• Towards planetary coherence
  • It is with great care and respect that I wish to share my perspective on the movement seeking the benefit of all species, guiding humanity towards a conscious and empathetic kind. I speak from over fourteen years walking this path with my feet on the ground, observing how what began as an ethical conviction has, for many, transitioned into an empty label.
  • The network, inertia, and the surrender of sovereignty
    • I have found a space where many people in favour of plant-based nutrition converge. Much like the blocks that build the Bitcoin chain, I have been fascinated that upon registering since when you have been vegan, the profile automatically calculates the days of this journey; in my case, it is 5,272 days. Each of those days has been a conscious decision, a small victory against a system designed to convince us otherwise.
    • An environment that sickens, a view that curves
    • Custody of my totem: vegan ethics in action
    • My life partner and a system designed to make us ill
    • Bitcoin as sound money: the link the vegan movement chooses to overlook
    • Custody of the word: sovereignty as the last refuge

§Towards planetary coherence

§It is with great care and respect that I wish to share my perspective on the movement seeking the benefit of all species, guiding humanity towards a conscious and empathetic kind. I speak from over fourteen years walking this path with my feet on the ground, observing how what began as an ethical conviction has, for many, transitioned into an empty label.

§The network, inertia, and the surrender of sovereignty

§I have found a space where many people in favour of plant-based nutrition converge. Much like the blocks that build the Bitcoin chain, I have been fascinated that upon registering since when you have been vegan, the profile automatically calculates the days of this journey; in my case, it is 5,272 days. Each of those days has been a conscious decision, a small victory against a system designed to convince us otherwise.

Over several years interacting within the Nostr community, I have taken part in events and sought connection with those who share this way of life. I have noticed that much of this affinity concentrates on platforms such as Bluesky and Mastodon. I have also perceived how the developers and leaders of these networks, even while operating at the margins of decentralisation, appear to limit the true capabilities and splendour of the Nostr protocol from coming fully to light. They settle for being an aesthetic alternative, choosing to remain on the surface rather than embrace a structural one.

I understand that, through inertia or habit, most prefer the familiar: being on a known platform, connecting with others, and trusting what is customary. When something emerges that challenges the paradigm and offers a fairer system —such as Nostr— if it “makes noise” outside our immediate comprehension, we tend to perceive it as a challenge or an attempt at persuasion. Automatically, we discard it, mark it as spam, or report it. It is the same mechanism that keeps us attached to fiat currency, to processed food, to medicine that treats symptoms and overlooks causes. Inertia has become the most effective prison, because we entered of our own will. Nobody locked us in.

§An environment that sickens, a view that curves

The reality surrounding me adds layers of complexity to this reflection. I have spent nearly five years in an environment of contrasting peculiarities: open fields, wooded areas suitable for walking, yet with modern infrastructure saturated with 4G and 5G antennas. The air sometimes smells of manure from nearby farms, and from other areas arise scents of burning —likely plastics or chemicals—. The sky frequently dawns sprinkled with chemical trails left by aircraft. I feel my sight sometimes beginning to curve.

My diet and habits are wholesome, the fruit of two decades of plant-based discipline, and given what is happening in the environment, I wonder how much longer I shall be able to inhabit this space. It is a statement of fact. We live on a planet where food sovereignty and environmental health are systematically sabotaged, and those of us attempting to live in coherence are treated as isolated cases, when we ought to be the norm.

§Custody of my totem: vegan ethics in action

Among my priorities is continuing to custody my canine companion, a ten-year-old dog adopted in Tulum. Due to what she has lived through, her heart allows her only short walks; she stops every few metres, and our stroll lasts around fifteen to twenty minutes. If she overexerts, she begins to cough. She has been living with this for nearly two years, with ups and downs. She requires great calm, balanced food, and, faithful to her nature, her diet has always been plant-based, as her biology thrives fully upon them. Thus she lives: loving, lovely, with a coat and figure that reflect her inner health.

She is living proof that plant-based nutrition is an expression of respect towards the biology of every being. While the livestock industry poisons the planet and the veterinary pharmaceutical industry proposes chemical solutions for problems created by the very same food industry, my dog walks —at her own pace— as a silent testimony of another way of relating to the species that share our planet.

Sometimes I read announcements inviting the vegan community to travel the planet. Considering the scarce empathy of airlines and establishments towards animals, combined with my dog’s health conditions, I have spent years observing how others travel when their circumstances allow, or when they do so alone. Other events have kept me rooted to this situation, such as the need to administer two properties from a distance —a constant struggle derived from the situation in Tulum, where property fraud and corruption have attempted to take from us what legitimately belongs to us—, which in turn has allowed me to deepen my study and practice of Bitcoin and self-custody.

