It got a pretty lengthy response from an old classmate of mine, you can read his response, here. A few posts down. That instigated this:

I regularly debate whether or not to respond to the onslaught of myopic political rants that flood my inbox, newsfeed, etc. Usually, I choose not to reply, not for the sake of preserving peace, or being kind, or even laziness, but rather because I despise one-sided arguments. It is evident by the tone and frequency of commentary, from friends on the left, and the right, that no one is interested in conversation or dialogue, but in shouting their views and ignoring the rest.

However, today is a different day. If a principled argument is what is desired, than for today, I am glad to oblige.

Perhaps Hedges' argument does advocate the "philosophy of a beaten dog." I am willing to concede that, if only to admit that I see wisdom in not engaging in battles and wars that will be lost and forgotten. Resistance is futile, if you choose to play by the oppressor's rules, which seems to be what occurs when you fight violence with violence, oppression with oppression. Resistance can mean much more when it is simply no longer engaging in the system, no longer playing by the rules.

Hedges says, and I fully agree, "When  you ingest the poison of violence, even in a just cause, it corrupts, deforms and perverts you. Violence is a drug, indeed the most potent narcotic known to humankind. The most addicted to violence are those who have access to weapons and a penchant for force." I'm shocked at the misreading that claims that "a victim using violence against a rapist becomes a rapist.  A tiger eating a zookeeper becomes a zookeeper. An anti-imperialist struggle becomes an imperialist struggle." First and foremost, let's be a little more subtle, seek out the shadows of the gray areas that are implicit in Hedges' argument rather than turning to absurdity. No, a rape victim who fights against her/his assailant is not a rapist, but, the turn to violence, the notion that somehow violence is a reclamation of power is a false one. Fighting off an assailant is one thing, but other than the hope of stopping the action in the moment, the violence does nothing. The pain of the event will haunt long after the violence ends. And, reverting to violence/revenge/etc. after the fact will indeed bring out monstrosity. Hedges admits that there are times for violence, and that perhaps this is one of those times, but is quick to remind, as is quoted above, that even in a just cause it can corrupt, deform and pervert.

Unlike the rape victim and the tiger, we are complicit in our oppression. Resistance is as simple as the move to STOP. BUYING. SHIT. But, we like the rewards of being part of the system. We enjoy our cushy lives. I won't deny my complacence, but you probably shouldn't deny yours, either. Any of us that participate in capitalism are to blame for our own oppression, and the oppression of others. Hedges' argument is difficult to swallow because it requires a lot of us. It is hard to do things like secure land, create self-sustaining communities, stop participating in the oppression of capitalism. It is hard, but it is not impossible. The resistance that Hedges suggests requires more than words and afternoons at the shooting range. There is no need to create a plan for tearing down the system, no need to mark the day of our revolution, each day we are responsible for our own. There is no question of what society will look like after the oppressors are defeated, because we can create that society without ever engaging them.

Perhaps this is a "self-serving moralism," but, I suppose I see something valuable in not forcing people into my way of thinking, even if I believe I am correct, even if I strongly believe that their lives would be better. I will gladly share my views, and were I actually involved in resisting in the ways I believe are right (but alas, I am complacent, again, I willingly admit this), would help anyone join that resistance that wanted to, but beyond that, I believe people are responsible for their own actions. If not, what is to come?

Hedges rightly refers to the current global capitalist system as "inverted totalitarianism," and as he quotes Wolin, in this system, "economics dominates politics--and with that domination comes different forms of ruthlessness." There is no demagogue, no charismatic leader, no one force to resist against. In this system, we are all the enemy, by regularly engaging, being mislead by mass media, advertising, etc. If we are all the enemy, all complicit in oppression, against whom shall I turn my gun? Perhaps mass suicide is our best option, to actually leave the few that have the courage to live outside the world of commodities and soldiers enough space to live their communal lives.  And if people are going to take down the system by force, I hope I am first at the wall, because I deign to conceive of the paternalistic, fascist system that would choose to slaughter those who would not concede. That system already exists, and the notion of mirroring it to favor another ideology shows a limited understanding of what  human experience can and should be. Our current system is killing me slowly. I hope yours would do me the favor of making my demise quick.

There's something so freeing about not giving a damn what other people think. (Though I will be honest, I think that shit needs to be reigned in. God knows I don't want to find myself serenading strangers just because I don't care what people think.) I danced my (sizeable) ass off. I mean, I was out of control. I'm pretty certain my students think I'm mentally deranged, and there's probably some cell phone video footage of me doing over the top crane mimicry, but man, I had fun.

I think I would have gladly stayed in my seat, waiting for the thing to end, had the audience not been full of lifeless freaks. I mean, who spends 30 bones to go to a show, and then stands there staring with dead eyes (but then freaks out for the encore. What the hell?) or just holds up their camera phone and makes sure to capture every moment.  I danced for every person in that audience. And I am TIRED.

