In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been ignoring all of the conspiracies – many of which have come from American conservatives – about coronavirus being “developed” or “made” in a Chinese lab. There is literally no evidence that happened. The more that Donald Trump and his minions insist on that conspiracy, the less I believe it. What I believe – and what all of the scientific evidence shows – is that the virus originated in bats and “jumped species” to humans in China. I’ve seen the species jump first-hand – I’m convinced that my panther kitten had the virus, and doctors keep finding that dogs and cats and zoo animals are testing positive for versions of the virus too.
But the “coronavirus was developed in a Wuhan lab” conspiracy probably isn’t going away any time soon. Especially now that “celebrities” are jumping on that bandwagon. Bryan Adams is a Canadian singer who was massively popular in the ‘90s. He posted an Instagram, which I will not embed, of a new song he wrote. He posted it with this message:
Tonight was supposed to be the beginning of a tenancy of gigs at the @royalalberthall, but thanks to some f–king bat eating, wet market animal selling, virus making greedy bastards, the whole world is now on hold, not to mention the thousands that have suffered or died from this virus. My message to them other than “thanks a f–king lot” is go vegan. To all the people missing out on our shows, I wish I could be there more than you know. It’s been great hanging out in isolation with my children and family, but I miss my other family, my band, my crew and my fans. Take care of yourselves and hope we can get the show on the road again soon. I’ll be performing a snippet from each album we were supposed to perform for the next few days. X❤️ #songsfromisolation #covid_19 #banwetmarkets #selfisolation #bryanadamscutslikeaknife #govegan🌱
“F–king bat eating, wet market animal selling, virus making greedy bastards…” Can we not? Yeah, maybe “wet market” is a legit criticism but I hate this. I hate all of this. I hate the idea that even polite Canadians are getting on the “this virus was MADE and then sent to bats, then bats were sold in a wet market” sh-t. And I also find it gross that vegans are using this GLOBAL PANDEMIC as a moment to virtue-signal about veganism.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
He’s entirely correct about the wetmarkets. They’re a stain on humanity. The rest is a 5G Causes Corona, Vaccines Cause Autism wibbble-rant.
Wet market is a racist anti Asian (or even anti immigrant) dog whistle. We have wet markets too in North America but we simply call them Farmers market.
Yup I just saw on the news some of the “wet markets” in NYC. It was very unsanitary…dead hanging pigs waiting for Americans to come get em. Let’s not act like viruses aren’t created from all sorts of animals…not just bats. Also, does he not remember all the E-coli outbreaks from lettuce? I know it’s not a contagious virus but people do die from it.
Factory farms, industrial slaughter houses, AND wet markets all need to be banned. I’ve been to farmers markets where I’ve seen the odd duck or chicken for sale. But never one with hundreds of cages full of live animals kept in unsanitary conditions for days or weeks on end. Do I think Asians are disease vectors? Absolutely not. Do I think every country in the world needs to use this as a wake up call and rethink animal processing? Absolutely yes. There is a halal butcher in my area. He keeps goats on his farm. You call ahead and tell him you want a goat, he processes one from the heard, you pick it up in a week. That’s what we need more of.
Nope, Adrien, to call out vicious cruelty is not ‘racist’ or ‘anti-immigrant’. Don’t shelter behind genuine issues.
Exactly. It’s coded speech and it’s disgusting.
Adrien – only our wet markets aren’t jammed with thousands of filthy cages full of domestic and wild animals, and the only kittens and puppies you see are up for adoption, not eating.
To give his comments a little context…Bryan Adams is vegan or plant based. I am as well, so I totally understand his comments, as these are comments I’ve made too. SARS,MERS, h1n1, and now covid19….all traced back to animals, and jumped to humans from animals that were confined and consumed by humans. All I’m saying is…vegetables never caused a global pandemic.
Breaking the laws of nature, like noncarnivores eating meat, there’s consequences.
@Jordana To give your comments a little bit of context, being vegan doesn’t negate your racism. Similar comments? Maybe try caring about people first and then plants second.
@one of those people…
I made no mention of race at all, I’m just here for the plants…and animals…and humans. You projected a lot in that response. And by putting plants first, it is putting people first. It protects all people from animal related illnesses.
@Jordana You commented that you say similar things in a comment defending someone else’s comments that ARE racist. “I totally understand his comments, as these are comments I’ve made too. SARS,MERS, h1n1, and now covid19….all traced back to animals, and jumped to humans from animals that were confined and consumed by humans.” Adams’ comments perpetuate a racist stereotype that Asians eat bats and are responsible for this current pandemic. Your own words echo the spread of a pandemic because of the consumption of animals by humans. You are replicating the same message as someone who had a racist intent. Perhaps you do not, but if that is the case, please be more careful with your words and consider the messages/messengers that you cosign on.
Adams’ comments were racist, in nature, since he was pointing a direct finger at China.
There IS a link between consuming animal products and many diseases such as SARS, MERS, H1N1 and Covid-19, without question. But I would never point my finger at China or any other country. There are wet-markets all over the world and it was only a matter of time until one of them, or a factory-farm-sized slaughterhouse would begin to spread disease.
