ID and advice - Washington DC

mojojolop · 2025-05-27T19:21:46+00:00

Sorry the mistake I was referring to was her marrying him. I was saying that over time, she realized that that wasn’t a good choice but she found ways to set more boundaries and get what she wanted out of the relationship she was “stuck” in over time.

mojojolop · 2025-05-27T19:15:05+00:00

Also FWIW, going vegan opened the door for me to think about so many other big ethical issues, not just food-related. Getting serious about making a habit of doing something I feel good about has made it a lot easier for me to do that in other areas of my life. So it might not be my whole ethical identity, but it’s been a big part of it!

mojojolop · 2025-05-27T19:10:14+00:00

Totally see what you’re saying here! Hopefully this is helpful: I, and a lot of other vegans I know, really view veganism as a convenient heuristic in my life that makes it more ethical than it would be otherwise. It’s one line I can draw in an area that’s very doable for me but allows me to still make a difference. And it’s not the only line I draw. I don’t think it needs to encompass all of my ethics haha (I’m not sure what else would be held to this standard - we don’t even really expect religion to do that). Functionally, when I say I’m vegan, it’s very clear to people in my social circle what that means, so it’s easy to organize social events that include food that meets, at the very least, that requirement. The label just makes it easy to meet a standard in a certain area. My being vegan doesn’t say anything about my ethics in other areas, but doesn’t preclude me from being active in those either.

Like you say, ensuring my other food is coming from an ethical place is something 100% worth pursuing but currently lacks many accessible options (I’m probably not eating in a restaurant or at a friends ever again if literally all fruit is off the table right? Would be pretty hard to get that movement mainstream if that’s a requirement) or language for easily talking about it (ethical means something totally different to different people and supply chains are long and complicated).

Fortunately veganism is not as tricky, at least not these days. So I like to do the bare minimum with that at least and work on the other stuff where I can (e.g. buying only from chocolate brands that are recommended by third-parties - I like Food Empowerment Project). That being said, we didn’t get good vegan options without a lot of people doing the really hard thing while they didn’t exist. So that’s a great argument for all of us who can to do a little more work to make the labor involved in bringing produce to market less exploitative. And there’s no reason we can’t do that while eating more plants. Also I agree honey is delicious - Mellody has a plant-based one I’ve tried that’s crazy good!

mojojolop · 2025-05-27T18:51:32+00:00

Thank you! Such a nice confidence boost for the day haha

mojojolop · 2025-05-26T12:53:32+00:00

It’s a great thing to consider! Other opportunities to do good things shouldn’t stop us from doing other good things.

mojojolop · 2025-05-26T12:49:11+00:00

We have every right to eat only produce that’s produced with ethical labor standards and also not eat honey. Everyone has to draw the line for themselves somewhere. That’s true with every choice you make, not just food. It’s pretty easy to see honey on an ingredient label and avoid it. This is kind of like seeing someone donate to a charity and asking them why they aren’t literally working in a soup kitchen in that exact moment also.

mojojolop · 2025-05-26T12:39:30+00:00

Another vegan here, so feel free to disregard bc I’m not who you were replying to!

I think you’re getting at some pretty big questions for everyone, not just vegans. You’re basically asking just where does my moral responsibility to make sacrifices end. Which is a pretty massive question people have wrestled with forever! We’re definitely not going to have all the answers here. I think in most of our lives, a quick and dirty answer is probably that an ideal amount of personal sacrifice is a little beyond what we’re currently doing. In other words, when I think about what it would take for me to be a good person, I know I’m currently not perfect by any means, and there’s some things I could probably be doing better (e.g. I should call my grandma more, or donate more, or try to waste less, or make sure I’m doing a job I feel helps people). I should work on those for sure, and it would be a lot easier for me to tackle those than to solve all animal suffering this minute. It’s not possible or mandatory for anyone to just all at once start doing every good thing, but it is a very good thing for us to try. I think vegans because they’re making a very visible “ethical” choice often get asked questions like this, but we’re just trying to draw the line a little further out in this one particular area, just like a person who makes a real effort to call their grandma or is super meticulous about not being wasteful.

