Kirt said:
>Some six years ago (notably, in my early its-the-answer-to-the-worlds
>-ills days of raw conversion) I was very taken with the idea of living
>a zero-pollution lifestyle, and the "deep ecology" stance was real
>lofty and attractive stuff to me. The "planet" is an issue/actuality
>very dear to me, yet in the last few years I have been very turned off
>by the zealotry aspect of environmentalists,

I am not sure what you are referring to, but I do not think it is a
sound idea to let zealotry decide ones level of (environmental)
commitment. Especially as zealots rarely give a damn about the cause
they happen to have embraced anyhow and only are in it to further their
own personal agendas.

Kirt said:
>and especially their view that government is to be the controlling
>mechanism. (Your activism is much more commendable.)

Countries with a higher environmental consciousness than the US all
have implemented stronger laws to curb pollution and waste, and no
matter how commendable Bhodi's actions are, he and his activist friends
will never be strong enough to stand up to corporate America. Do not
forget that if the US government had not founded the National Parks in
the last century, we would today not have some at least fairly
unspoiled nature to enjoy in this country and that with a standard of
living often higher than the US many European countries use half the
amount of energy per capita.

Kirt said:
>Further, the line becomes very thin regarding "issues". During the
>xma. shopping season some highschoolers made headlines here in San
>Diego by doing the "chain yourself to the mall entrance doors" bit in
>protest of fur. I joined probably 90+% of my fellow San Diego county
>folks in thinking that that was idiotic, joined maybe 20-% in thinking
>it was charmingly "youthful" if misguided, and probably less the 1% in
>_sadness_ that any particular highschool kid is falling so hard for
>the animal rights shpeil, while at the same time...ah, forget it...

I commend their actions. The fur industry is only too known for its
cruelty and responsibility for scores of animals ending up on the
endangered species list.

Kirt said:
>I can't get past the obnoxiousness/rightiousness/hypocrasy of some of
>the "deep ecology" folks

I have not come across this. Could you give us some idea of what you
are referring to?

Kirt said:
> As Tom Robbins lays out the social activism <----> individual
>romanticism continuum, I fall squarely on the ind rom side.

You must mean John Robbins.

Kirt said:
>I But, truth told, I'm more interested in leading my own quiet life
>than indentifying with any movement--at least not being part of the
>problem.


Which movements do you consider part of the problem? And how?

Kirt said:
>No doubt my own emotional history plays a big part in all this
>blabbing. Even in high school, I'd be up in the stands at the "big
>games", the crowd going nuts cheering, surrounded by folks screamin
>and jumping up and down, whipped into a frenzy over a swish, and I
>just didn't get it. Or at a rock concert, even stoned, I always
>thought it was embarrassing when everyone would be flicking their
>bics, you know? I just can't stand to be part of a "mass psychology",
>feel like a nasty bacterium in the crowd organism. <cackle maniacally>
>:) Basically, I'm not a follower. Nor a leader, for that matter.
>Different strokes...

I appreciate your honesty. When you have sorted out your emotional
history, God knows what kind of radical might be hiding in you ;-)

Kirt said:
>Living in the burbs now is really bringing it home to me: Freeway life
>is very limiting. As usual, we are the greenest folks on the block,
>but eco-warrior types would consider us sell-outs of the nth order.

How do you figure that?

Kirt said:
> In the end it will be our dislike of carpeting that moves us on! ;)

Sounds to me like you are suffocating in your surroundings and need to
move on.

Kirt said:
>>>All of which is why I have not held instincto out as the be all and
>>>end all of diets. As Peter reminds me, instincto is young and in a
>>>somewhat narcisistic stage... Maybe sometime soon, instincto
>>>newcomers can avoid such long-term mistakes by focusing less on the
>>>idealism of the instincto diet and more on common sense. :/

Peter said:
>>Beautifully put. You have never before made your case for instincto
>>so compellingly !!!

Kirt said:
>Ha! I think I was making _your_ case for instincto, but i'll take it
>however I can get it :)

Are you by this saying that you disagree with any of the above?

Kirt said:
>Yes yes yes! But isn't it entirely possible that when we decide that a
>particular regime is the "most natural" and refuse any other
>possibilities, all-raw or not, (especially experimentally on
>ourselves) that we are being quite guilty of intellectual dishonesty
>as rawists ourselves?

Hear!  Hear!

Kirt said:
>In other words, I went from lots cooked (26+
>years) to 2/3rds raw-vegan (3-4 months) to all-raw including RAF (8+
>years). How can I be sure there is no value in, say, a 90% raw diet
>including RAF and cooked leafy green veggies. Or how will I know if
>insects are the most beneficial form of RAF until I try?
>And furthermore, aren't other rawists in a similar state: How will
>fruitarians know that their health wouldn't improve with the addition
>of raw veggies if they never try? How will raw-vegans know that there
>is no value for them in raw dairy or other RAF if they never try? How
>will raw vegetarians (eating occasional raw eggs and/or raw dairy)
>never know that shellfish, raw fatty fish, liver and other RAFs may be
>highly beneficial if they never try?

That is the dilemma of any dietary purist. I have put out that question
several times and still not gotten any answer. I truly enjoyed your
"Raw Law" post BTW - it is among the best you have ever written.

Kirt said:
>And mostly: now that we have $10 of raw dairy soon going bad in the
>fridge, what can we do with it? The butter will probably keep and be
>usable for guests. The cream is already bad :). Can we put a bit of
>keifer in the milk to turn the milk into keifer? Would we have to
>leave it at room temp for this to work? Could we add a bit of
>commercial yogurt and make raw yogurt?

I hear that if you leave raw goats milk on the counter for few days it
will naturally turn into yogurt.

Kirt said:
>Schmid's "Native Nutrition" is far more informative and well-written,
>but lacks any of the first-person stuff in "We Want To Live". But in
>such a paltry arena as RAF, beggars can't be choosers as far as the
>books they might read. And there are many who prefer the testimonial
>approach much more than I do...

I enjoyed your review which was very much to the point. I have heard
from several people that Aajonus has been getting great results with
his clients, and I would find it very interesting to compare his
program with instincto - that would surely put instincto to the test.


Best, Peter
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