The human race should move to a plant-based diet. It is better for the environment, for our health, as well as for the animals.
But “vegan advocates” like Bryan Adams are not doing the plant-based movement any favours by turning their backs on humans.
THANK YOU! “Wet Market” is “Farmers Market”!!! Dang, gweilo!
There’s nothing wrong with selling live animals, even when was a kid (not that long ago), you’d see chicken and other poultry in cages in farmers markets quite often in the country. Heck! We still buy lobsters and other shellfish in aquarium. Those wet markets (called “wet” because they are sprayed clean everyday) aren’t much different. It’s a cultural thing to buy live animals because when you didn’t have access to fridges (or electricity that wouldn’t fail you every other hour) it was the best way to access fresh meat.
Pigs and poultry are responsible for the flu strains recombination and transmission to humans and yet, we don’t call the practice of eating chicken barbaric. Heck! Meat packing factories are currently one of the biggest sources of covid contamination outside of hospice care facilities and hospitals! Our proximity to wildlife increases risks of new viruses crossing over; the biggest factor affecting our proximity to wildlife is climate change, not wet markets
“selling live animals”
Confinement, slaughter (in the market right before your eyes), and packaging/dealing with the meat all unregulated.
In the country I come from (somewhere in Southeast Asia), wet markets are an invaluable source of income for local farmers, fishmongers/fishermen, and ranchers. There is no selling of live animals, but the fruits, vegetables, seafood, and meat products sold in wet markets are often fresh, raised humanely and without being pumped with antibiotics. My dad wakes up early every Saturday morning to get to the wet markets by 430AM so that he can have the best pick of all produce and meat that arrives on that day. Stalls close by noon and are washed down and cleaned everyday.
It’s extremely hypocritical of Westerners, specifically Americans, to criticize the concept of wet markets when factory farming is far more abusive — both to the animals and people who work at these plants. That’s all I’ll say on that.
Bryan Adams is Canadian.
Thanks DizzyLizzy22 — the point still stands.
co-sign 100%
Absolutely. The west has horrifying conditions for animals too. The WORLD needs to be nicer to animals.
Singapore has very hygienic farmers’ markets.
What about meat packing factories? They seem to be breeding places for coronavirus, which makes me wonder really hard about the sanitary standards.
Have you ever read Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle? If not you should. Written about 100 years ago, and things seem only just slightly different
Trillian: The corona virus doesn’t originate in meat-packing environments. People coming to work who are already infected spread it as they are in close contact. Big difference.
Wait… you have a panther kitten??!!! Awwwwww! They’re adorable! Can we see?!
Sigh. How stupid.
My favourite Bryan Adams is when he was on stage with Taylor Swift and she was like an Amazon and he a tiny old pea man
I know this is abusive and beside the point but so is he and we let him cos he’s white, vegan because boohoo we didn’t get to hear his same old songs once more
What would the world be accusing Canadians of had the virus originated there?
We’re not “letting him” because he’s white. Everyone is jumping all over him for the horrible comments he made. I’m Canadian and he’s had a reputation for being an arrogant d-bag for a long time.
@Jaded – agreed. Fellow Canadian, here.
Bryan Adams is about as well-liked in Canada as Justin Beiber…likely less-so.
Most vegans aren’t that aggressive but some definitely are, so I don’t find that surprising but definitely gross. I hope he loses a lot of his “second family” aka fans when they realize how vile and racist he really is.
you’ve heard the joke?…
how do you know if someone is vegan? THEY’LL TELL YOU.
Hahaha yeah. That joke hits home. I have a vegan friend who never shuts up about it. She’d likely convince more people to check out veganism if she’d be less obnoxious and sanctimonious about it. Every vegan post she makes I want to say “ARE YOU VEGAN I HAD NO IDEA”. 😉
Not every vegan is like that. In fact, in order to separate myself from “those” vegans, I just mention that I eat “plant-based”…and only if food is the actual topic of conversation, or if someone else feels the need to bring it up to everyone.
Them: “Hey, did you guys know that Heather’s a vegan? I don’t know how she can live like that. Like, I mean BACON!?!? Do you get enough protein? Your vitamin B12 must be super low!”
Me: “Yeah, I don’t miss bacon. I just enjoy eating plant based.”
Them: “OMG! She’s so friggin preachy!”
so, heather, you’re going to “not all vegans!” me here?
sigh…I KNOW “not all vegans” are like that. just like not all white people are racist, and not all Canadians are nice. it’s a JOKE, based on a stereotype, of which ALL have some root in the truth. just like I don’t feel the need to be like “I’m white and I don’t think that way” or “not all white people” when someone laments how white people suck, I realize they are talking about a subsection of white folk – THE ONES WHO DO, IN FACT, SUCK…and I know I’m not part of that so I keep my mouth shut.
a LOT of vegans ARE preachy. and if you’re friends (or acquaintances, or whoever) are giving you sh*t for being vegan, then they need to STFU. it def goes both ways.
