Personal ambition

1705: 

Slowly we are moving forward in our awareness of animals, the part they play in our everyday life, how we humans exploit them, and how much we like the sorts of food produced by the Animal Industries.

Many reforms to the disgraceful conditions under which animals are held prisoner but even so, we are still a ‘million miles’ from addressing the greater problem. We need to understand how much we like the idea of non-violence but don’t want to implement it badly enough to inconvenience our lifestyle; why, if we want to live nobly aren’t we disciplined enough to do so.

There are many analogies. We want peace but can’t abandon nuclear weapons. We want a safe climate but want lots of electricity to support our appliances. We want paper but don’t want to fell trees. And muddying the waters further, if we are working hard as animal activists, are we prepared to fight for the rights of animals without wanting to be rewarded for our hard work? Do we have ambitions to be at the forefront of the next great social revolution? If so, are we sure we won’t tread on each others’ toes in our race for personal recognition? Can we be sure that our motives for being animal advocates are sincere and will remain true? In other words, will we be able to keep enough integrity to carry us through the lean years to come, before this great attitudinal ship can be turned around?

Any one of us, vegan or non-vegan, might have high ideals but can we carry them through in practice, until they just become good habits? Or do we need recognition and show off to look more advanced that we are?