By Kim Sun-ae
Sometimes it is easy to see other people's faults but difficult to find their merits. No one is perfect. Nonetheless, something is shining in everyone. Can we find beauty in every person we meet?
These days I'm taking part in a book club in which most participants pursue veganism. I'm learning a lot from other participants who care about the lives of beings other than humans.
I stopped eating animals after realizing they also want to live happily and peacefully, just like us humans. Also, books on veganism taught me about the environmental pollution caused by the present factory farming system. Numerous animals excretions are polluting the water and land. Moreover, so many ducks, chickens, cows and pigs have been killed and buried to prevent the spread of contagious animal diseases.
In this situation, we can't live healthily because we are also part of the ecosystem. Think about the water we drink and the land where the agricultural products we eat come from.
For the past few years, my interests have come to include the climate crisis. From many books and materials including reports by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, I learned that the current livestock industry worsens the climate crisis, due to deforestation for the cultivation of feed crops, methane emissions from cows and so on.
Some of us book club participants attended the Sept. 24 Climate Justice March in the Gwanghwamun area together. I was glad to meet wonderful people who are actively doing what they can to stop the worsening of the climate crisis.
What about when we meet people who have different views from us? From time to time, we think we're right and they're wrong, and we come to want to criticize them. However, criticizing others is not helpful.
Although a person does not know about the harmful effects of the current factory farming system, they may know more about other social issues ― for example, the reality and rights of people with disabilities ― better than I do. If we become more open-minded, we'll be able to learn new things from each other and make positive changes in our lives.
Reading a book one day, l learned that in Africa, there are big trees that grow under the ground. Most of their structure is underground except for some small leaves or thin branches visible on the surface.
Many of us live from day to day not knowing we have power. If we begin to discover what is inside us and what effects we can have on other beings, our lives will change.
For instance, in each meal, we have a choice: whether we will support the present system of killing countless animals or not. The life of a pig, a cow or a chicken depends on our decision. It is beautiful to make efforts, however small, to live harmoniously with other living beings, with compassion in all of us.
Kim Sun-ae (blog.naver.com/everythingchanges) is a writer and editor.
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These days I'm taking part in a book club in which most participants pursue veganism. I'm learning a lot from other participants who care about the lives of beings other than humans.
I stopped eating animals after realizing they also want to live happily and peacefully, just like us humans. Also, books on veganism taught me about the environmental pollution caused by the present factory farming system. Numerous animals excretions are polluting the water and land. Moreover, so many ducks, chickens, cows and pigs have been killed and buried to prevent the spread of contagious animal diseases.
In this situation, we can't live healthily because we are also part of the ecosystem. Think about the water we drink and the land where the agricultural products we eat come from.
For the past few years, my interests have come to include the climate crisis. From many books and materials including reports by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, I learned that the current livestock industry worsens the climate crisis, due to deforestation for the cultivation of feed crops, methane emissions from cows and so on.
Some of us book club participants attended the Sept. 24 Climate Justice March in the Gwanghwamun area together. I was glad to meet wonderful people who are actively doing what they can to stop the worsening of the climate crisis.
What about when we meet people who have different views from us? From time to time, we think we're right and they're wrong, and we come to want to criticize them. However, criticizing others is not helpful.
Although a person does not know about the harmful effects of the current factory farming system, they may know more about other social issues ― for example, the reality and rights of people with disabilities ― better than I do. If we become more open-minded, we'll be able to learn new things from each other and make positive changes in our lives.
Reading a book one day, l learned that in Africa, there are big trees that grow under the ground. Most of their structure is underground except for some small leaves or thin branches visible on the surface.
Many of us live from day to day not knowing we have power. If we begin to discover what is inside us and what effects we can have on other beings, our lives will change.
For instance, in each meal, we have a choice: whether we will support the present system of killing countless animals or not. The life of a pig, a cow or a chicken depends on our decision. It is beautiful to make efforts, however small, to live harmoniously with other living beings, with compassion in all of us.
Kim Sun-ae (blog.naver.com/everythingchanges) is a writer and editor.
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