The number of people annoyed by vegans far outweigh the number of annoying vegans-see the comments here.Tiresome.
And yes, animal cruelty exists in all countries.
If I had the courage, I’d be a militant animal rights activist, but I like my life and my day job, love my non-vegan significant other (not to mention my cat and two dogs who are far from vegan), but I have to be vegan myself. Animal products leave me feeling riddled with guilt (but my partner, while he eats meat, is forced to use only vegan toiletries and household products as I do all the shopping). I also hate being a pain in the ass, though. I tend to avoid telling waiters I’ve vegan, so I’ll order something vegetarian and tell the waiter I’m “lactose intolerant” to get a dairy free dish. I know I’ve probably eaten egg & fish byproducts in restaurants because I’m afraid to say “vegan” for fear of the backlash, but this is all to say we aren’t all assholes. I just can’t understand loving my pets as much as I do and yet contributing to the torture of animals just as sentient and emotionally complex.
I thought this was a joke.
Truly bizarre and racist.
How did a has been who hasn’t had a hit since the mid-80s get a gig at Royal Albert Hall?
He actually still sells out concert halls (and I mean 15000+ arenas) and has consistently since the 1980’s when he was first popular (not the 1990’s as said in the article). His fan base is massive so he’s hardly a has been. That clarification made, his comments are still ignorant. Very disappointed to read what he said.
He’s still got a huge fan base. I know, I am one of them, and was planning a trip to go see him there. I am so disappointed in this damn tweet though. He’s a very outspoken vegan, so fine, fair enough, but he should have taken care with how he worded his message. So many celebrities are showing us who they really are right now. Damn you Bryan, I’ve loved you since I was 7!
I dunno if he’s still going to retain his tenancy at the Royal Albert Hall after this…
Let’s hope. What an utterly dumbass comment to make.
Really stupid, insensitive comment.
As a Canadian, I can say there are plenty of racists up here.
It’s just not like the racism in America and Britain but its there.
and there are plenty who aren’t “polite”.
Yup, plenty of racists and rude a$$holes in Canada too. I’ve dealt with many.
All day, every day. Sigh.
But Dave Foley is still uncancelled, right???
I mean, are we going to really be surprised that a guy who wrote a hit song about 69ing says idiotic things in public?
Bryan Adams and his song writing partner Jim Vallance wrote The Summer of 69” the song details struggling with the choice of being a rock star or settling down and having a stable family life. It was a cute song except Adams would have been 9 years old in the summer of 69..
“Adams said the song was about sex and making love in the summertime. “69” is a reference to the sexual position, 69″ That was from Bryan Adam’s himself.
Another quote: Adams said: “One thing people never got was that the song isn’t about the year 1969. It’s about making love, a la ’69!”
And another: “the title comes from the idea of ’69 as a metaphor for sex,”
Jim Vallance, the song’s co-writer has said, “Bryan Adams is a great writer, a great singer, and a great friend. He’s entitled to his recollections as to what inspired the song ‘Summer Of ’69.’ My recollections just happen to be different than his.”
Adams songwriting partner who is older than Adams wrote about the members of his first band..Adams was a cocky twit. I remember him from the late 70’s he played the neighborhood bars saw his show a few times while waiting for other local favourites to hit the stage. He wore the same flight suit night after night obviously he didn’t wash his suit as he seemed to lingered after he left the stage. Vallance said about the song
Oh, when I look back now that summer seemed to last forever
And if I had the choice I’d always want to be there
“1969 was a great year, and a great summer… especially the music!
Imagine … brand new vinyl releases from The Beatles, Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Chicago, Cream, Creedence Clearwater, The Band, Santana, The Who, Joe Cocker, and Led Zeppelin!“
He was supposed to tour this summer but the tour is being postponed. Twitter was full of people yesterday saying they wanted their money back now instead of tickets for the new rescheduled dates. He did himself no favors with this one.
Blame isn’t tricky. If you’re not part of the ground zero equation of any incident, any circumstance, shut your mouth.
Ugh why, Bryan Adams! He’s one of my favorite 80s artists, too (yeah, he wasn’t just massively popular in the 90s).
So Bryan Adams is an a**hole? Got it.
I get so tired of the blame game. Do I think these market are gross? Absolutely. But let’s not even pretend for a second that the rest of the world (with exceptions) doesn’t handle animals and meat consumption/production in similarly awful and possibly dangerous ways. Yet we love to sh*t on “uncivilized” ways to do it. Like these wet markets. Or bush meat. It’s racist bullsh*t, is what it is. As if Europe’s and North America’s countries don’t consume ungodly amounts of questionably raised meat.
I don’t appreciate the Chinese government being smug about the effectiveness of their containment measures either. It’s really pretty gross if you think about it. But let’s just NOT.
Yeah china is uniquely disturbing with some practices for the fur industry and endangered species.
The wet market is gross because it’s aesthetically unpleasant and now we know can lead to viruses in humans. But morally to animals I’m not too convinced that wet markets or eating dogs cats and whatever random animal is somehow less moral than factory farming and even the circumstances with “conventional” eggs.
