not to judge them, or their narcissism, so harshly. I think it is important to recognize, that many people will never care about animals the way many of us vegans do. From some of the marketing research I’ve read, only 20% of the population is idealists who will change solely for the noble and altruistic legitimacy of animal rights. The other 80% are going to have to be led there through methods of self-interest. That means, creating and marketing the image of the thriving and vital vegan that makes them WANT to be just like you. That means we need the narcissistic vegans obsessed with building their perfect physique and showing how “great and happy” or “positive” or what have you their life is. That means showing the most appealing pictures of vegan food to get them to want to eat it, and break down the stereotypes that vegans eat grass, bark and items otherwise identified as “rabbit” food. Showing them where and how to order it locally in their sphere of influence or in travel. Empowering and inspiring them on how to do be vegan without telling them they have to- the soft sell.
Not everyone uses facebook the same. I use it primarily for activism. My vegan sister uses it primarily as a public/ personal life diary with a more subtle, personal perspective on her life experiences as a vegan an impacting vegan living in Hong Kong. She is always pressing me to talk about what is going on in my life as opposed to a constant thread of world concern and public service announcements. I feel like there is already too much double speak and narcissism and not enough reality speak. What I have found though, is that different people resonate differently with each of us in our approach, and that means we are each, reaching people differently that the other, alone, could not or might not, otherwise reach. It is a synergy of sorts. She also happens to be a PR, marketing and social media expert. So as an activist, while I may not always resonate with her approach, I trust by the results that she gets that she is effective.
Without the published notoriety of someone like you, James, FB has given this fledgling writer access to meeting some of the most influential people out there in the movement, as well as access to influencers not in the vegan movement. It is one helluva connector. And with over 5000 connections in the fb world I’m a connector, too. With its profound and global reach, this is one of those applications, like Microsoft, you have to take some of the bad to have the luxury of the good, or as you have currently decided, not. (Believe me, I could rant on about the many flaws this free, voluntary and definitely creepy application has.) Many people take a break and many return. I think you are a value to the fb vegan community, if nothing more than to have another sane and articulate influence on the team.
http://www.checkfacebook.com/
I think there’s validity to what you say here, that “I really feel most vegans are suffering PTSD and THAT, largely, and negatively, impacts their experience in coping and dealing in their interactions with others …”
Witnessing violence constantly, either in person or through videos, reading, images and other educational processes, can take a toll on the psyche. I think your point is one important facet in a broader scope of human issues and dysfunctions, as described by other commenters above.
I like what Caroline writes about being “beacons of light” — a simple but elusive manifestation. I know it’s a life challenge for me, personally, to retain equanimity and optimism in the face of the destructive dynamic to which you allude — to stand behind my own self and observe instead of react. There are a lot of hurt, damaged and angry people out there who, unfortunately, can’t find their personal rudder. And yes, many of them exploit the facility of Facebook to show off just how rudderless they are.
Many thanks to you, Karen and Caroline (and others) who have taken time to write compellingly; maybe I should re-think my non-participation in FB so far, and use it well as you describe. All points well taken!
wow i didn’t expect !! is it that bad ? i am some thankful to FB bcz i learnt many things whats going on in the world ..regardless its good or bad .. i never knew that humans beings are so unkind to other living beings this much except from FB.. atrocity by humans towards all creatures unbelievable !! i am already a shame to be part of this human being race … if we are to call our self advance civilized nation its about time we give the rights for those who can’t speak or fight for their rights ..
now about VEGAN RECIPES ..i was a vege for long time but i had many health issues still going on , and , only after seeing the clip in FB, ‘ the real matrix 101 reason to take the red pill ‘ by JAMES WILDMAN i was able to go Vegan. since life cannot be better . i am healthy stronger and most active in my life at this moment , all the health problems i had vanished within 2 months in to VEGAN .
the Vegan recipes are the one that i enjoy most bcz i have no idea how to prepare them , for that i am most thankful for those who is trying to make the difference .
since i am a prayerful person ( well time to time i show lots of anger when i see the cruelty and i do expressing my self openly ) i realized that from Bible that its written animals are not for us to eat .. read GEN: 1-29 what God gave us to eat , and further when i read i saw in Danielle 1 : 1-28 what Danielle and his frnds what they ate , and the end results amazing .. what more i need to convince my self .. ? beside i see the true results in me and ppl see that in me … too bad that there is hate towards AR .. WE are only here to fights for innocent living beings for their life . not here to attack any one unnecessarily … atrocity towards humans children and animals by advance humans unbelievable !!! i prefer to do what ever it can from my side to save and help the innocence and leave this world some day with no blood in my hand and knowing i am no part of the cruelty .. right now i sleep well knowing that peace that i have is dif feelings than before i became Vegan .
i am thankful for FACE BOOK although i know the founder is in favor of taking life of innocent animals but , site is a great place to be in if its use for right reason.. i am an animal rights activist and i use my time for that purpose educating others whats going on posting a horrible picture of tortures dead animals are not in my favor but, if tht’s what lured me to take a right decision and now i see the advantage of posting them in dif : aspect .
Mr james Macwilliams. if you have a reason to leave its because of your kids and other reasons then its your personal choice and i understand ..i wonder if you ever knew the privacy setting of the site ??? there is many ways that you can stop any one posting in your page or adjusting frnds list . well, i guess i proved my point which many will not agree here because the culprits are now AR not the one who abuse torture innocent lives …
well finally i am thankful once again to FB and all the great kind friends i made .. God bless you all may God give you strength to carry on .. LOVE DIL SIRI.
I am very sorry I did not know about you being on facebook. I am animal rights and only accept animal rights friends. It keeps the drama away and we still get a lot done. I still enjoy reading your writings James. GodSpeed
I agree with alot of what you say, James, and did not go on Facebook except when I saw the plight of Green Mountain College in Vermont who preferred killing and eating their two oxen Lou and Bill instead of allowing them to retire after years and years of servitude. I found a community of thousands of people connected to compassion and saving the lives of Bill & Lou. In this instant case, I feel that a pseudo college’s actions were and are brought to light. I found it and still find it hard to believe there are such inhumane people actually “running” a college. Lou was killed; but we continue to press for the life of Bill who has been offered a home by several wonderful sanctuaries.