There's no pride in prejudice

I was recently told my one of my family members that I should care about what other people think of me.

No seriously, I was told that. For real. 

Hysterical, isn't it?

Why should I care what other people think of me? There's a huge difference between what people think about me and what people know about me. If they think I'm weird, they should get to know me to find out. And if they know I'm weird, well then fair enough!

Obviously though, if I was going to an interview for a really important job or surrounded by new people, I would want them to think that I'm a pleasant person. Because to me, those kind of things are important. I don't want to be poor AND friendless at the same time. (At the moment, I'm just poor. I do have friends, really.) I want them to judge me on who I am, not on who they think I am. But obviously, I'll probably get to know these people if I get the job or succeed in "breaking the ice" so they'll eventually get to know me. I won't need to pretend about who I am or give a false impression.

However, I am not going to let what other people, such as people I don't even talk to, people who pass me by on the street, the people at the tills when I'm buying two croissants from LIDL, or when I'm looking horrendous on the treadmill at the gym, dictate me in how I act, just incase they might form a judgement on me. 

Life's too short to try to pretend to be somebody you're not just because you care about what other people think. Let's face it; most people are idiots. That's a theory that I have formed over the passed year or so. Idiots, the lot of them. Even me! People are so idiotic to form judgements on people they've barely met or even half-met, or people they're half-friends with. IT'S EVEN SUCH A WASTE OF TIME!! You could do so many more productive thing instead of judging people. 

You like listening to various Dutch one-man bands loudly? GOOD FOR YOU!

You like wearing hats similar to Indiana Jones? GOOD FOR YOU!

You like to read books upside down to give yourself a challenge? GOOD FOR YOU! 

You like to wear socks with sandals? GOOD FO- wait no, that's not okay. That's never okay.

But you get my drift anyway. 

Just be who you want to be and don't be what everyone else wants you to be and don't care about what other people want you to be because in the end, you're stuck with yourself for the rest of your life so you might as well like who you are and feel confident in who you are because there's only one of you. 

And if you do judge people on your two seconds of contact or interaction with them, well shame on you. Stop it, right now. 

Animal Abuse

-Paul McCartney 

I'm currently researching french phrases about animal abuse for my french exam tomorrow (which is torture by the way), but in doing that, I got inspired to write about it.

The maltreatment of animals in today's world is definitely another major upsetting thing. I get physically upset seeing dogs on the streets that I know have no home to go back to; no nice fire to lie in front of, no food, no comfort or anything of that sorts. Why people abandon their animals on the side of the roads, and often tie them to gates to let them die is just beyond me. It gets under my skin! Fair enough, the economy is terrible and you may not be able to provide for it anymore, but for heaven's sake, give it to an animal shelter or someone who would like a pet and would be able to give it a good home, anything else but abandoning it and allowing it to slowly die!

Many other people just beat their pets. Like, why? WHY?! What benefit do you get from beating an innocent animal who respects you and looks up to you?! Those kind of people are one of the worst kinds of people in this world. 

I often watch the animal rescue programes, and I don't know why because I often get so distraught from them, but what some of those animals go through is horrible. No human should go through it, so why would an animal have to either? We're all living things after all.

Circus's are another thing that turn my stomach. Not just because they're horrible places, but many circuses are beyond cruel to animals. They take animals such as elephants, tigers and monkeys from their natural habitat, thousands of miles from their homes and beat them brutally in order to make them do a handstand or balance on a football or jump through hoops or something else that's totally stupid. ANIMALS WERE NOT BORN TO JUMP THROUGH HOOPS OR DO HANDSTANDS. When dogs do it, it's cute because they get a nice treat after it like a dog biscuit or something. But when animals native to other continents do it, it's just not right. 

"Animals aren’t actors, spectacles to imprison and gawk at, or circus clowns. Yet thousands of these animals are forced to perform silly, confusing tricks under the threat of physical punishment; are carted across the country in cramped and stuffy boxcars or semi-truck trailers; are kept chained or caged in barren, boring, and filthy enclosures; and are separated from their families and friends—all for the sake of human “entertainment.” Many of these animals even pay with their lives."

-PETA

This innocent innocent BABY elephant is being beaten and tied down and pushed and shoved in such ways in order to make him to tricks that he is naturally unable to do. WHY are people such hideous creatures? 