Not that I’m interested in eating those animals! But why is it worse than torturing intelligent pigs? I can’t wrap my head around it so I’d welcome your opinions
Agree on every count @emmy. It’s about the implication and the tone that China and Chinese people and Chinese food are gross and barbaric and dirty and unsanitary, vs. the clean/sanitary/modern West. But the West has just as many f–ked up ways of treating and slaughtering and selling animal meat, we all know it.
As someone based in SEA I have to chime in on wet markets. Wet markets can be regulated and my government does this. The issue is live animals in wet markets, and my government forbids live animal slaughtering and storage at wet market venues.
It always kind of astounds me when people slam eating ‘non-traditional’ animals like it isn’t rooted in economic desperation.
actually I recently saw an article about this topic in china, saying that it’s more rich people that cause the markets. The rare animals are desired for traditional beliefs about health (not only curing diseases but improving health/ prevention/virility/fertility.)
That said in china I’ve personally witnessed people eating wild snake caught with skill, not rich people. I would have tried (i was pretty open at that age) but they said it’s good for men not women and I didn’t want to go against the grain. I do think poor people in china eat more random animals than in other countries but I don’t think it’s all poor people because some may not encounter or learn the practice, and it’s not them that keep the wet markets in business
People don’t consume rhinoceros horn because of economic desperation. Or eat whales in Norway and Japan, two of the wealthiest countries on earth per capita. And that Arizona restaurant that offered “lion burgers” wasn’t targeting the poorest members of our society in its advertisements.
If you eat meat, you actively participate to global warming, loss of diversity, antimicrobial resistance, deforestation, animal and human exploitation, etc. Being vegan doesn’t equal being perfect but that’s a huge step towards improvement and limit the negative effect we, humans, have on the environment. The fact that it drags you out of your comfort zone and demands some efforts doesn’t make it wrong. Stop eating meat is a fairly easy way not to make things worse compared to all we’ll have to face (and are beginning to) as consequences of our actions. And yes, pandemic are in close relationship with animal exploitation and consumption, that’s a fact.
Thank you, Ersatz. Agree.
@Ersatz
Not everyone can afford to go vegan.
Which proves the point even more. If meat weren’t produced by factory farming with all it’s problems, including the treatment of animals and the excessive use of antibiotics, so one could afford to eat so much meat.
Um, meat is among the most expensive proteins per pound. Vegetarianism is on average cheaper because it foregoes the costs associated with animal processing. It gets expensive when the consumer relies on processed meat substitutes. If the diet is based primarily on non-processed food (beans, grains, veggies) it is dramatically cheaper. I do not get where this idea that it is more expensive keeps coming from.
@Trillian
But your solution proposes that only the wealthy can eat meat whenever they want & the less fortunate can get their scraps or seldom afford to eat it. —so in this scenario you mention the people that can’t afford to go vegan, would also not be able to afford meat (nor eggs or dairy).
@Sam the pink
Even if meat is expensive per pound, it serves to provide for a lot of meals, so it would still makes sense for certain people and families to buy it.
To go vegan is not as simple as you all propose. & yes, beans, grains and veggies can often be cheaper, but not everyone has access to a wide variety of it, or even afford to buy most of it fresh. It’s still a privilege to be able to access & afford not to eat the same beans, grains, and veggies all the time.
There’s also a cultural thing to take into account. Not every culture can lend itself to the vegan lifestyle.
Also, the vegans I know personally also use supplements to get what they need. Not everyone can afford that either.
& if you google you’ll find better articulated reasons why going vegan is just not as simple as “going out of your comfort zone” and “making an effort” as @Ersatz says.
But you aren’t addressing my point – veganism is NOT more expensive that meat. In reality, in many places on Earth, vegetarianism is viewed as a diet of poverty – meat eating is associated with greater wealth.
And there is no scientific evidence that people need meat to survive. We can debate about whether veganism, as opposed to vegetarianism, is better – there is evidence to suggest that B12 supplementation may/may not be fully necessary.You also leave out that a large percentage of foods available in America are fortified anyway and outside supplementation is generally not necessary.
Nobody is arguing for mandated veganism, but I was responding to your contention that not everyone can “afford” to be vegan. That’s just factually not true, because veganism is almost always going to be cheaper than eating animal products solely because the cost per unit of food.
@Sam the pink
LOL my whole response to you was addressing the issue of the expense of going vegan. This is the second time I have a discussion with you where I notice you focus on your point when you don’t wanna see reason in another’s. Veganism is not as accessible to all or every culture, and it definitely can be more expensive for a lot of people. It’s not as simple as you all make it out to be and the fact that y’all can’t see that just means you need to be more educated on the subject.
Maybe you weren’t advocating for ”mandated veganism” but it sure sounded like @Ersatz was, to me it sounded like they insinuated if you don’t go vegan it means you’re lazy cause you’re just not making the effort.
I’ve seen some people be successful at switching to that lifestyle & others, myself included, not so much, and everytime in the cases i’ve known, it failed because we just couldn’t afford it, and I am lucky to live in an urban city where that’s really accessible—not everyone can.
