Teenage Girls & DxE, We Need to Talk. #veganactivism
15 August 2019 [link youtube]
You've probably heard a few things about sleeping arrangements at the "Direct Action Everywhere", i.e., at their "house" in Berkeley, California, and you've probably noticed the "prominent" role of teenage girls in their videos, and even their formal announcements, interviews and colloquia, often standing alongside their "elected" leader, Wayne Hsiung. You've probably heard a few things. We need to talk.
#DxE #vegan #veganism #veganism
Youtube Automatic Transcription
when you look at this picture you might
think well this is a young person maybe a teenager I know well she is this girl in particular this is just a young person doing something silly playing a prank could be you know when I was younger I did some stupid things too if an older person is directing that teenager to play these pranks if an older person an adult is offering the rewards of money and attention and fame and even housing and food and meals a whole sort of alternate family and alternate social structure structure a whole incentive system built into this so-called political movement that comes to resemble a cult that's different I think there's a tremendous moral and ethical difference between teenagers behaving badly and fully grown adults stage-managing the bad behavior of teenagers as publicity stunts ultimately to build up the public support donations fame and notoriety for their so-called political movement that's me in Dodger Stadium on the pitcher's mound it's the middle of the ninth inning and the game is tied three to three I'm standing next to a major league pitcher Kenley Jansen and judging by his expression he isn't too thrilled that I'm there because if it isn't obvious already I'm not a professional baseball player in fact that was the very first time I ever went to a baseball game and I honestly can't tell you who won because 30 seconds after this picture was taken my sign was ripped out of my hand I was tackled by security guards handcuffed and dragged off the field all on live TV I was then stuffed into the back of a patrol car arrested by the LAPD and I spent the next four hours being held in custody and by the police this was one year ago and I was 14 years old if you're vegan and you care about vegan activism you've probably heard some strange things about direct action everywhere lately you've probably heard about the charismatic leader of direct action everywhere having two teenage girls as his main acolytes appearing on camera with them making announcements with them you've probably heard things about teenage girls sleeping in strange situations in the main headquarters of direct action everywhere whether that's just because they don't have enough beds to go around and people are sleeping in closets and people are sleeping in other people's beds or whether it's for other reasons you've probably heard some strange things that anyone from the most neutral and detached perspective could say or at the least bad optics for a quote-unquote political organization a political organization that is more and more easily coming to be described as a cult and I spent the next four hours being held in custody and questioned by the police this was one year ago and I was 14 years old plenty of 14 year olds might do something just as foolish made up off the top of their own head but when they do it under the direction of a fully grown adult it's different when they take on such a project as part of a political organization a religious organization or a cult and at this point DXE direct action everywhere resembles all three the ethical problem we're dealing with here is different this is a fourteen-year-old girl problem doesn't only exist when you're talking about people under the age of 18 and it doesn't only exist when you're talking about females rather than males doesn't all right fully grown women 35 and 45 can you have years and years of their life screwed by this kind of activism fully grown men can too but yes the problem is even more obvious when you're talking about people who are at the crucial age when they should be attending high school or when they should be actively worrying about applications to join a college get job training enter the workforce sign up join the military you name it this is not a unique case study this young woman aged 14 at the time for arrest I know other examples 17 years old 18 years old 16 years old I know things I'm not gonna say on the internet and I'm not gonna say on YouTube I know the direct action everywhere have created a long-term public relations nightmare for themselves here they've done something that peda would never do People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals don't have teenage girls living in their house with them that's they've done something PCRM Physicians Committee for Responsible medicine would never do they've taken a fateful step here without really thinking it through without acting strategically in total violation of all the founding principles this organization was created to serve we know from scientific studies and observation the chickens feel fear pain love and contentment they desire peace and happiness just like we do if you have ever spent time with a chicken then you've probably seen this for yourself it is individuals like sleepy who I think about when I protest at grocery stores and restaurants it is their stories they keep me on my feet and yes it's driven me to take actions