In the 2014 documentary, “Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret,” we saw how the heads of non-profit organizations and government officials are conspiring to hide the true environmental impact of animal agriculture. Those who are engaged in this global “Cowspiracy” are not evil. They simply lack Courage.

It takes Courage to buck the system. It takes Courage to change yourself, to bring your compassion to the fore and to act on it. It takes Courage to face facts squarely and tell the truth. Courage is the most important of all human virtues for without it, none of the other virtues can be effective. In the epic, Mahabharata, Lord Krishna counsels Arjuna, who represents Courage, to fight the battle against evil. What good is Righteousness (Yudhisthira) without Courage, Strength (Bhima) without Courage?

Courage is in short supply amongst our “leadership” today. We are conditioned from birth by “Attention Engineers” and Psychologists employed by Corporations to live in fear. It is only people bathed in fear who can make up a compliant consumer society. When such people comprehend the planet’s dire environmental circumstances in which we are on track to destroy all wild life by 2026, they shut down. They cling to the system that put them in positions of “leadership”. They dissemble and pretend not to understand that Compassion for all Life is the only way out of this mess.

It takes Courage to Go Vegan. It takes Courage to Bear Witness. It takes Courage to do Open Rescues. I’m eternally grateful for the Courage and compassion on display within the Vegan community. It is with Courage that we can co-create Vegan World 2026 instead of the fear-filled, gun-toting, Mad Max, racist hell-hole that our “leaders” are shepherding us towards. Shame on them!

We have the capacity to lead much healthier and happier lives without harming and unnecessarily using and exploiting innocent animals and “other” humans. But it takes Courage to manifest it.