Again, not every region or every culture can do that. Even many of those poor countries you alude to, its getting harder for them to afford the veggies and grains they grow, because more “developed”/richer countries are causing such a huge demand for it now that veganism has grown in popularity over the years, they can’t afford the things that grow in their own lands anymore. It’s just simply not as simple as y’all wanna make it.
Really? Veganism is expensive? Lentils and beans are so cheap compared to animal parts.
Mtec, I cosign this. I come from the middle east, and while meat is still viewed expensive (not chicken, though, chicken and turkey are relatively inexpensive subtitutes), it is almost impossible to construct a diet purely vegan without it incurring costs and devasting a lot of shephards and farmer’s livelihoods. I’m from a country where there the meat industry is primitive really (there isn’t any, as sheep and chicken are the primary source of protein and relatively easy to maintain).
And our diet easily lends itself to veganism (chickpeas, olive oil, rice, bread, nuts, hebrs, are all staples of our diet), i just cannot see how this diet can not only be accessible for lower income houses, but actually that it doesn’t do accidental harm to the farmers itself. It’s often hard to do both, and that’s why if you chose to raise animals, it is unlikely that you will have a large farm that is commercially viable, as well.
Agreed! Also, saves a ton of money.
Depending on where you live. Not everyone has access to a wealth of fresh fruit and vegetables. It’s a lot different being a vegan or vegetarian somewhere like California compared to somewhere like Northern Canada. Food deserts exist, and something like 20% of the US rural areas are considered food deserts.
In a 2009 study, it was discovered that of the people polled, 64% did not have access to adequate daily amounts of vegetables, and 44.8% did not have access to adequate daily amounts of fruits. Comparatively, only 29.8% of those polled lacked access to adequate protein.
I find it weird that so many people argue about the coast of being vegan as it’s so much cheaper than eating meat. Also those of you that argue that eating vegetables and fruits is not easy because of cost or food desert or whatever, well… I hope you learn some basic facts about nutrition fast cause vegetables and fruits are still very necessary when you eat meat as they are sources of different nutriments. Lentils and beans and cereals replace meat in a vegan diet and are cheap and very easy to find unless you live in the Artic or on a small tropical island which I’m gonna bet is probably not the case.
Depending on your area, though, it’s really not. Food deserts make access to fresh food difficult, and for people in extremely rural regions, even fruits and vegetables can be outlandishly expensive. One of the big reasons indigenous hunting is still big in parts of Canada is because the markup on grocery produce is so insanely high, most people in those regions really can’t afford it. So you may have access to vegetarian food, but it’s not necessarily *healthy* food.
I don’t have much of an issue with suggesting we should shift socially toward little more toward plant based diets and protein-sources, since I do think it would certainly take a bite out of carbon emissions in industrialized nations. (Exploitation is a different issue – nearly all agriculture is exploitative in America, let’s not pretend otherwise.) However, there are definitely caveats to it depending on people’s individual circumstances regarding their geographical resources and personal health needs. For instance, I used to be vegetarian. Thanks to a GI disorder, I absolutely cannot be vegetarian any longer because many of the proteins (nuts, legumes, soy, etc.) are triggers for it. I literally can’t eat them in any significant quantities without detrimental effects later, so I supplement with animal based proteins as necessary. I can see both sides of the argument and why it’s not necessarily as simple or capable of being completely upended as a social institution.
Yes! I love this. I hate the racist signaling that some vegans are using, that doesn’t undermine the message! Look at how much illness passes from non-humans to humans: Covid-19, Swine Flu, Mad Cow, etc. Industrial animal agriculture is creating health crises. Vegan is healthier and better for the climate. There are no good arguments against seriously reducing meat consumption.
Bryan Adams is a dick and he does not represent vegans, or Canadians for that matter.
Live animal markets are disgusting, but so are the factory farms that abuse millions of animals daily. We in the West like to demonize other parts of the world for how “they” treat animals, like we treat them any better, it’s a lie we like to tell ourselves. Humans, collectively, treat animals like shit, and we are reaping what we sow (climate emergency, diseases, etc etc)
Americans can have Bryan if they want him. I cry no tears.
We don’t want him. Not sure what gave you that idea.
I didn’t know he was so intensely vegan.
Wth is that hand doing behind him?
So is he mad about the wet market or the lab? If they made the virus, what’s the market have to do with it. Either it was malicious or it was a natural occurrence due to wet markets.
This manufacturing virus theory is big in the Arabic language videos my bf watches on YouTube. Contradicting that is the theory that god is punishing china for its various sins, another common theme on YT in Arabic.
Anyways to be honest this is a bad situation for everyone and trying to blame someone is pretty natural. But I’m disappointed in Bryan Adams. He didn’t lose someone he just has to reschedule and he acts like that ! He’s from one of the most Chinese places in North America by the way!
There’s so many conspiracy theories out there now that they are bound to overlap. One of my old classmates on FB is pushing the 5G theory. I don’t understand why/how people latch onto this sh^t instead of just believing, you know, scientists.
