{"id":1663,"date":"2013-09-18T01:43:14","date_gmt":"2013-09-18T00:43:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.simorgh.de\/objects\/?p=1663"},"modified":"2013-09-18T01:56:16","modified_gmt":"2013-09-18T00:56:16","slug":"wolf-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.simorgh.de\/objects\/wolf-down\/","title":{"rendered":"Wolf x Down on vegan Animal Liberation and intersectionality"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/a>\"\"<\/a> Wolf Down at Ieperfest 2013<\/em><\/p>\n

We asked Wolf Down about their position on ethical veganism and intersectionality<\/strong><\/p>\n

This text as a PDF<\/a>\u00a0(link opens in a new window)<\/p>\n

Wolf X Down guitarist Tobi stated it for us:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Veganism to us is not just a diet, as declared by lifestyle vegans that see it merely as a way to stay healthy. It\u2019s a conscious ethical decision of causing the least suffering and harm done to the planet and its inhabitants. Thus, we don\u2019t feel that veganism is \u201cgiving up your favorite products and food\u201d, as meat-eaters like to put it into question: \u201cDon\u2019t you miss xy?\u201d. No and no. No, because there\u2019s just about every delicious meal in a tasty cruelty-free vegan version and no, because there\u2019s just no other way. It\u2019s not a choice that is open to anyone. You\u2019re not free to choose if you wanna hold yourself a slave or not, are you? So why do we think it\u2019s everyone\u2019s personal decision to exploit, torture and murder animals?<\/p>\n

Despite all this, veganism is a means, not an end. We don\u2019t think real change is to come from simply boycotting products and sharing your favorite raw food recipes. Be honest to yourself, veganism alone is not even saving animal lives. Thus, veganism is to be used as a stepping stone only. The consensus of our society about animal exploitation will not be broken without further action. If we want to achieve animal liberation, the animal rights movement needs to become a political and social movement just like the abolitionist one. The abolition of slavery and struggle for Black people was not won by boycotting cotton. To be successful, a movement needs a broad bandwidth of actions. And the direct actions of sabotage, property destruction and animal liberation carried out by underground ALF activists are just as vital as the clean-cut vegan on the TV talk show. So let\u2019s raise our voices to be heard, and never forget, thousands of individuals are being tortured, mutilated and killed right this second: \u201cI am aware, that many object to the severity of my language; but is there not cause for severity? I will be as harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice. On this subject, I do not wish to think, or speak, or write, with moderation. No! no! Tell a man whose house is on fire, to give a moderate alarm; tell him to moderately rescue his wife from the hand of the ravisher; tell the mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen; — but urge me not to use moderation in a cause like the present. I am in earnest — I will not equivocate — I will not excuse — I will not retreat a single inch — AND I WILL BE HEARD. The apathy of the people is enough to make every statue leap from its pedestal, and to hasten the resurrection of the dead.\u201d \u2013 William Lloyd Garrison, American abolitionist<\/p>\n

In a wider context, veganism to us is part of a struggle for total liberation, including not only non-humyn, but also humyn animals. Just as humiliated womyn and people of color or of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds striving for true equality, the gay couple or queer- and trans-people striving for acceptance, people with disabilities for support, refugees for shelter and animals for a right to live without suffering and exploitation, we all aspire to be free and healthy. Not the same, but equal. Only by exposing the commonalities in the different forms of oppression and understanding the nature of the hierarchies and the mentality of the oppressing forces towards their subjects, we can find a way to mutually improve, amend and progress in fighting back, united and strong: \u201cUnity of oppression\u201d. When fighting our own separate fights, we may dismantle and maybe break out the one or two specific spokes that represent our pain in the wheel that is oppression, but it won\u2019t stop the wheel from turning, it will still continue to roll over our comrades. Thus, to achieve our goal of true and lasting liberation, we need to reach hands and make it one common struggle for liberation, to build a unity of the oppressed and break all the spokes in this seemingly everturning wheel:\u00a0 \u201cSo you can stay cool behind your window and choose the view you want to see. But as long as there are others held captive, do not consider yourself free.\u201d<\/p>\n