The Game Changers

 Pushing my limits on blog frequency this film had to be included.  My long time friend Bob Stone recommended "The Game Changers" (2019)  and it made an impression that will be hard to cast aside.  

Veganism is something never heard of in my youth, but I have met a few people who are or who have attempted to be one.  Cruelty to animals is repulsive and one also learns that climate change is being accelerated by our meat eating habits.  Although those thoughts are impactful our habits are difficult to change.  The thrust of this film is on our health and for men especially on concepts of masculinity.

Arnold Schwartzenegger epitomizes for many of us masculinity personified.  He admits in his body building days eating meat and eggs was a big part of his strategy, but since has studied the issues more closely and has concluded a plant based diet is not only healthier but does not impeded muscle accumulation.  Arnold is one of the executive producers and talks about his conversion.

The quote I remember most and resets our thinking comes from Patrik Babourmian who demonstrates why he has been labeled "the world's strongest man."  Someone commented to him that he was as strong as an ox and he replied "Have you ever seen an ox eat meat?"  For that matter our favorite sources of meat are cows, pigs and chickens.  

The film is narrated and presented by James Wilks a champion UFC fighter.  A few clips of his fights are shown to demonstrate that not only strength, but quickness are required to reach his level.  During the film he introduces us to a wide variety of athletes who have adopted a vegan lifestyle.  Doctors are also brought to explain the scientific logic for veganism. We see football players, track athletes, cyclists and even a champion Grand Prix racer.

Protein is protein, but actually there is a difference between animal protein and plant protein.  Animal protein contains inflammatory elements that are unhealthy.  As is explained a few times our meat sources are like a middle man taking their protein from plants before passing the adjusted protein to us meat eaters.  

We are shown graphs that illustrates the impact of even a temporary vegan diet.  Strength is maintained and even increased.  Speed and endurance are boosted.   One doctor takes three college football players and demonstrates that sexual virility is enhanced with a vegan diet.

Opposed to veganism are economic interests.  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/05/cowspiracy-points-out-major-premier.html

Directed by Louie Psihoyos who has one Oscar  for "The Cove" (2009) to his credit and a big shelf full of other awards.  Script was handled by Mark Monroe, Joseph Pace and Shannon Kornelsen.  

Editing such a wide ranging film covering a number of short clips requires expertise.  Dan Swietlik had edited "An Inconvenient Truth"(2006) and "Sicko" (2007) along with many other documentaries.  " (2007).  Stephanie Mechura has edited a number of Frontline episodes and such films as "The Price of Sex" (2011).

The two producers were James Wilks and Jason Pace who will also produced "Eating Our Way to Extinction" (2021).  Executive producers included Pamela Anderson, James Cameron, Jackie Chan, Lewis Hamilton and Arnold Schwartzenegger.

Veganism is a difficult concept to commit to, but I have been tipping in that direction.  Mark Bittman, New York Times columnist is aware of the challenge and has offered a suggestion I have had some limit4d success with--see http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2013/11/vb6-vegan-before-6.html  After watching "Octopus:  Making Contact" (2019) and "My Octopus Teacher" (2020) I was struck by this odd creature having intelligence that I have decided I could no longer eat calamari.  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2020/09/for-me-this-is-year-of-octopus.html

My personal difficulty is I am addicted to the taste and perhaps even more the traditions associated with meat dishes.  It seems animals are subject to humans' sense of fashion.  What to do with all the farm animals as we convert to veganism:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2018/01/what-happens-to-farm-animals-when.html

Another film that hit me personally was "Escape from Extinction" (2020) We humans are very self centered, often to the point of hurting our survival.  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/10/escape-from-extinction.html

All films have some impact on us. One of my motives for blogging is to remember important things.  

The first mention of films I have seen are bolded, partly for my vanity, but also to indicate some familiarity. 

Education and our future

I regularly read Juan Cole for his expertise on the Middle East as he understands that situation much better than policy makers. Not too long ago he quoted Thomas Jefferson to make a point about education that I believe merits repeating.