I have a friend, who is truly a brilliant man, in almost ALL respects…except he, too, believes that a vaccine for this is a push to insert a micro chip in the population (á la “Kingsman” movie), and that 5G is a powerful carcinogenic. Now, I know the talk about cell phone radiation…but he takes it to a whole ‘nother level. As I said, otherwise, a brilliant businessman, highly intelligent person…yet he truly believes all this SMDH.
I hope people see his comments for the vile racism that it is. Every country participates in the slaughtering of animals, and most countries I’m aware of are inhumane in the way they do it. It’s done differently in different places, but there’s no ethical difference between a wet market in plain sight and a battery farm out of sight.
It is horribly racist comment and the “virus-making” bit was just plain stupid. I’m Canadian and word on the street for a long time is he’s always been an arrogant jerk, especially with his constant banging on that we should all go vegan. Unfortunately, wet markets in China do their slaughtering and selling on the spot and conditions are horrendously unsanitary. Slaughterhouses, while cruel, do it away from the populace to ensure the maximum safety of its meat. We also use domesticated animals that are treated with antibiotics. With wild animals you don’t have that measure of safety or inspection of them to ensure they aren’t diseased, so the Chinese must tighten up their sanitation and inspection regulations in light of the pandemic. In any event, I gave up eating beef, pork and lamb a decade ago and just buy sustainable seafood, and poultry and eggs from local farmers.
I could argue that ones learns how to value food when in order to eat meat one has to butcher a living animal. Our Saturday Neal was chicken my grandma used to buy herself,then chop its head, take off the feathers and clean the insides. Save for the head we are everything. I myself loved the feet
To be honest, this way of doing things- eating meat just once or twice a week, growing your herbs, buying fresh food every second day from farmers markets- is the real environmental friendly way of living.
As a brasilian, I know what soja plantations do to the environment…
I think that’s a valid argument. Unfortunately people don’t or can’t do that in most places in the U.S. A friend of ours raises a few cattle on a small farm and even though I don’t eat meat I had a few polite bites of his when he was gracious enough to share some with us.
Barbara Kingsolver did an experiment where her family lived off food they grew/raised, supplemented with limited few locally-sourced items, called Animal, Vegetable Miracle. It’s not easy for people who’ve grown accustomed to grabbing their stuff off grocery store shelves.
No, it is not easy. At all. That is why people are so desensitized and think just by cutting some items off their list and donating used clothes they are doing their part. While it is always good to do so, we should not be patting ourselves on the back for doing the bare minimum. The real enemy is excessive consumerism and waste- and the greatest culprits are large corporations, not people like you and me.
At any rate, we should all try to better ourselves and not judge others like this Bryan Adams dude!
Why, why are people so aggressively stupid.
The Republican $1 billion disinformation campaign the Atlantic wrote about in February is clearly running full steam. But frankly Trump getting a free hour of propaganda on just about every news network every day is also probably helping.
Could you link to the article?
And swine flu likely originated in factory farms in the US and factory farming in general
is seen by many scientists contributing to increased risks. https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2020/4/22/21228158/coronavirus-pandemic-risk-factory-farming-meat https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/28/is-factory-farming-to-blame-for-coronavirus While it’s completely right to look at how viruses emerged and what kind of change could help to prevent further outbreaks, this kind of rhetoric is just racist.
Influenza is primarily an avian virus that happens to do really well in swine and humans. So yeah flu outbreaks and new strains always start in either pigs or birds and the birds will distribute it further. Part of the seasonality of the flu is also due to bird migrations patterns…
And yet, most people are perfectly ok with eating chicken or duck and, to a lesser extend, pork (there are reasons why it’s forbidden in some religions and it probably has to do with the realization that pigs can indeed transmit diseases). Any new infectious disease emerge from our proximity to animals and mass farming can definitely be a vector of transmission. Though it’s not all bad: cow famers had milder, less deadly versions of smallpox because they had been exposed to vaccinia/cowpox before and that’s how the 1st vaccine came to happen
Regardless of a causal link to the virus or not, wet markets and China’s treatment of animals in general is beyond vile. A 30-second google search can show you the horrors if you have the stomach for it. He’s not entirely wrong. I’ve gone back to being vegetarian during quarantine and am considering going vegan. If you have a conscience at all and know how factory farm animals are treated, I don’t know how one could feel good about consuming those products.
Vile is an understatement – these practices have got to stop; if you have the stomach for it, google what they do to cats and dogs to “make the meat more tender”. The Chinese government has allowed all lobbying for exotic animal trafficking for human consumption, and if it was any other country, they would be held to account.
So, did it come from a bat or did it come for a lab? Does he think they made it in a lab and then put it into some random bats hoping someday a person would eat one FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF TAKING DOWN TRUMP? geesh. I think conspiracy theorists are trying to project order where there is none, because the fact that stuff happens for no reason is too scary for them. Surely it’s all by some grand design, so nothing bad could happen to them.
From what I’ve heard it was a Pangolin. Bats aren’t even sold at that particular Wuhan market. I’ve read a Pangolin most likely was infected by a bat out in the wild, and then the Pangolin somehow infected a human at the market. I don’t know…maybe we won’t ever know definitively.
