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How to Change the World

Thirty Bills UnpaidThirty Bills Unpaid Posts: 16,881
in A Moving Train
Has anyone seen this documentary? It's focused on the birth of Greenpeace which, I didn't know, started in humble fashion in Vancouver.

There is graphic footage of Russian whaling ships slaughtering sperm whales and horrific footage of Canadians slaughtering baby seals for their fur.

Ever since I could think at all, I've been opposed to both practices, but f**k me... that footage made me want to hurt humans. As a society, we were pretty naive then and were largely unaware of the trade; however, given our heightened awareness... I can't believe we still allow commercial whaling to occur at any level.

I'm not sure what the oceans would look like without us impacting various ocean wildlife populations as we do... but I know what a harpooned whale looks like emitting its death cry and I f**king detest such imagery imprinted on my mind now.

I'm 50-50 on whether I think dropping a bomb on a whaling ship is appropriate or not.
"My brain's a good brain!"

Comments

  • AnnafalkAnnafalk Posts: 4,004
    I understand your feelings about when humans are cruel towards animals, it's horrible. I am in many ways ashamed of the human race.
  • brianluxbrianlux Posts: 42,038
    I really need to look beyond my biases and see this film and decide for myself how I feel about it. In it's early years, Greenpeace (along with the original Earth First! group) was one of the first and most influential environmental groups. But even in it's early years there was strife within that group and one of it's founders, Captain Paul Watson split off to form the more direct action group, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Watson has made various attempts to have Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd use there differing tactics in a united fashion to oppose whaling, seal pup and dolphin slaughter but Greenpeace has time and again not only refused to join forces but often has opposed Sea Shepherds direct actions. Personally, I think this is a huge mistake.

    I'm in the middle of reading one of Captain Paul Watson's, Seal Wars which covers the history of his involvement in both organizations. In it, he describes in graphic detail the horrific slaughter of seal pups. Though grim in detail, it gives a clear picture of how brutal these activities are.

    As much as I appreciate the early work of Greenpeace, I'm much more loyal to Sea Shepherd and that organizations direct action tactics. This organization has been labeled as "eco terrorists" but the fact is that no one in Sea Shepherd or any of those they have ever opposed have been seriously injured or killed except Watson himself (and it's amazing that he has survived). Sea Shepherd's direct action tactics (which have included disabling active illegal whaling and fishing vessels and scuttling unoccupied vessels used for illegal whaling) have saved far more marine animals than Greenpeace has and yet Greenpeace has received more publicity. This confounds me. My guess is that the reason for this is that Greenpeace is a huge money machine that pours a lot of capital into it's large infrastructure and bureaucracy (including a large paid staff) whereas Sea Shepherd funnels almost all of it's money into action and is supported by volunteers. Even Watson himself is a volunteer- he makes his money writing books and giving talks. They've also been able to keep up there work through major donations evidenced by their various ships name after Martin Sheen, Farley Mowat, Brigitte Bardot, Steve Irwin, Cleveland Amory, Bob Barker, Ady Gil and Sam Simon (and likely soon Pam Anderson who is now recently become a board member).

    http://www.seashepherd.org/

    Sorry, Thirty, I don't mean to derail your thread. I'll check out the film at first opportunity.
    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













  • Thirty Bills UnpaidThirty Bills Unpaid Posts: 16,881
    Brian^^^^^

    I don't get worked up about hijacking threads and all that crap: it's all in the name of discussion and when things spiral one way or another... it's all good in my estimation.

    Check out the film though- it's worth a watch as gruesome as it might be at times.
    "My brain's a good brain!"
  • ldent42ldent42 Posts: 7,859
    I've always said these assholes need to get a taste of their own medicine. I'd club a seal clubber. That said, I can't watch these movies. I damn near turned off The Revenant last night the first time a horse was shot.
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  • brianluxbrianlux Posts: 42,038
    Thirty, you mentioned the notion of bombing a whaling ship and Indent you mentioned clubbing a seal clubber. I totally understand the feeling but of course if we did those things, we would only lose ourselves to the cause through imprisonment and lose more whales and seal as a result. That's what makes activism a tricky business- how to maximize your efforts without putting oneself out of action as a result. The other end of that spectrum is weak efforts that are a lot of talk and little or no action which is the way of many environmental groups. The way to make real, lasting change is to walk a very thin line without crossing it (or at least not get caught stepping over it). It's very sad and ironic that defending that which sustains us all is so difficult.