I should note: Screw your videophone footage of a concert. Seriously, take your phone, and, sans lube, shove it up your ass. First of all, I'm pretty sure any footage you are getting is absolute shit, so, kind of useless. "OOH, look at this Plain White Ts concert I was at, holding my phone up like a dumbass..." (yes, the "plain white ts" perhaps best known for a milkshake they created at Denny's...or some song...whatever...they were the opening band). And assuming you actually have decent footage, what are you going to do with it? Take it home and relive that awesome concert experience? I watched you. You weren't having fun, so quit pretending that you were. I am so over experience being mediated by technology. You can't take it with you, people, so drop your phone and shake yer ass.

Oh, hey, I know you. Yeah. I haven't been around much lately. In my defense, I've been kind of busy, and not had much of substance to say (as if my posts were these witty, substantive bits of wisdom that you just can't live without). Turns out August kind of blows when you work @ a University.

Regardless, I'm back. Ish. I've been writing a lot on my baby maker blog, but that's all hormones and sadness and pity parties. Let's keep it light here, shall we?

Let's get down to the meat (or seitan or tofu or whatever you prefer) of things. Being a vegan kind of kicks ass. But before I sing the praises of all things veggie, let's have a few confessions, shall we?

1) I'm an all or nothing kind of gal, which has made every attempt to switch to veganism a failure. I've transitioned this time from being a lacto/ovo/pesco kind of gal, which has made it much easier than from my times as a near carnivore on Atkins'. Normally when I eff up, and eat a cheeseburger or an entire cow, I am kind of over the whole thing, this time my eff ups have been a bit less dramatic, and I feel much readier to rebound.

2) Hence, the confession. I would say I'm primarily vegan for health reasons, and I'm more concerned with staying away from dairy than meat or eggs, though I try really hard to avoid those as well. I really do not want to be eating animals, but when I have to start getting into political conversations about my food choices I just kind of freak out and give up. Doing it for health is almost has hard, but I don't have people try so hard to actively convince me that I'm wrong.  Anyway, I've really buggered the whole vegan thing a couple of times this past week, and feel like putting my dirty laundry out for everyone to see. 
                   *Occasionally I eat things with eggs in them, mostly out of sheer laziness, but occasionally in rebellion against tofu.
                   *I don't check candy labels for things like gelatin, or red dye 40 or whatever the hell. So, i probably eat more insects and horse bones than any good vegan should.
                   *Last Saturday, the husby had the most delicious smelling empanada at the farmer's market. So I had a bite, or two. It was filled with burger. And I loved it.
                   *Also last Saturday, we went to all you can eat sushi, and I had both shrimp and crab.
                   *The most greivous sin, in my eyes, came yesterday, when in the midst of a Clomid-enhanced freakout I decided to order an old standby at Beto's (or Rancheritos, dammit), and got a breakfast burrito, without cheese. I willingly chose to eat eggs, which kind of sent me into a panic attack later, but crime of all crimes, there was a big-ass wad of cheese in the middle of that burrito, and I stared it down, and took a huge effing bite. And it was good. Really damn good. I quickly realized that I was going to get really sick if I continued eating it, so I followed the husband's suggestion and just peeled the giant wad of cheese out and ate the rest. 

So. In spite of all my vegan missteps, I really REALLY love being vegan. Even though I eat way more candy than I should, I feel like I eat much healthier food, and I feel like the food I eat is much more flavorful. It's made me think a lot about why we even eat meat at all. I mean, I get the craving for the occasional piece of flesh, and I truly miss the meltiness of cheese, but beyond that, I've realized how much FLAVOR we miss when we use those things.

Try going to a normal restaurant and ordering something without dairy in it. Options without meat are gaining some popularity (though it's still really  blowing my mind as to how MUCH meat we consume), but we put cheese on everyeffingthing. And we put A LOT of cheese on things. Not even good cheese either (and this girl LOVES good cheese. Oh, how I miss it), but like, pseudo-cheese. Chock full of fat and animal hormones, and chemicals. And for what? For a little extra flavor in our over-processed, white flour, greasy-ass simulacrum(b) of a meal? 

There are so many amazing flavors in the world that go completely untasted because we coat things in meat and cheese and fat. Believe it or not, people, vegetables have flavor, and they taste GOOD, as do whole grains. We spend so much of our time acclimating our tastebuds to things that never appear in nature that we dull our senses from the ability to experience food as just that FOOD.

I'm not trying to convert anyone (though if you're eating meat and dairy, you should REALLY steer (ha! steer! beef!) clear of hormonally/genetically treated products. I'm pretty sure I'm suffering the consequences of a lifetime full of 'em. Plus, you're killing poor, sweet, defenseless little animals...) but mine eyes have seen the glory of the tasting of the veggies, and I thought maybe I could persuade a few of you to eat  more of 'em.