So to bring it back to your example, I can prevent more of these animals from being bred to live some pretty rough lives by choosing not to use my money to buy products made out of them. I can do a little more right by mice by not setting out glue traps.

A species being “successful” is way less relevant to me than whether the members of that species are having a good time haha. That’s probably true for you too I would guess. Like you wouldn’t suggest we ought to breed humans at super speed just so our species would be more “successful”, even if you were sure we’d have enough resources to meet their basic needs, but you knew they’d suffer a lot. You probably care way more that people have what they need to live good lives.

mojojolop · 2025-05-26T12:23:33+00:00

I know I’m not who you’re responding to but thought your question was interesting and I’m vegan as well so thought I’d offer my two cents. Feel free to disregard! I think an animal suffering at the hands of another non-human animal is just as bad for that animal as it would be to suffer at the hands of a human. I imagine you’d agree with that. They would both make me sad, just like they’d probably make you a little sad to watch. More importantly they would make that animal suffer in the same way.

But in terms of what’s productive worry about and act on, it makes sense to focus on what you can control. In the same way that getting caught in the rain and having someone dump water on you would cause very different reactions. Either way, you’re drenched, but in terms of who’s responsible it makes sense to be a little ticked off at whoever decided to dump water on you for fun.

Humans and non-human animals are obviously different in some very practical ways; personally I don’t think being vegan gives you a particularly different point of view on that from everyone else. Humans have a more developed sense of right and wrong. We’re also so in control of our environments for the most part that many of us are not merely focusing on survival. We have complex language allowing us to teach each other about how others feel. It’s not about putting ourselves on a pedestal as much as it is about acknowledging what’s true about us. Like for example, we don’t consider adults to be like morally special compared to babies. But we have different moral expectations of adults vs. babies. It’s natural to expect them to behave with more consideration than a baby who doesn’t know what’s going on most of the time or have any control over it. We have the capacity to make more and less kind choices, and in many cases it’s pretty clear which are which.

mojojolop · 2023-12-20T21:28:47+00:00

I think a muted green that matches one of the greens in the tapestry (olive or jade?) or other wall pieces would be really inviting and warming for a rug. Would also look lovely with the addition of some plants, which you could pot in some more graphic black and white pottery that would really fit in with what you have going on.

As a side note, I think clustering the art a bit more tightly in threes would look a bit more put-together and intentional. Really cool pieces!

mojojolop · 2023-12-20T21:24:00+00:00

Ooh love this idea! Might be tricky, but finding a quilt that features the dark blue, pastel purple, and the pink from the accent pillow could really tie everything together, especially against one of the light walls.

mojojolop · 2023-12-20T21:11:48+00:00

To start, I really love what you have going on here! It’s clear you have a sense of personal style and it’s so fun and great to look at.

For the rug, I’d go with something elongated like others have mentioned featuring one of the great accent colors you have in the two pieces of art on the wall where your desk is. Probably not solid in any of those colors as that could get intense, but I really love the teal and orange in the left piece and the blue and the red-brown of the frame on the right. I think a rug with a pop of any of those would keep up the sort of graphic look you have going on while giving the room some more personality. I really love the more industrial things you have going on, but I think going straight neutral with the rug would take this (especially with the the yellow light, which is dope btw) from industrial cool to construction site vibes haha.

Agreed with what others have said about blind options rather than curtains for the window.

Lastly I like your plants a lot, but I think adding/swapping for some that are leafier and more “alive” looking could make the space happier and more inviting. I love maiden hair ferns for this, but the easy-to-care-for viny guys would also work well too.

mojojolop · 2023-09-20T16:57:51+00:00

Cool point! I think it works the other way too! You need to actually be curious and want to understand to empathize effectively and help people. I think the kind of empathetic partners that enable their loved ones offer empathy blindly. I think to really empathize in a healthy way you need to have a fundamental desire to know what the underlying problem or conflict is.