Studies have concluded that a nucleic acid sequence taken from a pangolin was a 99% match for COVID-19. So right now I am in favor of the pangolin theory as well. I agree we will probably never know definitively.
Whether it was a pangolin sold at the market or a pangolin that was hunted and killed by someone I do think the pangolin theory is the most solid. Some Chinese think pangolins have special medicinal purposes so they are a highly prized commodity.
I have been called dumb farmer but we grow and store most of what we eat and we share with our kids and grandkids. Its not easy to get started for the younger generations. Farmland and starting up nowdays is very expensive. I always thought it was a great way to live, rarely having to go to a store, but in these times I know it is the best. People would say how can you not stand eating out lots, being far from entertainment and so on but I find it ideal.
RE: ‘polite Canadians’… Canada can be a very racist country. The declination of racism is different than in the US but racism is very mainstream here, underneath the ‘multicultural’ flag. The last elections saw Trump-like candidates either winning or becoming much stronger. What Adams says still hurts thoug. It’s 2020 ffs.
Bryan Adams does not represent every Canadian any more than Donald Trump represents every American. Adams is gross.
First off Bryan Adams is a racist jerk. He can screw all the way off with his racism.
Wet markets are disgusting, especially unregulated ones like many of the ones in China. But that is on the government of China to regulate them instead of generalizing all Chinese or all Asian people the way he did. The meat plants and packing plants here in the U.S. are just as disgusting, unsafe and unsanitary which is why there are mass outbreaks in meat plants here. Trump has loosened regulations on all these meat plants and industries and safety issues within these industries.
Also, the earliest confirmed cases from China are now thought to have been in mid-November 2019 and some of the November cases had no connection to a wet market. So the wet market theory might not even be correct. It might have been from a pangolin that encountered a bat or ate bat feces. Pangolins are killed and used for medicinal treatments among some Chinese so it might have been some man/woman who hunted/killed an infected pangolin to use as medicine.
We can guess how the virus originated but truly we have no idea. And yes China tried to cover it up hoping it would go away. Again the Chinese government deserves a lot of the blame and scorn but not the ordinary Chinese people or Asians in general.
This has been around longer than we think – France just discovered that they have had COVID-19 in their country since November. They have two positive test results from last year – one in November. So this might have been around for a lot longer than we think. It is going to be nearly impossible to trace where in China it originated from.
Not gonna contribute much to this crazy nonsense because I am sick and tired of dealing with racists tirades this week. However, just want to point out, can we please stop acting like Canadians are exempt from racism because they are polite? I mean look at how the country treats in own Indigenous communities. Racism is everywhere, may not look the same, but it’s there.
Thank you – we Canadians have a gruesome history of treating our first nations peoples horribly. Racism may be more covert here but believe me, it’s here.
Both wet markets and factory farms have and will cause more pandemics. Yes vegans can be annoying (I‘m mostly vegan ATM) but eating plants does not cause these types of pandemics. I know food is a hot topic and people get defensive if you dare criticize what they eat but the fact that someone in China ate a bat literally is affecting the whole world and has caused many deaths. They way factory farms and wet markets raise and kill animals is not natural in anyway and it’s literally killing us. Just because we don’t want to offend someone doesn’t mean we have to tolerate this treatment of animals and human suffering. He could have been better at delivering this message IMO but we ALL should be criticizing the global food markets and try to prevent this from happening again.
Wrong. Someone did not eat a bat. Please stop spreading harmful disinformation that only serves to further perpetuate racist stereotypes against Asians. Care about animals all you want, but your message is lost when you dehumanize people in the same breathe.
He could have not been racist when delivering his message, just like you could have. Instead you both leaned into it. It’s actually possible to criticize global food markets without making uniformed racist comments along the way! It’s worth a try!
People do eat bats. It’s just that from what we know, that did not cause covid-19. From what I’ve read recently bats are eaten (however rare it may be) in Fiji China and Southeast Asia
The majority of « crazy » things you hear about chinese people eating aren’t common at all, but may still occur. I’ve known people who’ve eaten turtle / snake soups. I’ve talked to other westerners who’ve seen dogs and cats in the market. Depends where you are whether you’d see this. I think they keep it away from the tourist places so I never saw anything but snake (hunted!)
It wasn’t a bat, it was a pangolin, which is worse. Pangolins are critically endangered.
He’s been a self righteous SOB for a long time.
He’s said some disparaging things about traditional Indigenous hunting here in a Canada too.
It was pre-social media do it didn’t get the same traction and I can’t find any links. But je me souviens,Bryan.
This is another prime example of why so many people have such a negative view of veganism and vegans. It doesn’t make anyone want to listen to what they have to say when they spout crap like this.
Yes, some can be overbearing, sanctimonious jerks like Adams. It’s like having some zealous religious nut constantly forcing their beliefs on you. He’s always been an arrogant, rude a-hole anyway so no surprise he’s spewing vitriol like this.
