Young Vegans vs Old Vegans

1818: 

Edited by CJ Tointon

Vegans have given the matter of "Animal Rights" a great deal of thought and make a huge statement for the non-use of animals in the way they choose to live. The bases for our arguments against animal cruelty are so simple, honest and truthful, that vegans usually feel confident discussing this subject with anyone who is willing to engage us in fair debate; but few do. This can make vegans feel frustrated and disappointed - which is just how non-vegans want us to feel. It gives the impression of being 'abandoned'.

This is how a 'vegan image' forms and how the Animal Industries conspire to win loyalty amongst the consumer masses. By dint of that loyalty, vegans can be denigrated, even pitied, along with their bag of arguments. There's a major difference in opinions here regarding the use of animals. Non-vegans consider them 'for human use only' - not as sentient creatures deserving lives of their own. Older vegans are generally put-down by the majority because, in their perception, we are too ready to abandon anyone who is NOT vegan. Friends, family, even innocent bystanders, can all be scorched by us. 

But cutting through all this comes a healthy, happy bunch of 'new vegans' - in their teens and twenties. They seem to be unwilling to get tangled up in quarrelling on a personal basis. They believe that one's vegan principles are one's own private framework upon which a sound vegan lifestyle is based. They make no attempt to change others - except by example. They have no interest in winning arguments or shaming others about what they eat or do. They realise that 'carnism' is too deeply set into the collective psyche to attempt to force it out. Force, heavy persuasion or emotional blackmail represents the failed techniques of the past. The 'young-who-get-it' understand that if anything significant is going to happen at all, it's going to be by way of a slow fashion change where people come to veganism in their own time, without being pushed by others.

But what about animals in the here and now who are suffering mutilation, languishing in cages or being transported to abattoirs? Who is helping them? Who's in their corner? It brings us back to the free-willed individuals populating the planet by the billions who are legally doing something that we vegans consider immoral and wrong. It brings us back to the essential understanding of WHY. Why are otherwise good people, adult, older people, blind to all of this? Until we can study the reasons WHY individuals are not thinking for themselves; why they are ever willing to just follow the majority and give in to the sensual experiences of eating animal products, we won't get far convincing the majority of meat eaters that they are playing a dangerous and evil game.