And the million dollar question: why do we test chemicals on innocent animals when there a paedophiles and rapists and murderers in prison? You could argue that it's against human rights, but didn't they violate somebody's human rights? Their right to feel safe? Isn't that the reason why their in jail? 

Animal-testing is against animal rights as well and it should be stopped. Like right now.

If you see any animals being beaten, or any animal in bad conditions or is starving or it is need of urgent attention, do something and don't just stand there! You'd be saving a life.

(WARNING: tears will be shed)

This next video is the exact reason I became a vegetarian over a year ago. It is sick, disgusting, and terribly upsetting. I genuinely cried while I watched it. 
Watch it completely at your own risk, and if you feel like it's too much, don't feel as if you have to watch it all. It gets worse and worse, so don't feel obliged to watch it. It's entirely at your own risk.

(WARNING: contains gruesome imagery that viewers may find upsetting. Watch entirely at your own will.)

"For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. 
Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love"
- Pythagoras

What are we doing?

One of the things that upsets me most about this world is our treatment of it. One thing about our generation is that we don't care. Very little care is given to the environment around us; the earth we live on and the people on it. We are the one's to blame for the worlds current situation, as are the generations before, but we aren't even trying to help the matter. But we, as people, don't want the blame to be on us. We like to blame others. Maybe the world we live in now isn't even our fault, but barely anybody is doing anything to try change it. We like to sit back and say 'change will come' but why not start now?? Our world is deteriorating and it will more than likely turn into the vision of Earth that was on Wall-E but there'll be no turning back from it. Once it is gone, it's gone. You can't un-destroy something. You can only stop yourself from destroying it.

As a major tree-hugger and lover of the environment and the natural world, I get genuinely upset that animals and people in other countries in regions such as Africa or the Antarctic are suffering from problems that we, us snotty-nosed, first world, materialistic monsters have caused. WE are the ones that drive cars that omit harmful gases, WE are the ones that burn fossil fuels that burn holes in the ozone layer, WE are the ones that cut down acres of trees that destroy many animals homes, WE are the blame for all of this! We have become so concerned with our own wealth, our own wants that we don't even think about anybody elses needs! WE pollute, WE litter, WE are to blame.

I just watched a short video set in the Midway Islands in the Pacific Ocean, more than 2000 miles from the nearest continent. On that island live thousands of birds. One man photographed and recorded the dying and dead birds on that island. The dead birds bodies were decayed. And do you know what was in their stomachs!? Bottle caps, lighters, plastic netting, the list goes on! The birds died from these as they were stuck in their stomachs. And don't even dare to say something stupid and ignorant like "stupid birds, they should know that it's not food" or "obviously you can't eat plastic." The birds aren't the stupid ones, we are. How dare we allow our rubbish to flow into the oceans, polluting them and the life in it? How dare we kill innocent life more than 2000 miles away? This just goes to show that what we do affects everything around us.

DISGUSTING, isn't it?? All thanks to our actions, of course.

Africa is experiencing drought upon drought throughout the Savannah. The worlds rainforest's are being cut down and destroyed. Floods are more common, hurricanes are almost regular occurrences, massive glaciers of ice are collapsing day after day. Lives of animals are being jeopardised and it hurts me and disgusts me. We don't see most of the effects that we are causing, but they are still there nonetheless.

Just why. Why why why?? Why can't we walk the extra mile? Literally! Just walk or cycle the extra mile to the shop isn't of driving? Why can't we put our rubbish in the bin? Why do people find it such a daunting task to recycle? Or spend five minutes less in the shower? Buy Eco-friendly produce, grow your own vegetables, plant a tree here and there, do something and don't just sit there! The Earth is so beautiful and full of so many beautiful things, why would you want to destroy it?

Species of animals are becoming extinct, wiped clean off of the earth. The Bali Tiger of Asia was extinct as a result of poaching (don't even get me started on that, that's another thing that turns my stomach in anger). The Javan Tiger, more or less extinct for the same reason. Species of mammals upon birds upon marine life, wiped from the Earth.

All in all, the human race, no matter how significant and astounding we think we are, we are vermin and we are the cause of the world's mess. And you know it.

"Only when the last tree has been cut down,
only when the last fish has been caught,
only when the last stream has been poisoned,
only then will you find you cannot eat money."

~ Cree Indian Prophecy