Ilhan receives money from the Turkish-American Steering Committee (TASC). She has also regularly attended their conferences. TASC is a pro-Erdogan organization led by Halil Mutlu, Erdogan's cousin. [1]
The preponderance of evidence points to the fact that her opinions on foreign policy is heavily influenced by the TASC. Here are some exceptional foreign policy decisions which align with the TASC:
Opposing recognition of the Armenian Genocide.
Opposing sanctions on Turkey for invading Syria.
Support for the Palestinian cause.
Leading support for pro-Turkey separatists in Xinjiang.
And invasive species are introduced through the international exchange of commodities. Our ecosystem is fundamentally shaped by capitalist exploitation.
That doesn't change that fact that the white-tailed deer population increasing x1000 in the past century, while biomass in North America has dropped 70%, is fucking horrible for local ecosystems.
The problem is capitalism's impact on the ecosystem, and that's why I'm a communist.
It’s going out of your way to kill and likely then eat an animal that is intelligent, empathetic, and social. If you removed yourself from this norm for a while, you’d find it to be pretty revolting to consider eating it, if your concern is population control. It could be buried and keep the nutrients in the ecosystem. It could be left for scavengers and predators, who tend to have trouble versus farmers and other hunters. etc. etc. It goes into food because of cultural normative attitudes towards animals and food that are being knee-jerk defended here.
I get this is why vegans react this way. It's also why I consider veganism incredibly chauvinistic. The enlightened vegans, who believe it's immoral to perform the necessary role humans play in ecosystems, dismiss these social & cultural practices as savage & primitive. And even when vegans admit that humans need to perform this role, they say people cannot subsist off it because it offends their sensibilities.
I completely understand why someone would choose to forego hunting. I completely understand why people choose to be vegan. But speaking with any moral absolutism on this topic is chauvinistic.
Didn’t you imply that a reference to primitive tools like hitting each other on the rock over an elk is a commentary on indigenous cultures? Interpreting any derogatory reference to primitivism as a reference to indigenous people is pretty fucking colonial and racist. Indigenous people are not idiots hitting each other on the heads with rocks.
No. I said that considering anyone who hunts
primitive is racist & chauvinist. You just interjected the only reference to indigeneity. The other vegans in the thread did the same thing.
I agree, presuming indigeneity at any reference to primitivism is racist and colonial. You are making great observations on racism and chauvinism, but they only apply to the vegans I've seen in these threads.
They even ended up furthering racist and settler-colonial stereotypes, like implying that some of my indigenous friends actually aren’t really indigenous because they don’t eat meat. Internalized settler-colonialism and essentialist crystallizations of what it means to be indigenous are not being on the side of the oppressed
Where is the post which claims that indigenous people who do not eat meat are not real indigenous people?
Has this been over the past day? If you are trying to convert people to veganism in the current climate, you are inheriting a lot of baggage.
I have posted several times on vegan-related issues here. I've explained to people on this site how to buy soy bean in bulk & make a tons of meat substitutes from it: okara, soy milk, soy bean, yuba. I am very sympathetic to people advocating for plant-based diets. But I'm going to focus on the more immediate issue of vegans on this site harassing anyone who doesn't come from their exact social & cultural background.
I've been called a Nazi, a murderer, and a bunch of other horrible shit, just for explaining to vegans here that we are not all completely alienated from nature. Humans do play an important role of predator in ecosystems. Humans hunting white-tailed deer & invasive carp in my ecosystem is wildly acknowledged as necessary to prevent further ecological collapse.
Several indigenous people been harassed for explaining their culture's relationship to animals. That's why people here care more about "the lives and cultures of indigenous people" than whatever you are trying to sell them. Vegans keep pretending it's to cover for some guilt about eating meat. No! It's because people are being racist in literally every thread on this topic.
Entering this conversation with "maybe eat less meat" comes off as incredibly tone-deaf.
Yes, you are invoking indigenous cultures as a stand-in for state of nature, to imply ethical or moral consideration of the well-being of animals is somehow de facto off the table, which is obviously absurd.
I haven't said anything about "indigenous culture."
I grew up in a rural settler society. We recognize that invasion fish, brought by international trade, are extremely detrimental to our ecosystem. We need more people fishing & consuming these fish to slow down ecological collapse.
We also recognize that human activity is causing the extinction of vulnerable species & predators, the rapid boom white-tailed deer population. We need to intervene to protect vulnerable species, which includes more hunting white-tailed deer to slow down their dominance over all natural food sources.
These are examples of humans, in industrial societies, needing to perform the role of predator in the ecosystem. And I haven't even gotten into husbandry relations.
why are you so absurdly defensive that you keep insisting we can only talk about indigenous cultures when talking about vegetarianism or veganism
I have not limited this to indigenous cultures. The problem is that veganism does not make much sense outside the context of mass industrially produced animal products. And the root of the problem there is our alienation from nature.
I said that people still hunt in a cooperative way with nature, and I was met with:
Oh, so you think you're a wolf
Human society can never progress past that point and consider moral or ethical points that go beyond the level of someone bashing a rock over someone elses head to steal someone elses dead elk.
These were both incredibly racist & chauvinistic.
an Indian vegetarian says that Americans haven’t progressed to a more enlightened position towards their food
No one said this to me, but I would agree if someone did say this.
So you admit you’re a dipshit invoking indigenous culture as a shitty broad shield so as to not be made to personally think about your societies relation to modern farming practices
I have literally said nothing about this. I have said that humans have relationships to animal, which include hunter/prey relations.
because you prioritise not feeling any personal guilt.
I try to avoid animal products I don't hunt or fish myself. The most I spend on animal products is eggs from my neighbor. I grow a decent portion of my own food. I'm not particularly guilty of my consumer choices. This all sounds like projection.
Hence invoking Darwinism, as if modern industrial society is comparable to some “state of nature” which you are clearly using indigenous culture as a stand-in for.
Humans are not divorced from their environment or Darwinistic relations to other animals, even in industrial societies. This is not exclusive to indigenous societies.
You are correct. Cultures which still hunt are just "ooga booga me smash rock." They are incapable of developing a morality or philosophy which incorporates their relationship to prey.
Your proposal just creates a culture of hunting deer as pests instead of actually solving something long term
Pests refer to species that are destructive to a given agricultural or husbandry practice. I'm not talking about the deer population as a pest. I'm talking about the explosion in deer population and it's effect on North American ecosystems.
Long-term solution involves the centralized planning of agriculture, husbandry, hunting, and foraging to produce food for the local human population in concert with nature.
Neither hunting & eating more plant-based diets are long-term solutions by themselves.
Ilhan Omar met with Erdogan in 2017 [1]
The Erdogan family funded Ilhan Omar's campaign in 2018 [2]
Now, she parrots the imperialist objectives of Erdogan's Turkey.
As she once said "it's all about the Benjamins, baby." AIPAC ain't the only game in town.