Youorfsky Ga Tech Speech Intro Sept. 9, 2009

Watch the introduction of Gary Yourofsky's speech on animal rights and veganism recorded from Georgia Tech from Fall 2009. Gary is a national lecturer on veganism and does over 200 talks each year. Visit www.adaptt.org for more information.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• vegan
• animal rights
• speciesism
• veganism
• animal cruelty
• health
• soy
• tofu
• dairy
• environment
• factory farming
• slaughterhouse
• ethics
• activism
• vegetarian
• vegetarianism
• meat
• diet
• world hunger
• food
• morality
• enlightenment
• cholesterol
• animal protein
• saturated fat
• trans fat

[xgbdesign]

@jimyjones1985: Where's the EVIDENCE for plant consciousness and feeling? Maybe you should visit the ADAPTT website, click "All About Veganism," and click the link labeled "Killing Plants."

[cptmc]

Life feeds off life. Does one not feel sad when a 200 year-old tree is cut down? Cheetahs are always going to eat gazelles (at least until they finally go extinct). It all makes me feel bad, but that's the way it is. I think the real choice is to be responsible about the food one eats.

[xgbdesign]

"Life feeds off life." Granted! But don't you think there's a distinction to be made between life that is unconscious, unfeeling, and never inclined to protect itself on the one hand; and life that conscious, sentient, feeling, wary of predators, protective of its offspring, on the other? This is precisely why vegans choose to eat only the former, while protecting the latter. Yes, the real choice IS to be responsible about the food one eats, which is exactly why veganism is morally imperative!

[xgbdesign]

"Cheetahs are always going to eat gazelles..." Again, granted! But do you really want to reduce yourself to the moral equivalent of a cheetah? Cheetahs are natural carnivores; they have no moral inclination enabling them to "decide" not to eat a gazelle. As I pointed out to another poster, we humans do not have that luxury. We bear the burdens of being morally responsible for our actions. There's simply no point in causing needless suffering and death for no morally compelling reason.

[jasamkrafen]

My number one question is this:

I did metabolic type diet last year. Felt very good.

Im a vegan now.

Also feel very good.

Question:

Are the genes im turing on by being a vegan more positive + advancing than the ones Im turing on being a protien type eater of meat and fat primarily?

[xgbdesign]

Yes! Compassion via veganism is the only way to have positive genes. When animals are raised as slaves, mutilated, de-horned, de-beaked, castrated, and ripped away from their mothers, they experience nothing but negative energy. When they are shipped to slaughter, then dismembered and murdered, they experience nothing except fear and pain. When people eat flesh, all this negativity enters their bodies. It is impossible to have any positive genes when consuming someone else's corpse. Gary Y.

[MontanaVegan]

Thank you brave and wonderful professor for this very accurate and truthful message...

This I know is oh so true.

[joehaptas]

Gary has a wonderfully creative, playful and artistic instinct with his presentations that is sorely lacking elsewhere in the animal rights and veg movements. I only wish the "leaders" were paying attention to how Gary does it. You don't have to agree 100% with what he says, but you have to admit his passion is infectious and admirable.

Come on Gary, let's get a full speech up on YouTube!

[LynSire]

Amazing speecher!!!! I love his way of turning people vegans! ♥

[celt130]

The only thing he can talk about is his own idea, his own philosophy.

For the rest of the usual arguments you hear coming from this side well they are mostly proven wrong by scientific evidence.

Now I wonder why they never talk about the millions wild rats and lice that are killed either when there food is harvested or the ones who are killed and tortured to keep humans disease free and stop them eating our food.

Why does this movement always have 2 faces and 2 ways of acting towards animals?

[FenDove]

Wow, the people still wandering on in a quarter of the way through the speech are annoying the heck out of me, so disrespectful. Please get a watch people!

[AnimalsNeedu]

GARY gets LOTS of Kudos as he should, but I want to empower YOU! If you like his talks then u must want to do it too? YOU can, but better??? U can reach 1000's more (rather than a small class), no need for permission+NO public speaking skills! Just hand out educational, factual, interesting booklets: AdoptaCollege dotorg by Vegan Outreach (FYI I saw Gary speak @ University of FL, it was great, but 45,000 students only reached ~60! I gave out 2,500 booklets that day) so you can NOW!

[Cheakypuppy]

When the premises used t support an argument the conclusion also is false. Gary's first premise "thou shalt not kill" is false. It does not need an astrix. The original Hebrew is "Ratsach" which literally means "man slayer" (that's species specific). In modern English we would use the legal term "murder". Slavery is also a term that applies specifically to people. Both the English word and the concept for the last 8000 years has applied to people. Therefore his conclusions are false

[paigenicole021]

He came into my school and is really good. He makes a good point and now I have gone vegan. He is amazing and truly life-changing.

[dutchnukelover]

2) but just wanted to say; THANK YOU for fighting this important fight, and you inspired me to do something more than just being vegan!

[dutchnukelover]

wow Gary, you must have had some critisism for saying the Bible is nothing but ink and paper. I totally support everything you say, and actually downloaded your speech so i can show even more people, and have been vegan myself for over 2 years now ( vegetarian since little, cuz i stayed that kid who just couldnt eat her friends), and everytime people come at me with; the bible says its okay to eat meat, i say; "its just a book, please just use common sense ", all hell breaks loose!

[jimyjones1985]

@xgbdesign plants are conscious and feeling. this has been proven many times before.