While reading Vegan Voices: Essays by Inspiring Changemakers, edited by Dr. Joanne Kong, I made a “google list” which included this powerful speech that had influenced two of the authors to go vegan. The speech has been translated into many languages and has received nearly five million views: “Best Speech You Will Ever Hear — Gary Yourofsky.”
Here is one minute transcribed from that 70-minute presentation at Georgia Tech in 2010:
“The propaganda from the animal abusers is enormous. I mean when was the last time you turned on TV and saw a commercial for shiitake mushrooms? People singing and dancing down the streets, having a good time, eating mushrooms? How about alfalfa sprouts? Quinoa? Radishes? Raspberries? Tofu?
"You don’t see that stuff advertised on TV. What do you see instead? Have some more meat, have some more cheese, have some more cheese on your meat, meat, meat and cheese, double cheese, extra cheese, and how about a little more cheese with your meat? Have some more cow’s milk, have some more eggs…
“And then what do you see interspersed, between those advertisements? Not feeling so well? Need to see a cancer specialist? How about a heart doctor? Need some Lipitor? Zocor? Crestor? Plavix? Need some diet pills? How about some energy drinks? Some Kaopectate? Tums? Pepto Bismol?
“You’ve been duped. They’re killing you, they’re killing the animals, and they’re killing this planet.”
There is really big money in the animal agriculture and pharmaceutical industries. Thus, they do not want to recognize that animals are sentient beings who feel pain and happiness. Once that recognition is made, the logical next step is realizing that it is wrong to enslave and slaughter the non-human animals.
Gary Yourofsky is very intense and direct, and at times he is a bit too crude for my sensibilities, but he makes many good points in his talk, and he has inspired many people to go vegan. You can click here to watch the video on YouTube: “Best Speech You Will Ever Hear — Gary Yourofsky.”
One word of caution is that Gary downplays the need for vegans to take a vitamin B12 supplement, which is actually widely recommended, such as by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine: Good nutrition FAQ.
The murder of billions of innocent, sensitive, and aware non-human animals each year is very disturbing, so some balance is necessary and good.
Watching videos of the lucky animals who get to live in sanctuaries is very uplifting, such as this 2.5 minute video, which shows an annual turkey celebration at Farm Sanctuary: “Instead of Being on the Menu, These Turkeys Got Their Own Feast!” 👏♥️🦃😃
This year Farm Sanctuary will be live-streaming the celebration… this Saturday, November 20th: Celebration for the Turkeys.
May all humans wake up to the suffering of the non-human animals. May compassion for the non-human animals inspire more humans to go vegan.
Caged chickens: Nighthawk Shoots on Unsplash.
