Strategy and knee-jerk judgements

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Strategy and knee-jerk judgements

Does Animal Rights need a communication upgrade? Maybe I do, anyway. As a vegan I may be guilty of judgementalism, just as other animal advocates might be. This is a run-away problem that needs to be addressed, if only to keep it in check. It’s similar to its opposite - the self-defending obstinacy of the animal-eating masses, in their insistence on killing and eating animals. It’s a weakness, and that’s all it is, just as my judgement-habit is a weakness which I'm obstinate to shake off. But it is ONLY that.

My recommendation to myself is to show no rancour, no disrespect and no value judgement. It drives me nuts that so many are still doing what they're doing, but I know I won’t win anyone’s long term commitment to vegan principles by my disapproving of them or inducing guilt or fear in them. Only by showing that I respect them and am interested in their welfare can I ever hope to keep them on side, or at least taking me seriously. Let’s say we are talking together, you and I - it’s to my strategic-advantage to go about my business without any ‘finger-wagging’.

If you look at my face, you’ll pick up how I’m feeling – either I’m relating to you non-judgementally (signalling that I like you or I accept you) or that I’m being judgemental (serious-serious voice, signalling disapproval). I'm between a rock and a hard place. I may not want to be judgemental but at the same time I need to show you my ‘high standards’. If I’m foolish enough to try to impose my standards on you, I will, in effect, be risking our whole relationship, just for the sake of letting you know how ‘clean’ I am (implying, how ‘dirty’ I think you are). Perhaps I’ll gamble on this: hoping that my honesty trumps my attempt to deceive you about how I really feel. But maybe that's a risk not worth taking, since it's almost guaranteed to poison our relationship.

If I’m being judgemental it’s all about values, mine and yours. It’s about me needing to establish my credentials and showing you that I have something to say. I'm thinking too up-ahead to apply to you, for my right to say it. If I express a moral judgement (aimed at you) it’s quite likely you’ll take offence and refuse to allow me any right to speak.

Judgement. What is it? The hot flame touched by the young child is judged to be hot – it’s an evidence-based judgement, and to a more experienced child it's self evident. Value-judging is different. When I assess your values, my subjective values are regarded by me to be absolute and therefore better than your subjective values; it’s likely to come across that way.

My judging of you may not necessarily be fair or carefully researched, but I may feel compelled to show it all the same, in order to make my position clear. In a clumsy way, I’m hoping that the shock of showing the strength of my judgement will ‘wake you up’, and that you'll be grateful for the wake-up. That's very doubtful!

In the school playground the same thing happens. You insult me and I punch you in the face before I’ve thought it through. It’s a powerful moment. My judgement might seem so quick, clear, almost primeval - I dislike what you do and I’m showing it before I’ve given myself time to make a more considered response. And I daren't not-respond since it might come across as my being weak and ineffective. Judge - be quick - act - don't delay it with even a moment’s hesitation.

When I’m judging you it might be almost automatic. Each day we make decisions without taking the trouble to consider them more carefully. Perhaps that’s because we don’t have enough time or patience - I know that I sometimes think and act almost simultaneously, instinctively liking or disliking, to suit the occasion. No harm surely - it's only in my head that this judging takes place. And what's the harm if a little bit of judgement slips out; when it comes to straight-talking, it might not be such a bad thing if my friends come to know me as a straight-speaker. But, talking about such a sensitive subject as our right to use animals? If I haven’t thought about it carefully enough, I may still be trying to use the shock-and-attack approach. By my not caring about others’ feelings, it adds up to a big strategic mistake.

So where does that leave me? Perhaps, strategically, needing to be very careful about straying into the mine field of making value judgements.