Style

1600: 

Edited by CJ Tointon

I like to think of my conscience as being open to advice; but I know it's still very much influenced by Mum and Dad and other early formative influences. However, I think I'm still able to self-question: I know my conscience is open for development like everything else that's part of me.

My conscience is a bit wary of 'God-botherers', 'Goodness-preachers' and 'Morality-devotees'. They have their own stories to tell. My conscience prefers the company of those who are more constructive and freewheeling. It admires those seeking to avoid 'Doing Bad', but is sceptical about 'Do-gooders' who are often motivated by the prospect of notching up brownie points. However, my conscience does retain a fondness for 'Morality'. If a person's heart is in the right place and one tries to be true to oneself, then Truth will win out. My conscience respects all the rules; but it likes to do it with panache and style. That's what I like most about 'The Vegan' lifestyle. It's a smoother operation, with an almost lifelong guarantee of having a well-functioning body free from the poisons of animal-derived 'foods'. Vegan heads are clearer. Vegan minds are faster and vegan consciences are freer from guilt. From one sophisticated idea searching for 'style', comes a healthy and much more sensible lifestyle.

Style isn't just about 'doing it right'; it's about doing it with a strong sense of self-assurance. Style colours everything; including the level of gentleness in our relationships with the environment, people and animals. A vegan lifestyle is necessarily gentler since it's devoted to minimising harm. As the sophisticated, gentler side of us develops, we go beyond the nerdy health/diet interests and lead ourselves towards more compassionate, sympathetic thinking and empathic attitudes. For animal eaters, egg eaters and milk drinkers, there can be no possibility of any real style. Their choice of animal foods causes them to harden up too much. This is the price the 'meathead' pays to keep in step with the animal death protocol.

Our poor carnivorous friends! What a sorry bunch they are! What they have to do to handle their deeply brainwashed attitudes! They believe animal killing is safe and acceptable. They don't believe what we say about addiction. The majority of humans on the planet are hooked on certain 'favourite' foods - most of which are animal-derived. There's very little panache, style or grace associated with eating dead animals or their various extracted secretions.    

Morality sets a low standard for human behaviour; if only because it's so obviously based on a double standard. It allows the very opposite of what should be condemned. It says that peace and love may be mixed with ruthless violence - as long as it doesn't harm humans. Such a partial rule doesn't inspire much confidence. I'd rather morality had a sound base of avoiding anything that is not humane. This is exactly why the vegan principle focuses on the basic ethic of 'harmlessness'. 

I am not rubbishing the usefulness of old-fashioned morality, however. It's just that conventional morality is like a steppingstone to more interesting things. Morality is a very approximate reference point. It's like the rules we have in sport. Players play by the rules. But Life is far more complex than a game of sport. For Life we need a better sort of morality; a morality that deals honestly with no double standards. A morality that declares for itself exactly and is not afraid of being questioned.

 Vegan morality is always open to questioning. Happily, so far it hasn't been successfully challenged as a principled, practical, life-confirming attitude. Vegan 'philosophy' enjoys the ultimate reputation of being the honest broker. And if no one dares to challenge it; then it automatically becomes unquestionable. The main reason no one can question it, is that it has no ragged corners, no dodgy areas we'd rather not look at. Vegan principle is impressive in that it is based on intelligence, not merely emotion. This is its main passport to being taken seriously.