that some of you might even roll your eyes at but let's just note that because of these actions I was invited to speak here and I just got to educate all of you about animal right for ten minutes so that's something and no I wasn't there because I thought it was cool fun or exciting in fact I knew that my actions would be frowned upon by most people because viewers would see me as being disruptive or rude after all I was breaking the law right there in front of them and taking the consequences for all to see but the thing is I am NOT here to demonize wayne's young on the basis of rumor and innuendo I'm not I'm here to remind you I'm here to remind everyone in the dxz organization of the high standard you were supposed to be holding yourselves to you were founded on the promise that you were gonna be better than past movements you were gonna be better than petaa People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals you were gonna be better than them because you were only going to use methods that had proven to be effective by the high standards of social science research whereas the social science research behind this strategy Wayne whatever it was this movement was supposed to embody this ain't it I'm even willing to believe the best I'm willing to believe there are no bad intentions behind having these teenage girls living in the DXE house having 17 year olds sleeping in a closet maybe because you ran into bedrooms or having teenagers sharing beds to other people that whole story Wayne about what happened when you and Priya broke up temporarily and Priya had another boyfriend and that boyfriend was linked to a certain much younger woman and there were allegations of a certain crime being committed yeah yeah yeah I know all that to Wayne absolutely nothing about this organization you're running looks like it was informed by or planned on the basis of social science research you look like a crummy cult leader who's just trying to power-monger and chase headlines get Fame and notoriety by manipulating some of the weakest people the people were the most easily manipulated including teenage girls into doing one stunt after another one publicity stunt one form of embarrassing denigrating activism after another so you can get your name into the headlines in the newspaper and what's the long-term outcome gonna be for these girls I know I know there are women in their 40s who are screwed up by d-x you know there are men in their 30s whatever all ages all genders but obviously the long-term impact for someone who got involved at age 14 or age 17 it's going to be even more obvious it's gonna be even worse nothing about the organization you're running Wayne even if I assume the best even if I assume there's no hanky-panky there's no sexual element to this there's no even I assume that Wayne you set out with a very clear mission statement and mandate the founding principles of direct action everywhere were clear to everyone involved somewhere along the way the leadership for God what those principles were [Music]
think well this is a young person maybe a teenager I know well she is this girl in particular this is just a young person doing something silly playing a prank could be you know when I was younger I did some stupid things too if an older person is directing that teenager to play these pranks if an older person an adult is offering the rewards of money and attention and fame and even housing and food and meals a whole sort of alternate family and alternate social structure structure a whole incentive system built into this so-called political movement that comes to resemble a cult that's different I think there's a tremendous moral and ethical difference between teenagers behaving badly and fully grown adults stage-managing the bad behavior of teenagers as publicity stunts ultimately to build up the public support donations fame and notoriety for their so-called political movement that's me in Dodger Stadium on the pitcher's mound it's the middle of the ninth inning and the game is tied three to three I'm standing next to a major league pitcher Kenley Jansen and judging by his expression he isn't too thrilled that I'm there because if it isn't obvious already I'm not a professional baseball player in fact that was the very first time I ever went to a baseball game and I honestly can't tell you who won because 30 seconds after this picture was taken my sign was ripped out of my hand I was tackled by security guards handcuffed and dragged off the field all on live TV I was then stuffed into the back of a patrol car arrested by the LAPD and I spent the next four hours being held in custody and by the police this was one year ago and I was 14 years old if you're vegan and you care about vegan activism you've probably heard some strange things about direct action everywhere lately you've probably heard about the charismatic leader of direct action everywhere having two teenage girls as his main acolytes appearing on camera with them making announcements with them you've probably heard things about teenage girls sleeping in strange situations in the main headquarters of direct action everywhere whether that's just because they don't have enough beds to go around and people are sleeping in closets and people are sleeping in other people's beds or whether it's for other reasons you've probably heard some strange things that anyone from the most neutral and detached perspective could say or at the least bad optics for a quote-unquote