What sparked this fire? A PETA ad. Hypocrisy wrapped in slick design, asking for money in the name of compassion while they quietly euthanize strays in unmarked vans. That’s what set me off. Not just because of PETA, but because it embodies everything wrong with us.

We’ve become so divorced from empathy, we don’t even recognize its absence. The ability to feel for something smaller, more vulnerable especially when it's vulnerable because of us has been traded for convenience and comfort. And we don’t see it. Or worse we do, and we just don’t care.

The steak on our plates? “It came from the store.” That’s the disconnect I hear all the time. As if that erases the suffering. As if that erases the life. We stomp a mouse in our home and call it pest control, forgetting that we invaded its space, paved over its ecosystem. We turned compassion into an inconvenience. A luxury. We say greed and hate are bad, but ask someone to give something up for the sake of another being, and suddenly it’s “extreme.”

We’re born into a world that conditions us to accept. To never question. Animal cruelty, systemic oppression, religion, capitalism, environmental devastation it’s all “just the way things are.” And those who dare to break the script? They’re mocked. Dismissed. Treated as radicals.

You’ll see someone fight for social justice, rally for human rights and then bite into a chicken leg without a flicker of thought. The disconnect is maddening. Because it’s all connected. If your empathy has a hierarchy, if it’s only activated when it’s comfortable or socially acceptable then what is it really worth?

I didn’t go vegan for health. That was a side benefit. I went vegan because I saw. I saw the truth how factory farms operate, how leather is made, how animals scream and bleed and die for fashion, food, and fleeting pleasure. It devastated me. I remember thinking, “How did I let this happen?” But then I learned about others who felt the same. About how even one person does matter. That collective action can make a difference. That realization didn’t just change my diet it shifted my entire worldview. It woke me up.

I was around 25 when it hit. And it was that awakening that began pulling me left not just politically, but philosophically. Toward justice. Toward truth. Toward accountability.

But here’s the hard truth: I don’t think society will shift on its own. We are too selfish, too conditioned, too tied to our egos and identities. It’s a virus, and it’s systemic. The world will likely have to crumble before real change can take root. Because as long as people can scroll past suffering and feel nothing as long as convenience outweighs conscience we will stay on this path.

And yes, I’ve faced the judgment. I’ve been called a hippie, an extremist, a lib-tard. People feel personally attacked when you speak a truth they’re not ready to face. Because deep down, they know. They know it’s wrong. But it’s part of their comfort. Their tradition. Their identity. So instead of questioning it they attack the person who does.

But I’m not here to make people comfortable. I’m here to say: it’s all connected. The fall of democracy, the rise of fascism, the normalization of cruelty, the environmental collapse none of it is isolated. It’s the result of a collective failure to care.

Look, I don’t expect a blog post to instantly make people buy tofu in lieu of a Big Mac, or become strategic ecological marvels overnight. What I want to do is give you a mirror. As you look around at the world on fire, before you point a finger and yes, there are fingers to point: look in that mirror. Ask yourself the hard questions.

It’s okay to live your whole life one way and then have an epiphany. It’s okay to wake up at 25, or 35, or 60, and have it finally click. When it does, things become so painfully clear. And it’s okay to feel discomfort, or guilt those are part of growth. If we want to be the change in the world, it starts inside. It starts at every level.

Maybe you aren’t ready to be vegan. But maybe once a week you choose a salad over a burger. Maybe when you see someone who doesn’t speak your language, you don’t shun them they embrace them for where they came from and what you could learn. The world is more than just me and you. The world is all of us human and non-human.

So if you’re still awake if your heart still breaks don’t let them numb you. Stay angry. Stay tender. Stay human. Because if there’s any chance left, it starts with those of us who still feel.

Even in a broken system, even on a dying planet, your choices still matter. You don’t have to be perfect. Just be awake.

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