Eat Plants Not Animals: James Aspey Is Defending The Voiceless

The Rich Roll Podcast

Rich Roll

Health & Fitness, Education, Self-improvement, Society & Culture

4.8 • 12.9K Ratings

🗓️ 19 February 2019

⏱️ 141 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

“I went voiceless because they're voiceless.“ James Aspey Why do we love dogs, eat pigs and wear cows? Dr. Melanie Joy coined this phenomenon speciesism. James Aspey calls it what it is — just plain wrong. Motivated to raise greater awareness for the planet's voiceless victims, in 2014 this passionate, young, Australian animal rights activist took a 365-day vow of silence. After an entire year without uttering a single word, he ended it on Australian national television with an interview that inspired millions to make more conscious and compassionate lifestyle choices and cemented him as a charismatic new force in the fight for the ethical treatment of animals. Ranked #3 among the “Top 25 Most Influential Vegans” by Plant Based News, James has gone on to cycle 5000kms across Australia to prove that vegans can be fit & healthy. He got tattooed for 25 hours straight to raise $20,000 for charity. He's been featured in a multitude of prominent mainstream media outlets; given free speeches at countless schools, universities, and conferences; and attended local activism events, slaughterhouse vigils, and street outreach events all across the world. He transparently shares his life and campaigns online to a massive tribe of global followers. On YouTube, his speeches have reached tens of millions of people. And his most popular speech has been viewed over 12 million views. Enthusiastic, accessible and highly skilled behind a podium, James is inspiring a new generation to change how we eat and live in communion with the animals that share this home we call Earth. But there's so much more to this young man's life than meets the eye. At 17, James was diagnosed with leukemia and told he only had 6 weeks to live. He beat the cancer only to slide into a life of drugs and alcohol punctuated by a profound eating disorder. Then a chance encounter with an Indian man would forever change the trajectory of James' life. Today I'm proud to help this passionate defender of the voiceless share his powerful story. But first, a caveat. I'm not unaware that a contingent of you shut down when the subject turns to animal welfare. I know, because I used to be that person. I didn’t start out inherently compassionate about these issues. My shift to a plant-based lifestyle was initially motivated purely for personal health reasons. In fact it was years before I became sensitive to the horrific and inexcusable manner in which we treat our animal friends. But it's an issue I now care deeply about. And it's an issue we simply can no longer ignore or tolerate. Ghandi once famously said, “The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” History will not look fondly upon our track record. And I, for one, want to be on the right side of history. So for those who think this episode just isn't for you, I urge you to set aside any judgment, projection or pre-conceived ideas you may have about James or this subject matter. Trust me. And open your heart. Because to move forward, we cannot continue to turn a blind eye. I really dig this conversation. I hope you do too. More importantly, I hope it inspires you to take positive action for change — both personal and global. To view our conversation on YouTube, visit bit.ly/jamesaspey423. And don't forget we're also now on Spotify here. Peace + Plants, Rich Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

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0:00.0	When you make the connection, which is that if there's no need to kill any animals to survive,
0:06.6	which is what we learn, that there's not, and we can get every essential nutrient we need through a plant-based diet,
0:12.2	then it's so blatantly obvious that all the violence we inflicts mercilessly in such a brutal way to billions of sentient beings every day.
0:25.0	It's so glaringly obvious that it's wrong, but the day before that happened, the day before you realized that,
0:31.2	it was just totally normal, you thought it was natural necessary, and so yeah, it is actually a really big switch that flicks when people get it.
0:40.0	You know, we love dogs, we love dolphins, we love whales, but we think nothing of killing and eating pig's-cash chickens, fish, and all the others.
0:48.2	And it's not because those animals are less intelligent or have less value or feel painless or don't have a heart or don't have a brain or something like that.
0:58.4	It is simply because they're the ones we've chosen, they're the ones that we like the taste of.
1:03.2	That's James Aspie, and this is the Retro Podcast.
1:18.4	Hey everybody, how are you guys doing? What's happening?
1:22.4	This is Rich Roll. I'm your host, Welcome, or Welcome Back to the Show, to the podcast where I go deep, I go long with the most inspiring change makers I can find.
1:32.2	Paradigm Breakers, people who are working double-time to make this world a better place for all of us.
1:42.4	On that theme, and because today's show definitely bends plant-based in a big way, I just thought it was appropriate and worthwhile to mention that if you're looking to or if today's guest inspires you to give the vegan lifestyle a spin, or if you're simply looking to dial up the nutritional quality of your daily three squares,
2:05.2	I cannot recommend more highly our plant power meal planner, which we specifically designed to solve all the common problems of people face when they try to scale up their diet.
2:17.2	All you got to do is go to meals.richroll.com, and there you will find thousands of plant-based recipes access to literally thousands of recipes that are customized based on your personal preferences.
2:31.2	You have all these inputs when you sign up that help us figure out exactly what your needs are, how many people you're cooking for, what your budget is, food you like, you don't like allergies, etc.
2:41.2	Plus we have unlimited grocery lists, we have grocery delivery in most US cities with international delivery rolling out soon, and all of this is available to you for just $1.90 a week when you sign up for a year.
2:54.2	So to learn more and to enroll, go to meals.richroll.com, or click on meal planner on the top menu on my website.
3:03.2	Okay, so today I sit down with James Aspie, and James is a very interesting, passionate, and enterprising young man, a young Australian animal rights activist who, in many ways, or I should say at least in my mind,
3:22.2	is a guy that, in certain respects, represents a new modern face of the vegan movement. I first came across James at the tail end of his one year vow of silence.
3:37.2	He undertook this one year vow of silence 365 days without speaking to protest to raise awareness around the suffering of animals.
3:45.2	And I've watched him from afar ever since that moment with keen interest. I've watched as his profile has grown, his message has expanded.
	...

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