US Direct action everywhere animal liberation conference-CA

The sorrow in the third picture. :pensive:

Can I ask a question regarding the event?
 
Why participate if it leads to feeling anguish?

Because I'm an adult and not a child and I can manage a certain amount of anguish if it means helping others and changing the world for the better.

Obviously, there is a limit to what each person can do. Some people are very stoic and logical, and those people are the sort who can actually work in factory farms undercover, where they film perpetrators of the animal agriculture industry and get busted. I cannot claim I am that capable of detachment.

I am capable of of a certain level of stoicism though. I have to be in order to function within an Environmental Science program, as well as being a political activist in the past. I think I am a good candidate to be a DxE rescuer - I have enough emotion and empathy to want to be an activist, but enough strength to bear the work.

There are self-care advocacy groups for vegans. In Defense of Animals has a series of videos on proper vegan self care.

Some self-care tips for any kind of advocate or activist are:

1) Meditation or other spiritual practice. Even atheists can meditate or participate in "forest bathing" or other nature therapeutic experiences. People with religious beliefs can turn to that.

2) Knowing when to let go. We all have to turn off the news, the tv, the Internet, Twitter whatever our "engagement" is. I have struggled with this in my life, being an "information junkie" like a lot of Millenials, and a friend of mine who is a professional psychotherapist told me that even the healthiest people shouldn't spend more than about 45 minutes to an hour a day worrying about the world news or global politics, on average. We have to learn the balance between being informed and just burning ourselves out.

3) Knowing when to rest. If someone is a serious activist, that person should look for signs of burnout, like irritability, extreme tiredness, lack of empathy, minor physical illness, tenseness and soreness, anxiety and depression. It's okay to take a break from activism.

4) Eating, sleeping, etc. Taking care of one's own basic needs and not becoming obsessed with one's work or passions.

5) Not trying to be everything to everyone. Some people try to go to every demonstration and fight every cause, but ultimately one or two areas of conviction are probably best for the average person, to focus on animal rights and the environment (like me) or focus on things like racism and social justice (like many others I am acquainted with).

Obviously some people cannot participate at all. The very sick - mentally or physically - and the burnt out, exhausted, drained etc shouldn't force themselves to do so. If someone is struggling with basic life needs, like leaving an abusive partner or trying to find a safe place to live, again that's probably not the time.

But refraining from activism entirely because it causes "anguish" seems narcissistic and childish.
 
I asked because it bothers me seeing life force beings jumping into activities that hurts them.

I know I can mentally and physically handle being in a factory farm and morally do what is necessary however I don't agree activism is the answer to ending the enslavement of animals and/or changing the world for the better.

You seem to throw the word narcissist around in your posts. Have you ever asked the bigger question of why narcissism occurs in some people?
 
I asked because it bothers me seeing life force beings jumping into activities that hurts them.

I know I can mentally and physically handle being in a factory farm and morally do what is necessary however I don't agree activism is the answer to ending the enslavement of animals and/or changing the world for the better.

You seem to throw the word narcissist around in your posts. Have you ever asked the bigger question of why narcissism occurs in some people?

LOL that's not a "bigger question" it's actually easily answered by a study of abnormal psych and cluster B personality disorders. Narcissists have low empathy, largely due to having constructed a false self to hide the inner self, so also treat others as mere externals to their personal whims and goals.

I throw the word narcissist around a lot because Narcissistic Personality Disorder has reached epic proportions in the United States, affecting up to 10 percent of the population, which is mind boggling considering only 5 percent of the population has bipolar disorder and schizophrenia around 1 or 2 percent.

However, one need not have NPD to have narcissistic tendencies. Living in Western capitalist culture perpetuates idea that narcissism and even traits of sociopathy are somehow desirable.

It's funny that you obviously didn't even follow the link or read/watch anything about Direct Action Everywhere. They actually rescue animals it's not just activism. However activism is what changes the world, and it has been proven over and over again in social justice issues. The success of advertising and its effect on those advertised to also strongly suggests that activism is an effective form of behavior modification in some individuals.
 
It seems like we can call and describe disorders and diseases whatever we'd like. In the end.. it does seem like it's all the manifestation of our biological systems being dysregulated and degenerating. Cause and effect we can say.
https://www.google.com/search?q=personality+disorders+air+pollution
https://www.google.com/search?q=schizophrenia+gliadin
https://www.google.com/search?q=bipolar+gliadin

Narcissism:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18686203
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26990675
https://www.google.com/search?q=externalizing+behaviors+narcissism

I actually did initially follow the link and I did read the pages, analyze the pictures and watch a video however the information did go in one ear and out the other because it is simply describing the chaos and trying to end the chaos without understanding first hand the cause of it. And the title of the thread does indicate animal liberation.

Radicals, activists, and reformers
https://understandingsociety.blogspot.ca/2010/07/radicals-activists-and-reformers.html

Some of us are radical activists and some of us are revolutionaries. Are we really the same and can we really change who we are?
 
It seems like we can call and describe disorders and diseases whatever we'd like. In the end.. it does seem like it's all the manifestation of our biological systems being dysregulated and degenerating. Cause and effect we can say.
https://www.google.com/search?q=personality+disorders+air+pollution
https://www.google.com/search?q=schizophrenia+gliadin
https://www.google.com/search?q=bipolar+gliadin

Narcissism:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18686203
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26990675
https://www.google.com/search?q=externalizing+behaviors+narcissism

I actually did initially follow the link and I did read the pages, analyze the pictures and watch a video however the information did go in one ear and out the other because it is simply describing the chaos and trying to end the chaos without understanding first hand the cause of it. And the title of the thread does indicate animal liberation.

