Introducing… The Lion Diet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znGkfrl_F5s (link no longer works)
I’d like to try this at some point. The wild beast within is intrigued while the moral human within me is appalled. My spirit animal wants to play. I want to know what is possible. Yet I want others to feel my joy.
Unfortunately the woman in the video doesn’t mention or acknowledge any of the things I am about to. Nor is this stuff really talked about in mainstream media in any kind of wholistic way because people get too emotional and that is dangerous. So we flash our fancy degrees and credentials at each other to stay calm and keep things nice and compartmentalized. Like a good supermarket.
I’m concerned about the moral and ecological implications of this diet and our choices in general. If I can do this, what else can I do and get away with? If I am free and alive, do i have the right to hinder the freedom and life of another creature? Not to mention putting them in a death camp for profit eg. factory farming?
There are reasons such diets may work for some. I’m not gonna talk about that right now.
Rights don’t really exist beyond our arbitrary social contracts and philosophical meanderings. But if we are to live together in this world, we need some rules to follow. Otherwise it’s blood on the streets and nobody wants that. Right and wrong is a game we all like to play as long as it serves our interests. We don’t like to question things too much. Just enough to have a little dinner conversation so it’s not too akward. And don’t forget to maintain those precious preferances and pre-judgements to feed that inner child. We love to show off our knowledge and hide our ignorance.
Some of us like to engage in meta-thinking. This means the conversation is no longer just about what we are talking about but HOW we talk and listen. Seeing a wider, deeper perspective. Understanding the systematic nature of all phenomena. Awareness of awareness itself. Mind on mind. Mind versus mind. Be careful you don’t end up in the looney bin when you figure it all out like my old pal Nietszche.
Where do we draw the line regarding how far we can go with our “free choices”? What happens when someone wants to try a new thing that does not serve your interests or is a threat to YOUR freedom (or your people)? And by “someone” I also include non-human animals, because drawing the line is not so simple. Feel free to prove me wrong on this.
And by you and me and people I mean everyone. Countries and nations are imaginary. Russians never tried to invade Finland. Nor did Hitler try to conquer the world. There is no Stalin or Mao. The american imperialism thing is a myth.
There is only people killing people. People with families. Husbands. Wives. Daughters. Brothers. People with dreams and ideas and hopes and fears. Killing is a form of artificial power.
People killing people. That’s all it ever was. Our enemies and friends are the exact same person. This planet is our true home. Everywhere you go. There are no borders and passports in the world of the sane. You are my family and I am yours. Sometimes we want to kill each other. Part of the game. But lets stop with the misconceptions about others being better or worse than ourselves. We can save that for sports and hollywood and the great novels.
All sentient beings feel pain and have the will to feel good and take care of their young and pursue their desires. That’s why we care for our pets. Pigs are just as intelligent as dogs. Birds have complex social hierarchies. They have interests. Just like me and you. They can do things we can’t. And vice versa. Just like I can do things you can’t. And vice versa. It’s called diversity. That is how King Nature keeps chugging along and avoiding the nothingness from which it came.
I want to learn how to hunt also just in case everything collapses. There is a primitive drive within man to turn on our survival instincts. When we get too safe and complacent, there is degradation in our well-being. Humans are kind killers. You pull the trigger in the heat of war and a rush of blood enters your whole reality. A kind of thrill nothing can compare to. Later you come to hug your kids and roll around with the dogs. Maybe send some love letters to your girl back home.
But do I have the right to have extremely violent hobbies (ie. murdering other animals) just because I can? Can I organise an institution around this kind of “pleasure killing” so we can only do it at certain times of the year and only certain animals, in certain areas, with certain equipment? You kill a moose and it’s food for the winter. You kill a man and you are in prison for life. What is the difference? Why is one hunting and one murder. Who gets to decide.
I know it’s a passionate hobby for many and a part of one’s core identity but I think it’s hypocritical to be selective about the rules you follow and respect. If you want to hunt and kill and fish, then we are living in the jungle without law. That might be fine actually. And I am not necessarily against that.
But if we were to live this way anyone can then kill and rape your whole family without consequence. Is that the world we want to live in though? Suddenly, tribalism makes sense again because it helps us survive. Eventually wise fuckers will build armies. And we will be right back to where we are now. Concentrated power and poets like me reminding us all that love is also a form of murder because beauty is the longing for dying moments.
I know there are no easy answers and most people don’t like to think about anything but just bitch and moan. It’s easier to not care and just do enough to get by. But why do you get triggered then and lose your calm? I can see your hands shaking with anger when I question your identity. You do care. You want the same thing we all do. Love.
We are the same.
It is a luxury to be able to sit here and contemplate these matters. I do not take that for granted. Perhaps right now is the best it will ever be. I walk outside and nobody is trying to kill me. This is not true everywhere and most certainly not for everyone.
I’m lucky to be a human in Finland in 2019. I am free to pursue my dream.
But how much does my freedom cost?
Am I willing to keep paying it?
The gods are laughing.
“The light is winning.”
– Rust Cohle