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Veganism speaks like no other ‘ism’ because it outlines a
structure for a future civilisation, no less! It lays the groundwork for a
practical non-violent society held together by a single ethic of
non-interference with sentient life forms. A human race no longer dependent on
the animal kingdom, for food, for clothing or for anything. And who couldn’t be
interested in that?
There are
many huge problems blocking our progress, pessimism for one. Pessimism seems to
be associated with loss. At the very prospect of a no-touch-animal policy who
wouldn’t feel uneasy? (Well, vegans wouldn’t actually!). Who wouldn’t be
nervous about the loss of human privilege if they gave up animal products? But
we have to weigh that unease against the uplift of a new optimism - in this
single idea not only are animals liberated but for us there’s a new ‘reason to
be’, a chance to caste off this millstone around our necks, and a chance for
the whole of future civilisation.
People love
looking into the future. If we see good things are going to happen, that’s
optimism, conversely the doom-sayers are attached to their pessimism. It’s all
about how we imagine the future. A weak imagination would see veganism as a
loss of human privileges and modern-day comforts … or as masochism. Dropping
animal products would seem depressing and veganism threatening.
But are
vegans really a threat with their plant-based eating? Is the abolition of
animal slavery and an egalitarian treatment of animals absurd? If so, why?
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