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Por que como esquilos?

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Ironicamente, eles vinham comer

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as proteínas vegetais

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que eu plantava no meu jardim:

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girassóis e amendoins.

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Na permacultura, existe o ditado:

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faça do problema a solução.

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Como os esquilos eram o problema,

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a solução foi jantá-los!

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Quero explicar direitinho.

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Como tudo aconteceu?

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Como passei a comer os esquilos

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que estavam comendo meu jardim?

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Recentemente, iniciei a missão

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de cultivar 100% do meu alimento

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por um ano, sem comprar em mercados

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lojas ou restaurantes, sem embalagens

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sem processados, sem produtos

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transportados, literalmente tudo

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que eu ia comer em um ano

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ou brotava no meu jardim ou eu colhia

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na natureza. Comecei o jardim

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e os esquilos começaram a vir.

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Tive de produzir minha farinha, minhas calorias,

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meu açúcar, proteínas, legumes, frutas.

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Literalmente tudo, até meu óleo.

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E eu planejava cultivar também

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algumas proteínas vegetais.

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Colhi com êxito feijões

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e ervilhas, mas tive esse problema

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com girassol e amendoim.

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O problema foi que os esquilos

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vinham comê-los. Ironicamente,

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comiam minha proteína vegetal.

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Na permacultura, a questão é:

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como transformar

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o problema numa solução?

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Se os esquilos eram um problema,

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como eu solucionei o problema?

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Foi aí que decidi comer esquilos.

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squirrels. A lot of people in this scenario

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would just kill the 'pests' who are a

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problem in their garden. But I am not

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someone who just wastes resources or who

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looks at life as a pest in itself.

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Yes, these squirrels were posing a problem

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for me but I still had great respect for

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the squirrels for the creatures that they

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are. So I wasn't going to just kill them

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in order for my garden to be able to

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produce peanuts and sunflowers.

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For me, this was actually about finding

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a valuable resource that there was and

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using that resource wisely. Now squirrels

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are actually a sustainable source of meat.

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There was a huge abundance of squirrels

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in the environment that I was in which

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was the city of Orlando, Florida. And so by

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harvesting these squirrels it wasn't that

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I was taking from a resource that was not

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renewable and there wasn't already an abundance

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of it there. If that was the case It is not

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something that I would have done.

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So this is a form of organic gardening.

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Some people would choose to use

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pesticides to kill things. So this was a

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sustainable local source of food right in

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my garden and the reality is that even

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before they were eating my peanuts and

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sunflowers I was already thinking about

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catching these squirrels and eating them.

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So it is not that I was forced to do this

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or that I had to, but it really motivated

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me to finally do it. So really the reason

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I was eating the squirrels is because

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they are a local source of protein. A

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local quality source of food. But at the

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same time I was able to deal with a problem

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that I had in my garden and actually turn

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it into a solution, into a positive thing.

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Alright so, here is the situation, I am

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in no doubt, under the crossfire for this.

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A lot of people will look at this, whether

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they are vegans and they are against

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eating animals altogether, or people who

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just like squirrels. They think they are

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really really cuddly and cute and think that I

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shouldn't eat this while they are eating

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cows and pigs and chickens, for example.

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I am in the direct crossfire here because

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I am sharing that I am trapping and eating

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the squirrels. But the reality is that I have

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put myself out there but the truth is

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that every single one of you watching this,

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while animals are dying on your behalf,

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whether you are vegan or you eat meat,

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the death is happening. I will do another

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video where I go into that a little bit

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further but if you are eating vegan and

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the food is coming from farms, animals are

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dying. Whether it is mice and rats, or

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birds or just the place being created

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where animals are being kept out,

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where an environment is being created

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that doesn't want animals to be there.

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The truth is what I am saying is that death

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is happening for every single one of our

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meals whether they have animals on the

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plate or not. I am happy to be under the

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crossfire but I know that I will get a

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lot of comments for it and this is about

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going into the truth of the food.

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And that was a big purpose of my year of

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growing and foraging all my food to

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really go into the depths and go into

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the food and look into those grey areas.

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And the more that I've looked into the

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grey areas the more I realise that no

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labels, whether it is vegan or gluten-free

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or organic. No label is actually one

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that is cruelty-free and that is not

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causing destruction to people, to the

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planet and to other species.

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I ate the squirrels. It is obvious to see it.

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But we are all killing the squirrels

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or something like it in one way or another

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through our modernised lives.

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What I didn't eat, such as the fur and

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the skin went right back to the land and

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actually fertilized my garden. So it was

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a closed-loop system. In fact, even the

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bait that I used to trap them was sweet

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potatoes from my garden using a metal trap.

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So zero waste whatsoever and a completely

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closed-loop system. So we are talking about

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sustainability here. Squirrels are also

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rodents. They reproduce a lot. So it is a

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sustainable source of food. Now a big thing

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that people would ask or say is,

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'Would it be sustainable if everybody did

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it?' or not a question, just saying if

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everybody did this, would all the squirrels

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be dead? Yes. So sustainability

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is about critical thinking and problem

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solving. If everybody in Orlando is eating

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the squirrels then I wouldn't have been

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in that scenario in the first place.

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And if my neighborhood all wanted to

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eat squirrels I would think about this

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situation differently. True sustainability

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is not about any direct set of rules. It is

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really about looking at individual

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circumstances and deciding what the

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sustainable thing to do in that scenario is.

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So that requires critical thinking, it

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requires problem solving, it requires

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not thinking in a black and white way.

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It really requires localized thinking and

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understanding our resources.

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Alright if you have got this far you

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might be wondering what does squirrel

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taste like? And recently I did a video

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for BuzzFeed that has been viewed over

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three million times and the answer I

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give is just squirrel tastes like squirrel.

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And that is actually how I feel.

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But I am going to go into it a little

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bit more for you. It basically tastes not

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that different from rabbit or any wild bird

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or wild small game or chicken. You know

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to me, most meats don't taste that different

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from each other. But it would basically

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taste like a combination of that.

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How did I cook it?

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Generally, I would just put it into stews.

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A vegetable stew with potatoes and cabbage

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and different greens and carrots and

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things like that. And just make a stew

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that added a lot of flavor and a lot of
consistency

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to that stew. Squirrels aren't very large

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but they can really go a long way in

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adding to a meal.

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I want to close by saying that this

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really isn't about the squirrel at all.

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This is about a bigger picture. Honestly,

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I wouldn't do a video that is really just

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about why I ate the squirrels if there

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wasn't a much bigger thing behind it.

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I went into that, but really the take home

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lesson is that the world is not a black

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and white place. When you actually unlift

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the veil behind the food you are buying

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at the supermarket you realize it is far

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more complex and far more intricate than

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that. When you look deeper at life you

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realize that all of our actions are far more

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complex and deep than we think or would

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like to think. Labels are a false sense of

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security. When you really look there are

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pros and there are cons to everything.

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So that is where I want to go. I want to

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go into the grey areas that really create

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critical thinking and that is the purpose

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of talking about the squirrels and

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why I chose to eat them.

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And I hope that you got that. I hope that

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you see that intricacies of life.

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Now if that is where you want to go in

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life, if you want to go further down the

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path of sustainability and living a just

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and equal life then this is definitely the

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channel for you. So make sure that you

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subscribe, like and comment and share

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this video to help get it out there.

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I love you all very much and I will see

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you again real soon.