Radicals, activists, and reformers
https://understandingsociety.blogspot.ca/2010/07/radicals-activists-and-reformers.html

Some of us are radical activists and some of us are revolutionaries. Are we really the same and can we really change who we are?

I'm pretty sure narcissism is a social phenomenon that has been fostered by the Western capitalist mindset that "the customer is always right" and "because I'm worth it" and so forth and so on. We live in a culture of people who all believe they're the aristocracy. I've realized in recent years that I probably don't hate people at all, I hate the bourgeoisie, and most Americans act like the bourgeoisie. Narcissism used to be far more prevalent in males before feminism, and is still more common in males, but women are catching up ...not due to any sort of "biological deregulation" but because of socialization. I'm not asserting that biological problems don't exist due to chemicals in the environment, but narcissism is not one of those things.

Also, that article you posted just seemed like a pretentious monologue written by a Hilary Clinton voter hating on a Bernie Sanders voter and I just couldn't so yeah. These people don't seem to grasp that "moderate change" is a luxury we no longer have. Also most of them will be dead before we all fry to a crisp so why do their old asses care . I can think of very little that is more insulting than a 60 year old white man who is obviously middle or upper middle class lecturing about "moderate change" when he clearly has the means, comfort, power in society, and scant number of years left to live where he can entertain such preposterous delusions. Not to hate on the old, there's always Bernie and Jill, but often times in the Western world it just seems to make people more entitled and removed from reality, rather than wiser. It's a flaw in the Western hierarchical structure of...everything.

I do agree with you though that some people are more outspoken and bold by nature and some are more moderate or quiet or timid.
 
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You're basically saying that people are easily conditioned to be entitled and their conditioning is what dictates their behavior. Should we blame the educational system for the initial brainwashing?

I don't hate all people either. I dislike the lenient and strict ones who try push their behavior on everyone. Very destructive.

I thought the article was well written without him taking sides however I do not agree with everything.

I do agree with this because it is at my core of who I am: The revolutionary is an architect of change, not just a radical activist. The revolutionary wants to sweep away the bad institutions and social relations of the present. And the revolutionary has a vision of the new society which the movement is aiming at creating. The revolutionary is intellectually committed to the achievement of a concrete social order that is better than the present; and this means he/she is committed to demonstrating the feasibility of the new order.

But not this: So the revolutionary, like the liberal reformer, needs to be a social engineer making good use of historical insights and social analysis into the ways that social change works.

Moderate change is surely a luxury we don't have. Soon enough these baby bombers will croke and get out of the way.

 
If you have time, watch this.

I am signing off and watching this before bedtime. I just previewed the first 5 minutes, and it looks fascinating. It's a very strange coincidence, actually. I just, and I mean just, today, started meditating again. I have tried many times to stick it out, as a regular routine, but have always somehow put it off or forgot, or decided I was too busy, then just abandoned it. Well, not anymore!

I know it takes at least a month of regular meditation to reap any benefits. This time I plan on sticking it out. I hope to get up to one hour a day, and make this a lifetime ritual.

While this post is off topic, it was worth posting, imo. I should say the video was worth posting. Thank you!



*
 
I'm working on saving money for the train ride to Berkeley and back for the event. I sent a message to the web page asking if there is anyway my girlfriend and I can get help out with the tickets since we both don't have jobs at the moment. I'm pretty sure we can save enough for the ride down and back and hopefully we will be able to save enough for tickets if the free tickets arnt available anymore. The only concern at this point is where we're going to stay. They had a link to a Facebook group that is organizing places to stay for people who are willing to meet up and work out housing situations with one another. Unfortunately I don't have a Facebook at the moment but I'm planning on using a family members tomorrow to see if I can contact someone to hopefully work something out. Is there anyone you know that has any info on housing?
 
I'm working on saving money for the train ride to Berkeley and back for the event. I sent a message to the web page asking if there is anyway my girlfriend and I can get help out with the tickets since we both don't have jobs at the moment. I'm pretty sure we can save enough for the ride down and back and hopefully we will be able to save enough for tickets if the free tickets arnt available anymore. The only concern at this point is where we're going to stay. They had a link to a Facebook group that is organizing places to stay for people who are willing to meet up and work out housing situations with one another. Unfortunately I don't have a Facebook at the moment but I'm planning on using a family members tomorrow to see if I can contact someone to hopefully work something out. Is there anyone you know that has any info on housing?

The original post on this thread is from 2018. I don't know if they are having another conference this year but you may wish to double check before buying train tickets.

Emma JC
 
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Yeah! I'm going from May 31 to June 4. Or June 1-June 4. I will be staying with one of my roommates and her fiance (he keeps their place in the Bay area) for the first and last day, but am willing to share a room with someone the nights of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Just putting that out there, to save cash, if you and your partner go. I already have my bus ticket and admission pass.
 
we've already got our passes and were saving up for the train ride down there and back right now. the only thing we're figuring out right now is a ride to the train station and a place to stay. if you could give us an idea on how much we would need to throw down on a place to stay we will do our best to hustle up some extra money.
 
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The DxE conference and animal liberation trainings are offered in Berkeley this May. If anyone is interested here is the web site:

https://www.directactioneverywhere.com/forum/

You still have a little over two months to plan if you would like to join.
Any such conferences will not have changed animals'; situation on Earth. The issue is political and needs to be resolved politically.