    In the book I'm reading, Paul Watson talks about Cindy Baker, a woman who was dying of cancer, who wanted to ride along one of the early Greenpeace actions but didn't want to have to participate. Watson said, "I vowed to myself that if I ever found myself in the same position as Cindy, I would make my death an instrument of change." To me, that sounds like the ultimate way to go out.
    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













  • Thirty Bills UnpaidThirty Bills Unpaid Posts: 16,881
    brianlux said:

    Thirty, you mentioned the notion of bombing a whaling ship and Indent you mentioned clubbing a seal clubber. I totally understand the feeling but of course if we did those things, we would only lose ourselves to the cause through imprisonment and lose more whales and seal as a result. That's what makes activism a tricky business- how to maximize your efforts without putting oneself out of action as a result. The other end of that spectrum is weak efforts that are a lot of talk and little or no action which is the way of many environmental groups. The way to make real, lasting change is to walk a very thin line without crossing it (or at least not get caught stepping over it). It's very sad and ironic that defending that which sustains us all is so difficult.

    In the book I'm reading, Paul Watson talks about Cindy Baker, a woman who was dying of cancer, who wanted to ride along one of the early Greenpeace actions but didn't want to have to participate. Watson said, "I vowed to myself that if I ever found myself in the same position as Cindy, I would make my death an instrument of change." To me, that sounds like the ultimate way to go out.

    If I found out I was terminally ill... there's a few things I could think of doing with my life while I still had it.
    "My brain's a good brain!"
  • ldent42ldent42 Posts: 7,859
    B-lux, I don't wanna activist, I an just willing to club a bitch :wink:
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  • brianluxbrianlux Posts: 42,038
    ldent42 said:

    B-lux, I don't wanna activist, I an just willing to club a bitch :wink:

    Now there's an idea- we need a sub-forum called "Club Bitch" where we just get out our ya ya, break things, rant and rave, beat on the brat, rock the boat, make waves, stir the shit and burn the house down!
    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













  • ldent42ldent42 Posts: 7,859
    brianlux said:

    ldent42 said:

    B-lux, I don't wanna activist, I an just willing to club a bitch :wink:

    Now there's an idea- we need a sub-forum called "Club Bitch" where we just get out our ya ya, break things, rant and rave, beat on the brat, rock the boat, make waves, stir the shit and burn the house down!
    I love this idea!!

    And wow, my autocorrect really has been misbehaving lately eh?
    NYC 06/24/08-Auckland 11/27/09-Chch 11/29/09-Newark 05/18/10-Atlanta 09/22/12-Chicago 07/19/13-Brooklyn 10/18/13 & 10/19/13-Hartford 10/25/13-Baltimore 10/27/13-Auckland 1/17/14-GC 1/19/14-Melbourne 1/24/14-Sydney 1/26/14-Amsterdam 6/16/14 & 6/17/14-Milan 6/20/14-Berlin 6/26/14-Leeds 7/8/14-Milton Keynes 7/11/14-St. Louis 10/3/14-NYC 9/26/15
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  • ldent42ldent42 Posts: 7,859
    A Change.org petition popped up on FB for this and it instantly made me think of this thread. http://oceana.org/blog/government-inaction-continues-threaten-sea-turtle-populations

    Save the Turtles!!!
    (Note, this is a few months old.)
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  • brianluxbrianlux Posts: 42,038
    ldent42 said:

    brianlux said:

    ldent42 said:

    B-lux, I don't wanna activist, I an just willing to club a bitch :wink:

    Now there's an idea- we need a sub-forum called "Club Bitch" where we just get out our ya ya, break things, rant and rave, beat on the brat, rock the boat, make waves, stir the shit and burn the house down!
    I love this idea!!

    And wow, my autocorrect really has been misbehaving lately eh?
    Oh, I just figured you were typing under water. :wink:

    Glad you like the idea! Kick out the jams!
    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













  • brianluxbrianlux Posts: 42,038
    While still looking to track down a copy of "How to Change the World", I just re-watched "Pirate For the Sea", the DVD about Sea Shepherd I mentioned. Just a heads up- if any of you wish to purchase this DVD, please buy it directly from Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, NOT the pirated, bogus theft of that film re-titled "The Whale Warriors" that Amazon (aka, "Undercut America") sells. If you are unhappy about the difference in cost, buy the "Pirate For the Sea" DVD from Sea Shepard and send me a copy of the receipt and I'll donate $20 to Sea Shepherd Conservation Society for each legitimate "Pirate For the Sea" DVD purchased.

    http://shopusd.seashepherd.org/product/Pirate-for-the-Sea/138237
    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













  • joseph33joseph33 Posts: 1,247
    Love and selflessness. Simple as that.
  • Thirty Bills UnpaidThirty Bills Unpaid Posts: 16,881
    joseph33 said:

    Love and selflessness. Simple as that.

    Elaborate a bit. I'm not totally sure what you mean.

    Please!
    "My brain's a good brain!"
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