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For all the time I’ve been vegan I’ve been fighting demons.
The demons are in the lifestyle (and therefore the attitude) of my fellow
humans. The demons inhabit the mind of the omnivore, who might sense them but
can’t quite believe they exist, and so aren’t afraid of them. Vegans are free
of these ridiculous attitudinal lodgers but nevertheless have to live in what
seems to be an alien world, made up of people who observe the very opposite of
vegan principle. The strength I need for ‘the fight’ definitely comes from the
clarity of this central vegan principle (harmlessness), but to become vegan one
must be a bit of an outsider. We have to learn to accept some level of
alienation because of our marginalised lifestyle.
On the one hand I’ve found that
being vegan gave me a lot of leverage in the form of justification. Being vegan
allows me, even tempts me, to flex my muscles, show my passion, and sometimes
even to steal the show. It’s fun to do that and, best of all, it shocks people.
It surprises them. I must admit I like to ‘get passionate’ about animal
liberation, but there’s a fine line between my being passionate and my being
offensive.
In order to
get people to trust me (enough to listen to what I have to say), I need to show
that I’m fundamentally a kind person. I might do a lot of talking about feeling
compassion for farmed animals, and of course I’d like to see that same
compassion amongst others. But I don’t have to be pushy about it. In general, I
like to think that people are kind and have plenty of compassion to go round;
there’d be many who would come to the rescue (of farmed animals) right now if
they knew how to. Something is missing though; it’s sad that they can’t make
the connection between the need for rescue and stopping their support of the
Animal Industries.
Because
there are so many animals ‘in trouble’, that’s why my own sense of compassion
is so strongly directed towards them. In wanting to demonstrate my feelings for
them, I like to think it makes me a nicer person (but I might be wrong about that).
The reason
I put it that way is to suggest that ‘a nicer person’ doesn’t try to make other
people feel uncomfortable or guilty’; they, instead, try to explain what’s
involved in leaving the omnivore world and becoming a herbivore, and that’s
all. Obviously food is on the mind of most people, concerning taste, cravings,
restrictions, health, safety, economics, etc., so food throws up several
difficult things-to-be-dealt-with. What we eat and don’t eat is central to
daily habits, and it follows that many
people think that a vegan diet would be too restrictive. Such a diet
shouts ‘discipline’, and that’s a big downer. And yet, once it’s experienced
and practised for a while, it’s the up-side that shows – the benefits become
obvious and the difficulties diminish. In fact it becomes so attractive that
almost anything could be given up for it.
Vegans are
in a unique position. Just by being vegan, it allows us to argue a
watertight case. Right now, it may not be the optimum time for collective
consciousness to be changing, not in this way anyway, but when the time comes
...
When the
time comes, the vegan argument rings far too true for it to be ignored, despite
the kicking and screaming of the vested animal interests.
In the
meantime, for us, we must all go looking for a few graciously-given seconds to
speak, to be heard. If I had 30 seconds to present a case for being vegan, I
think it would go something like this: (1,2,3 ...) Life is safe solely eating
vegan food. Animal cruelty is wrong. Farming animals is cruel. (15,16,17 ...)
Humans are natural herbivores. Plant-based food are delicious, healthy and
energy producing. (23, 24, 25 ...) They are planet-saving, greenhouse-friendly,
and it’s good to feel that much empathy (... 30).
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