This is a new article (April 2013), written in prison by Walter Bond and published on his support website. If you don't know about this vegan straight edge animal rights activist, then you better check out: http://supportwalter.org
WALTER EDMUND BOND (37096013)
4/3/2013 9:50:28 AM
xVx What It Means To Me xVx
Drug and alcohol use is a waste of time, energy and life. Drug and
Alcohol Abuse leads to habituation and addiction which is the antithesis
of liberation. Most serious revolutionary groups and individuals of
the past had provisions or stipulations against the consumption of
intoxicants. Groups such as the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense and
the American Indian Movement are two shining examples of this. Malcolm
X once said “Every time you break the seal on a liquor bottle that’s a
government seal you are breaking.” How right he was.
Drugs and drink have been a tool of governments to decimate native
cultures and racially eradicate them. In short it has been a very
effective tool of genocide. Knowingly and intentionally. Hard drugs
such as heroin and cocaine have been used to pacify nearly any movement
the government views as subversive. The large and worldwide production
of the illegal drug trade works hand in glove with law enforcement,
state and government authorities and police more than many people care
to realize.
The legal industrial drug complex cranks drugs out as quickly as they
can be dreamed up by mad scientists and greedy producers for everything
from depression and anxiety to toe nail fungus and limp dick, with
absolutely no way of knowing long term side effects to their consumers
or their genetic effects on the next generation. The industrial drug
complex ensures that those that resist the addictions from illegal
street drugs and the liquor bottle will eventually succumb to the
doctor, bought and paid for by Astra Zeneca.
Drugs both legal and illegal fuel funding for millions of experiments
done on Animals annually. From addicting primates to methamphetamine,
to inducing depression in beagles by way of torture and isolation. All
this solely to record the results of anti-depressants. This sinister and
vicious industry of drug abuse funds the sinister and vicious business
of vivisection. Along with the drunk driver that mows down pedestrians
while being asleep at the wheel. We also have the enormous amount of
domestic violence due to raging alcoholism. Child abuse, rape,
molestation and murders which happen in staggering numbers and have
direct correlations to addictions in the home. How nice to know that the
government distills predatory violence with every bottle it produces.
And that women and children get to suffer heinously for the inebriation
of drunken men.
Because of all this, and so much more I assert that Vegan Straight
Edge as a lifestyle is essential for the individual, for our communities
and the planet. What many frame as abstinence is really the practice
of self-liberation. Freedom from addiction is literally freedom from
one of the most vicious forms of slavery every seen on the face of
Mother Earth!
Vegan Straight Edge, in my definition is: Veganism in our diet and
consumption, coupled with the ethical belief that Animals exist for
their own autonomy instead of human ends. It is also a rejection of
inebriation and all recreational drug use from our personal lives. And
lastly it is a stand against sexual exploitation in all its forms. On
top of this it is a commitment taken for life.
For the uninitiated that have not heard of Straight Edge, or Vegan
Straight Edge a cursory glance at the internet on the subject will lead
to videos of hyper masculine ‘dancing’, punk/metal music bands and a
host of clothing, slogans and graphics. While this is in part, ‘the
scene’, and the fashion trend that Vegan Edge has, and does grow
through. It’s the message and way of life that is the substance, not
the music and fashion, don’t get it twisted.
With many Vegan Edgers ageing away from the scene it’s important to
make this distinction, so that the vsXe kids out there can learn from
our experience, instead of us trying to keep up with theirs. And in the
process turning into those creepy old people that don’t realize they
look ridiculous in skinny jeans and anime hairdos. But by no means do I
discount the power that the vsXe scene has had, and still does. For so
many kids, myself included it showed us a way to empower ourselves and
fight for what’s positive. It took many of us out of the quagmire and
filth of addiction right when we were on the verge of disaster.
Vegan Straight Edge, means everything to me. It’s not the music,
it’s not the tattoos and it’s not the camaraderie that makes Vegan Edge
as close to me as my own heart beat. All these things have their place
but when the show is over, when the tattoos begin to fade and blend
together and when friends come and go, it’s the way we live our lives
that over time forms the people we are. It’s the things we do and
refuse to do, that define us. Vegan Edge shrinks the gap between
rhetoric and reality. It’s not a school of thought and it’s not a
belief (although both have evolved from it). It’s an attempt to try and
make this world a more peaceful and just place in an aggressive and
forthright manner. Starting with ourselves and reaching in ever wider
circles to the world around us. Building scenes and a community
worldwide. Screaming our manifestos as anthems to crowds of ourselves
that scream them right back in our faces. To the outside world it looks
like a mosh pit or a hardcore punk concert, but for us it is not just a
show, it’s an affirmation.
Unfortunately for many it’s an empty fad. A phase that changes right
along with musical tastes. Realizing that a lifetime commitment to
Veganism, drug free living and the refusal of sexual exploitation is at
times difficult or cuts into ones hedonistic idea of fun, the substance
soon gets discarded by the wayside. For these people that talk of Vegan
Edge as their salad days long after they have shit all over everything
they once proclaimed to hold so true never were Straight Edge at all.
And I have no ear, or patience for tales of their Straight Edge days.
Anymore than the throngs of used to be Vegans who proclaim that they
had to quit being Vegan because ‘It just wasn’t right for my body type’.
Interconnectedness is a two way street. It’s nobodies right to
poison their (our) children, community, environment or endeavors with
the essence of oppression, the essence of greed and the essence of
consumerism. How odd it is as anarchists to be so vexatious against
brand names, advertising and capitalist economy but then sit down with a
fucking red white and blue beer can and get drunk on the same shit that
whites use to kill the indigenous nations of the Earth! How odd as a
Vegan to care so deeply about the inherent rights of an ant or mosquito,
but then smoke a joint that feeds a direct consumer link to cartel
violence that enslaves whole cities and providences of Latinos for the
drug lords reign! Give me a fucking break!
In the final analysis, no one lifestyle, individual or tactic is all
encompassing. We all take part daily in the atrocity of mass locust
society. But that is not an excuse to just throw our hands in the air
and join in the spectacle of insanity that is technologically advanced
civilization. Perhaps we are not in a situation to save the world from
capitalism, consumerism, Animal, Earth and Human exploitation in the
present. Perhaps we cannot usher in an age of Total Liberation
tomorrow. But we can save ourselves on a case to case basis, we can
empower ourselves in thought word and deed. No matter who we are, or
where we are. We can ‘scream for change’, ‘make a change’, and be a
‘force a change’. In our lives and the lives of those around us. By
remaining Vegan For Life and living our One Life, Drug Free!
For Liberation,
Walter