"Preach, my dear Sir, a crusade against ignorance: establish and improve the law for educating the common people. Let our countrymen know that the people alone can protect us against these evils of tyranny and that the tax which will be paid for this purpose is not more than the thousandth part of what will be paid to kings, priests and nobles who will rise up among us if we leave the people in ignorance."

Juan was reacting to the pepper spraying incident in California. He also quoted Arnold Schwartzenegger who pointed out how financial priorities had shifted in California from education to prisons. It is now more difficult to finance university education and easier to be imprisoned.

There is debate in both Canada and the United States about what the government's priority should be. Here in Canada many think health should be the priority.  In the United States I hear many think security should be protected at all costs. In these rough times many are saying nothing is more important than improving the economy and providing more jobs. These are all very important, but when you get down to the core priority I believe it is education.

I do not blame politicians or government officials as to keep their power they respond to what they think are the priorities of those who put them in power.  Voters really do have power and although they certainly can be manipulated they express their concerns in a variety of ways. The most powerful dictator can face revolution when the people realize the priorities of the leader (often very personal) are just too offensive to maintain the status quo.

When I say the core priority is education I don't mean just for its own sake, but because it relates so fundamentally to everything else.  Educated people live longer partly because they have more money, but also because they eat better, they are more apt to avoid bad health habits, they are more apt to seek medical advice when needed.  Educated medical personnel (including doctors, specialist doctors, technicians of all sorts and even secretarial staff) are more effective.   Prevention helps avoid more serious health problems. A healthy population better deals with the problems of employment, defense, etc.

How does education affect defense? Defense against foreigners is really only a last resort required because we do not understand their concerns and react appropriately.  As a deterrent an educated population can provide more effective security. Lots of details (language, cultural appreciation, technical, negotiating), where education is critical

The economy is a fuel that keeps us all going. The reality is changing every day with technical changes. We live in a consumer driven economy, that in many ways is a self-defeating spiral. Technically we can produce more goods than we need with fewer workers than ever.   Credit has extended our ability to consume, but drives society closer to financial disaster. Too many people handle credit improperly and too many people exploit that to the point that bills cannot be paid and consumption dries up with frightening results for jobs. There is definitely a trend away from muscle work.

Who can understand all of this? I claim questions with very few answers. We should be able to educate ourselves so that muscles are used mostly for health and enjoyment while machines under human guidance provide a lot of what we really need in balance with our planet's resources. Democracy is supposed to provide us the leverage to make sure everyone gets treated fairly, but in fact a small number of people are able to manipulate circumstances to give themselves a bigger piece of the pie.  Uneducated, over or under worked people are very vulnerable. Uneducated masses suits some people just fine.

Education by itself means jobs even though it is understood that robots and computer software are taking over bigger and bigger parts of education. For the foreseeable future humans still are essential to help other humans understand things better. In order to teach one needs knowledge so there can be a virtuous spiral of ever increasing knowledge. Teaching helps increase self awareness and the virtuous circle can ever expand.

Educated people make better decisions. I am not saying that a little education creates the perfect decision, but only that as we increase education our decisions can be better. It is probably true that a little education can be a dangerous thing which is why critical thinking needs to be much more widespread.

I had an interesting discussion with Ken Griffith, owner of Val Pak in Burlington awhile back regarding jobs.  We both understand technology is making more jobs redundant and that we can produce more goods than we can pay for.  Education is not just improving our reading and math skills, but literally to prepare us for the work that needs to be done in the future. It can also be to enjoy and make better sense of life in general which means different things to different people.

When I was unemployed. I recognized I didn't have many technical skills and there was a lot of competition for jobs. I was lucky enough to qualify for a government course in basic computer skills of which I had very few.  I was smart enough to take another short but more specialized course with my own money.  It matters little what you do these days, computer skills are critical not only for work but for personal reasons (such as helping to manage your money and communication). More recently I took another course (very cheap and not too time consuming) on social media which again has helped liberate what I can do.

The photo at the top is by son, Michael Davidson on a trip to the Czech Republic. I not only envy him his opportunities, but that he is smart enough to take advantage of them. If more people were driven to understand how the rest of the world lives we would have less problems.