What I narrate reaffirms my commitment to my health. My sight has a solution thanks to meditation, rest, the attention of ophthalmology specialists in the region, and sometimes short car excursions. I know animals have a defined physical cycle, and considering my totem’s condition, the drive to remain in contact with the community and keep learning holds the highest priority.

§My life partner and a system designed to make us ill

I live with my wife, my life companion for twenty-eight years. We have built from love and empathy, passing through stages that have taught us that coherence is a daily practice. During these nearly five years of systemic struggle, she has suffered mild illnesses and a chronic back pain that prevents her from performing heavy labour or driving. Beyond the struggle to cover expenses and cooking delicious meals together, sleeping is what brings her the most peace.

We both recognise how rotten and “well” structured the system is to keep us drowsy, ill, under inflation, and shortening our lives. It is a visible architecture, with structures we can observe and name. Fiat currency impoverishes us, industrial food makes us ill, pharmaceuticals keep us dependent, and the media distracts us. Hopeful, contributing knowledge to the Bitcoin economy and DeSocs (Decentralised Social Networks) such as Nostr, we decided to promote this monetary system whenever we can. Yet the inertia of the system and its dogmas cling to every corner. Sometimes, for being as we are, we have been blocked on relays for the simple act of mentioning veganism, self-custody, or decentralisation.

§Bitcoin as sound money: the link the vegan movement chooses to overlook

We are aware that this will change. We acknowledge the uncertainty about the health conditions we shall be in when that moment arrives, and booking a trip with the community, in a wholly wholesome concept, is part of our vision. The hope of observing more vegans understanding the importance of avoiding refined sugars, of ceasing to support the pharmaceutical industry, and of backing truly organic agriculture is wearing thin. We struggle to comprehend the degree of unawareness in so many entities.

At nearby vegan events, I have attempted to promote the Bitcoin economy. If the vegan concept seeks health and the end of exploitation, Bitcoin is, in essence, sound money. And here lies the point few wish to address: the root of the planetary problem stems from fiat currency, from governmental money that the majority continue to support by choosing it as a medium of exchange.

Fiat currency is the invisible fuel of animal exploitation. Constant inflation and the capacity of governments to create money from nothing sustain massive subsidies to the livestock industry. Sovereign debt finances the industrial farms that poison rivers, destroy forests, and sacrifice billions of sentient beings each year. The centralised financial system provides the resources for the advertising that normalises the consumption of animal products, for the agrochemicals that destroy organic agriculture, and for the regulatory machinery that pursues those of us attempting to live in coherence.

Understanding that the root of the planetary problem stems from the fiat and governmental money that many continue to support would reveal the contradictions of remaining in that vicious circle. Bitcoin self-custody is a financial practice and, above all, an act of bodily, dietary, and spiritual sovereignty. Whoever controls their money, controls their life. Whoever depends on fiat currency, depends on the very structures that exploit animals and destroy the planet.

It proves challenging to accept the resistance to observing the root of the problem. It even cost me to assimilate that, between 2019 and 2023, many vegans got vaccinated; for me, it was an act of profound incoherence. How does one preach respect for the body and nature, and at the same time place blind trust in a pharmaceutical industry that experiments on animals, that depends on governmental approval, and that benefits from the patent system that limits access to health? Coherence is chosen on the plate, in every decision, in every trust deposited, in every system we choose to support.

§Custody of the word: sovereignty as the last refuge

Despite everything, and holding onto hope, today we are once again part of a new online environment. I shall be more of an observer, an individual who occasionally shares an article or a life experience, accompanying from respect and offering perspective before incoherences. Each person walks at their own pace, and I honour the timing of others, recognising the diversity of paths.

But I shall remain firm in the Nostr protocol, because it is the finest thing we still have, as sovereign individuals, for free expression and our true freedom of communication. Whilst the vegan movement remains an aesthetic lacking economic roots, whilst it continues to omit that fiat currency is the backbone of the exploitation it combats, it shall remain an incomplete movement.

We, from our corner of the planet, with our dog coughing at fifteen minutes of walking, with my wife seeking peace in sleep, with our sight sometimes curving beneath skies sprinkled with trails, shall remain here. Custodying our keys, custodying our food, custodying our health, and custodying our word. Because the true vegan revolution completes itself when it is also monetary, decentralised, and sovereign.

Note on Transparency and Voluntary Support
The drafting of this article does not respond to any external payment; it is a personal effort born of conviction and dedication. Behind these words lie professional writing and design tools, years of study, and over 18 years of professional experience in the freelance realm. It has been originally published on the «Nostr» protocol 🔗.

If what you have read has resonated with you and you wish for this work to continue generating substance and consciousness, you can support this project voluntarily: with a gesture of recognition, with a few sats, or via my contact page 🔗. Every contribution, however small, validates the time and intention poured into every word.