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Kaye wrote:Death threats are a criminal matter and it sounds like these are being taken seriously by the police.
Over the years I've found humans are sadly often driven by their egos and by jealousy. However dedicated to "their cause" they may be there always seems to be a few who want to discredit others or make a play for top spot. Animal Rights people are sadly no different which is a great shame as it does turn others against the very important issues.
I do have to wonder whether these trolls are plants from the food industry to try and stir up trouble within a movement that is gaining such strength and momentum. I also would not give them air time by discussing and naming them, that just feeds their egos even more. As Dr McDougall said in an interview I recently watched when asked if he had ever been threatened or intimidated by the food/pharma industry he said no, they had shut him down pretty well by ignoring him and not giving him a platform. I would do the same with these trolls.
Ocean Robbins wrote:Diet for a New America came out in 1987, I was 13 at the time, in the five years after its publication, beef consumption in the United States dropped by nearly 20% and the meat industry was not exactly pleased with you. They spent a lot of money actually trying to discredit you and even destroy your work. They were paying academic intuitions to write reports that discredited your information. They were calling on ranchers to mail you packets of manure. They were shadowing your tours trying to disrupt your public talks and your media appearances. They were making threats, some of which were pretty disturbing. Were you ever frightened by all of this and what kept you going?
John Robbins wrote:I was frightened at times by the death threats and to tell you the truth what frightened me the most was when your life was threatened. But ironically what kept me going was you. I would look at you and I would see this innocence. I would see this incredible beauty and hope and I would feel that all children deserved to live in a world with clean air and clean water and a viable economy and a stable climate and a food system that produces food that’s nutritious, that’s healthy, that supports us in being the kinds of human beings we want to be. I saw an industry, the modern meat industry, that has gone so out of balance it’s so out of phase with what is good for us as people. It’s so disheartening to allow them to continue to control what people by what they eat and think and to give them that level of power.
So when I would receive these threats yes I was at times frightened, but it actually made me more determined. If they had to resort to that level then all the more reason to bring about a revolution in our way of thinking about our food, our way of producing it and our way of eating it. I actually think that I was strengthened by the attack.
And don't forget to stay tuned for the Q&A at the end of the talk -- did you know that when Diet For A New America was published, John Robbins received threats -- from an animal rights organization? Did you know that individuals from this AR group followed John's then 11-year-old son, Ocean, in order to discover what bus Ocean rode to get to school -- so that they could make frightening and convincing threats of harm against Ocean, unless John complied with their demands? Unbelievable story!
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