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At the top of the show, Cynthia and I catch up on what we’ve been doing in terms of advocacy and briefly discuss a few recent Canadian news headlines (feline de-clawing, dairy cruelty, and the Northern Gateway pipeline).
Will Potter is an independent journalist, TED Fellow, and public speaker, based in in Washington, DC. His work focuses most on how the “war on terrorism” affects civil liberties. He has become a leading critic of the Green Scare through his book Green is the New Red: An Insider’s Account of a Social Movement Under Siege, and his blog GreenIsTheNewRed.com.
Potter sees a parallel between the branding of current activists as “terrorists”, and the persecution of leftists in the Red Scare during the McCarthy era. According to him, the Green Scare is a new phenomenon associated with environmentalist and animal liberation groups that may or may not engage in illegal activities, but are disproportionately attacked by the government to repress dissent and defend corporate profit. Animal Voices asks Potter how activists can move forward in the face of these corporate scare tactics and government repression.
Potter is in the midst of crowdfunding for his campaign to buy a drone to investigate factory farms in the US. Donate before July 9th to help him get to his new expanded project goal!
He was recently in Vancouver to deliver this short TED Talk.
