Animal ‘use’ is always abuse

1517: 

If we aren’t ready to move on, towards being vegan, we must lump ourselves in with the meat heads - as animal consumers at any level, it prevents us from condemning the abuse of farmed animals.  If we don’t eat meat but still use animal by-products, we're still involved in the same level of cruelty.

If you’re not vegan you can hardly be an advocate for animal rights, unless you want to sound hypocritical.  By the same token, the onus is on vegans to take up animal-advocacy, otherwise it would take the emphasis off the animals being abused and become about something to do with our own health.  

If we aren’t a vegan for ethical reasons, we can never play a part in animal liberation, let alone the world-wide-awakening of consciousness.  To rule ourselves out of that process might leave us with not a lot of meaning left in our life, simply because we’re still so subservient to The System.  If we can’t leave it, if we can’t change it, and if we’re unable to condemn it because we also condone it, we’re effectively hand-tying ourselves. We leave ourselves no room to manoeuvre.  Most people have to put up with what is second best, conforming to the traditional-way.  And then, all we can do is divert ourselves with pleasures like entertainment and eating.  The energy expended on seeking pleasure might be better used to help end waste and cruelty.

By doggedly remaining omnivores, we’re denying ourselves a better source of satisfaction.  If we don’t advocate for animals (and we at least owe them that!) we’re effectively taking on the role of ‘gaoler’, and retreating back into a fun world that is the province of the developmentally immature - a poor substitute for more meaningful, goal-oriented activities.

At the end of the day, might there not be a feeling that we could have done better with our day? We may not experience twenty four hours of pure ecstasy, but isn’t it better to lie down to sleep, knowing that we've done our best to minimise harm?