Invasive plants and the paradox of tolerance: a thread

There are people alive who treat all life as sacred. They will justify the murder of no animal, insect, or plant by any human. They believe that we have no right to play god, or perhaps that no living creature deserves death

This take is generally respectable, but misguided in the long run. Invasive species spread by natural means, and if they aren’t taken out they destroy the very nature we seek to preserve

Invasive species threaten native biodiversity far more than most human activities. While people are free to hold their beliefs about what our role is in nature, it cannot be denied that if we ignore the spreading of invasive species, the things we love will disappear

The same can be said for people. Everyone is free to value “freedom of speech” as much as they choose, but if we fail to place limits on hate speech, we will be actively complicit in the death of our neighbors

As our ignorance of invasive species directly contributes to the extinction of native ones, so to does our ignorance of white supremacism contribute to the oppression of our black and brown brothers, sisters, and siblings alike.

When we tolerate racism we actively encourage and enable violence against POC. If we want to end hate crimes, we must oppose racism by all means necessary

(Also if you want to protect your planet, you must fight against invasive species)