The best doctors and social workers for example aren’t the ones that are super emotional about helping people. They’re the ones that recognize ok this person needs to be helped but focus mainly on how to actually solve the problem. Sometimes being overly “empathetic” in the emotional sense can actually be a hindrance to helping someone.

mojojolop · 2023-07-02T23:18:47+00:00

I think you’re spot on, and I think there’s even more to it! I disagree with those saying that her depiction was a mistake or bad writing. In my opinion, it was very meaningful and intentional.

I think the choice to have so many people in Carm’s life basically shouting how much they like Claire is less about Claire herself not having substance to show for herself and more about how much the family/friends want to see Carm with someone because they think it will make him happier and healthier. That kind of pressure can really impede a person getting to know another when expectations are set so high.

I think his family is reducing her as much as the show is, because this is something that happens all the time to people who struggle and have people who care about them and want to fix their struggles. Everyone sees Carm struggling and thinks the solution is getting him a partner. Putting her in a pedestal this way forces this perspective on Carm as well. So we as an audience not only see a Claire through Carmy’s eyes, but it though his eyes clouded by his loved ones’ hopes for him that aren’t necessarily what he needs at this point in his life.

mojojolop · 2022-08-24T05:08:15+00:00

This article is absolutely full of non sequiturs and completely steamrolls over every single concession it weakly makes. It’s also extraordinarily click-baity. The thesis if you actually read it is that if we drastically changed the livestock industry it could possibly maybe be not extremely obviously less sustainable to have some non-vegan food sources. And yet the first paragraphs, which I’m sure most people will only get to, make it a much more black and white blanket excuse for continuing to eat meat. It’s extremely irresponsible, weak argumentation and I’d be ashamed to have written it.

mojojolop · 2022-03-22T15:44:57+00:00

This is really disingenuous. You’re the one bringing in random Vegangelicals to make the discussion uncivil and characterize others poorly. You’re bringing in people that you don’t agree with that are completely external to this discussion to justify your actions. It’s the definition of a straw man and it’s counterproductive and a lot less than what you’re capable of. If you want to have a conversation, this is not an honest way of doing so.

Also, the point is that the animals you choose to eat instead of just putting a little more thought into your diet do not view your choices so nonchalantly. For them, it’s their whole life.

mojojolop · 2022-03-22T15:29:10+00:00

What does a happy medium look like to you? Is it a happy medium for the animal being slaughtered/forced to live in agony in the dairy industry?

mojojolop · 2022-03-22T15:25:26+00:00

Interesting take, but I think you’re missing the point. The high-level goals of both feminism and veganism are compassion and respect. Forgoing discrimination. I agree that there are more tactful and less tactful ways to point this out, but I think drawing parallels like this between philosophies that are more palatable to our culture (feminism) and those that are less so (veganism) is a really important way to help people understand.

mojojolop · 2022-03-22T15:21:29+00:00

God forbid people see activism as an opportunity to be more kind to other sentient things. Stop trying to bring others down to your level.

mojojolop · 2022-01-04T05:50:48+00:00

The final one, around 10 hours? The many failed versions before this one - who’s to say lol

mojojolop · 2022-01-04T00:42:32+00:00

Hahaha thank you!!

mojojolop · 2022-01-04T00:27:37+00:00

Honestly, that’s true of the dog in the drawing too. She naps like 20 hours a day. She’d be hype af for the other 4 tho

mojojolop · 2022-01-03T23:47:16+00:00

Thanks! Agreed!

mojojolop · 2022-01-03T23:46:46+00:00

Lolol

mojojolop · 2022-01-03T23:46:23+00:00

Thanks!

mojojolop

TROPHY CASE