I think for most of my readers, over the years, you know me. So you know my tone, most often my intent, sense of humor or lack there of. I call it like I see it; I’m probably too critical, which I addressed recently in my underdeveloped reflection of Kobe’s death (not his life, oddly enough; I had been a critic of Kobe during his career, so his death made me feel petty, some of my criticisms perhaps trite). I know I’m too critical sometimes and certainly some of you know this, too.

As a graduate school professor/mentor of mine said about my work once: “your strength is your weakness, Matt.” Sure, not the most profound statement, and maybe a tad corny, especially as I began applying this to nearly everyone and everything, with some success, I might add.

But you get the point. I am outspoken. Such people will always, time and again, rub some people (even themselves) the wrong way.

When I’m calling-out China like this, during this Covid-19 crisis, I am not, by intention, playing a race or ethnicity card.  I am infuriated that this virus has been unleashed upon the world. China played an undeniable role in this and this isn’t the first time this has happened.

But as everyone is accurately prone to say: this virus is the world’s problem.

The virus is not of Chinese ethnicity. I’m critical of the government’s failure to act, and yes I’m not a big fan of the cuisine, of their culture of eating and torturing wildlife.

Important to note: the kind of animal agriculture that people interested in studying and following these mysteries know: is not specific to China.

And perhaps I didn’t really go into that: the connection between this virus and others like it and the diet and lifestyle that most cultures practice (almost inherently, for centuries) is inescapable, firmly established, acknowledged.

Our species’ approaches to food and industry are wreaking havoc on ecosystems, animal populations, some of these endangered.

Do just a sample of reading on how the destruction of so much wildlife, rainforest, etc., is to facilitate our meat industries. We destroy our planet to feed our animals so we can eat them. What this does to our natural world and to the animals is cruel, and immoral.

And costly (apocalyptically) in the context of epidemiology.

Maybe most consider this a price to pay for what has been our diet for fucking centuries.

But there’s too much connection between the carnivorous diet and other ills, such as people’s health, (the somehow debatable) climate change, absolutely heinous animal and wildlife suffering and destruction.

So the Covid-19 crisis, for me, is experienced in light of all this.

And this is so much bigger than China. 

I am well aware of this.

But given China’s well known appetite for even endangered wildlife, for their well-documented use of the wet and unsanitary food markets where this virus likely originated (and for such things as the dog meat festival in Yulan), I have been critical of this food culture.

I think we should all be so critical.

There are several issues, I mentioned a few above, involved in a movement away from a meat diet, in putting an end to the animal-diet industrial complex.

Add to this the way this Covid-19 has crashed the planet, I am simply voicing my criticism and building my advocacy.

My latest blog focused on their honesty in reporting the Covid-19 disaster in their own country.

I hope this helps clarify my concern. I am deeply concerned and frustrated, as anyone should be.

So, to criticize some of my comments (I am being proactive here) as racist or culturally insensitive is not only wrong, but also intellectually weak. Attacking what I am saying in that vein would be merely political (which is where you go with any racial discourse; and this isn’t even about race).

If you’re critical of my comments, then you’re willing to overlook much more dangerous, immoral and criminal acts for the sake of attacking my blog’s “politics.”

You would be guilty of grabbing the low-hanging fruit of political correctness, of making yourself look guilty of a careless and incurious character argument.

I am just as critical of U.S. politics, by the way, of really any politics because you all are corrupt, really just following the dollar or the yen or whatever crap currency you’re using.

And this is not about politics, my friend. This is actually serious.

We, as a global community, are suffering now because of cruelty, irresponsibility, greed and corruption and China is not the sole player in this game of suffering and extinction.

We are all in this together.