Ridiculous to generalize his comments to all vegans. People have lost their ability to think clearly and discern, now it’s all about stereotyping. The all or none thinking gets us nowhere. And I’m not vegan by the way, just have enough common sense to realize that there is no “vegan” personality type.
@AANG – +100
I just wanted to take a moment here to thank all the celebitches for such an interesting discussion here. As lifelong Bryan Adams fan (don’t judge me!!) I was so irritated by his doing this. I put it up on my facebook because so many of my friends know how much of a fan I am (and mock me for it – as they should). Anyway, there were people defending him and others not – and I poached many of your arguments here to make my point that he doesn’t have to be racist to defend his vegan point of view – the message could have been conveyed differently. So thanks!
I saw his name trending and then I saw why. Not another one. People really bringing out their inner racist during this lockdown, especially when it hits their wallets.
“especially when it hits their wallets.“
And need for constant adoration. Celebrities are not coming out of this looking good. Ugh.
“Polite Canadians “ have severe issues when it comes to people of Asian descent so this isn’t surprising. Racist live and thrive in Canada. They are mostly polite to other white people.
His music is terrible schlock as well and if you live in Canada you will hear it all the time because of content rules. It’s like musical torture
That is EXACTLY it. White Canadians are polite to other White Canadians. Ask any poc in Canada how polite people are to them. We experience a lot of racism. I’m not saying it’s all White Canadians (some are amazing…and also some poc can be a$$holes too), but there’s plenty.
Oh thank god. I went off about Bryan Adams the other day and my husband was like whooaaaah where did this come from?
Years of having to listen to his music, that’s where.
And you are forced to listen to him? Turn off the radio.
I do understand the CanCon regulations but sometimes they are the WORST
yup, as a white Canadian, this is true. People will feel comfortable saying shit to me that they expect me to agree with, and then get super offended if I don’t. Don’t let the image of the polite nation fool you! Like they say on Hunters, not all white people are racists, but all racists are white people.
Also, yeah, his music is everywhere and it sucks, lol.
This is vile and racist. The evidence suggests this virus originated in a wet market. There’s a way to face this fact honestly and openly, to say “hey, how about we all take a second look at how wet markets in our respective countries are regulated and try to put some controls in place to keep this from happening again” without jumping all the way over to “bat-eating greedy bastards.”
I just read he was given the Order of Canada which is an honour given to Canadians who exemplify something. I say something because I will never understand as a fellow Canadian why some Canadians are given this honour
What a dick. He does not represent Canada or Canadian values. I don’t expect him to be a cultural ambassador of either, I’m just saying. He’s a voice for the ignorant and ill-informed. And the racist.
Welp. Guess who I’m deleting from my oldies playlist on Spotify.
Are all Brian Adamses problematic?
I thought he was already dead, like his music.
Correct me if I’m wrong but this is an exact quote from Ann Coulters Twitter
This makes me so furious. Painting people with a broad brush like this is unbelievably dangerous. We are already seeing incidents of people being attacked verbally or otherwise for appearing to be Asian.
Also, I am HORRIFIED by factory farms in the US which exploit workers of color, often undocumented immigrants, as well as cause suffering to animals. Just google, there are many exposés. Scapegoating wet markets is bull crap! American mass farms will eventually have a disease outbreak at one point or another if we continue on the path we’re on.
I eat meat. But, HOW we consume animals DOES matter. Consuming exotic animals serves no purpose, it leads to species’ endangerment or even extinction, and can spread diseases. Crowded, unsanitary farms and slaughterhouses can spread diseases too. So can unsanitary farming of *vegetables.* So don’t think HOW we produce food (meat or produce) doesn’t matter, because it does.
But back to exotic animals — there is no reason for that market to exist. It is just plain wrong. Playing the race card doesn’t excuse how wrong it is.
I used to work for the agency who used to book his gigs. They said he was a weirdo, now I know, he’s a racist weirdo.
I got roped into seeing him in concert a couple of years ago. It was exceedingly boring and a terrible show. The man has gone to seed… but he’s clearly desperate to stay in the spotlight. I’m tired of all these geriatric has-beens and their perpetual racism and misogyny. They may have gotten away with it when they were younger, but they try that s*** now and they won’t know what hit them.
Go away, little man. Your time is over.
blame this, blame that. does it matter where this virus came from? i’d rather focus my anger and attention to what my local/state/federal government did or didn’t do or will do.
it pisses me off the world knew a storm was coming in January. Some countries took serious action, others waived it off as another flu. No one has has 100% success but we are where we are because of some f–king disinfectant injecting, stock market selling, vaccine making greedy bastards, the whole world is now on hold, not to mention the thousands that have suffered or died from this virus.
@Betty Rose, I love you. 💛😺
He’s posted an “I’m sorry you’re offended” apology (eyeroll)
i wonder if Bryan posted such a rant directed at the British when mad cow disease came about.
regarding the lab versus wet market debate. i do not believe it was manufactured in the lab and intentionally disseminated to the public, but i do think it could have inadvertently escaped from the research lab due to a tragic error or accident.