political organization a political organization that is more and more easily coming to be described as a cult and I spent the next four hours being held in custody and questioned by the police this was one year ago and I was 14 years old plenty of 14 year olds might do something just as foolish made up off the top of their own head but when they do it under the direction of a fully grown adult it's different when they take on such a project as part of a political organization a religious organization or a cult and at this point DXE direct action everywhere resembles all three the ethical problem we're dealing with here is different this is a fourteen-year-old girl problem doesn't only exist when you're talking about people under the age of 18 and it doesn't only exist when you're talking about females rather than males doesn't all right fully grown women 35 and 45 can you have years and years of their life screwed by this kind of activism fully grown men can too but yes the problem is even more obvious when you're talking about people who are at the crucial age when they should be attending high school or when they should be actively worrying about applications to join a college get job training enter the workforce sign up join the military you name it this is not a unique case study this young woman aged 14 at the time for arrest I know other examples 17 years old 18 years old 16 years old I know things I'm not gonna say on the internet and I'm not gonna say on YouTube I know the direct action everywhere have created a long-term public relations nightmare for themselves here they've done something that peda would never do People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals don't have teenage girls living in their house with them that's they've done something PCRM Physicians Committee for Responsible medicine would never do they've taken a fateful step here without really thinking it through without acting strategically in total violation of all the founding principles this organization was created to serve we know from scientific studies and observation the chickens feel fear pain love and contentment they desire peace and happiness just like we do if you have ever spent time with a chicken then you've probably seen this for yourself it is individuals like sleepy who I think about when I protest at grocery stores and restaurants it is their stories they keep me on my feet and yes it's driven me to take actions that some of you might even roll your eyes at but let's just note that because of these actions I was invited to speak here and I just got to educate all of you about animal right for ten minutes so that's something and no I wasn't there because I thought it was cool fun or exciting in fact I knew that my actions would be frowned upon by most people because viewers would see me as being disruptive or rude after all I was breaking the law right there in front of them and taking the consequences for all to see but the thing is I am NOT here to demonize wayne's young on the basis of rumor and innuendo I'm not I'm here to remind you I'm here to remind everyone in the dxz organization of the high standard you were supposed to be holding yourselves to you were founded on the promise that you were gonna be better than past movements you were gonna be better than petaa People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals you were gonna be better than them because you were only going to use methods that had proven to be effective by the high standards of social science research whereas the social science research behind this strategy Wayne whatever it was this movement was supposed to embody this ain't it I'm even willing to believe the best I'm willing to believe there are no bad intentions behind having these teenage girls living in the DXE house having 17 year olds sleeping in a closet maybe because you ran into bedrooms or having teenagers sharing beds to other people that whole story Wayne about what happened when you and Priya broke up temporarily and Priya had another boyfriend and that boyfriend was linked to a certain much younger woman and there were allegations of a certain crime being committed yeah yeah yeah I know all that to Wayne absolutely nothing about this organization you're running looks like it was informed by or planned on the basis of social science research you look like a crummy cult leader who's just trying to power-monger and chase headlines get Fame and notoriety by manipulating some of the weakest people the people were the most easily manipulated including teenage girls into doing one stunt after another one publicity stunt one form of embarrassing denigrating activism after another so you can get your name into the headlines in the newspaper and what's the long-term outcome gonna be for these girls I know I know there are women in their 40s who are screwed up by d-x you know there are men in their 30s whatever all ages all genders but obviously the long-term impact for someone who got involved at age 14 or age 17 it's going to be even more obvious it's gonna be even worse nothing about the organization you're running Wayne even if I assume the best even if I assume there's no hanky-panky there's no sexual element to this there's no even I assume that Wayne you set out with a very clear mission statement and mandate the founding principles of direct action everywhere were clear to everyone involved somewhere along the way the leadership for God what those principles were [Music]