1965:
Most people think that we can
only be effective if we have specialist knowledge, but what expertise is needed
to know that the animal business is wrong and to keep well clear of it? When
something isn’t right we know it in our gut. It comes from intuition and inborn
values. A familiar comment from new vegans is, “Why didn’t I see it before?”
From my own experience, as
soon as I tap into instinct, things become clearer, and then I’m more likely to
gravitate towards ‘the greater good’, if only because it seems so obvious. What
counts, I think, is optimism and faith, and you can’t sustain much of that if
you are hanging around the gates of the abattoir, figuratively speaking.
Following convention without questioning it, eating food which we haven’t
examined ethically, eating rubbish foods, none of this bodes well for the
future.
When any of us choose to NOT
buy something we want, stopping ourselves for ethical reasons, we make an
important statement. We say, for instance with animal food, that we can’t eat
what shouldn’t even exist - namely foods associated with animals.
This is one way we can
exercise self-control, by setting an example. But if we do that in one field and
not in another equally important field, we lose credibility. Concern for
animals requires that we are also concerned for the land. It’s the same problem
we have in any area of advancement, whether it’s our career, lifestyle,
relationships or spiritual progress. By neglecting any one vital issue, simply
because it doesn’t suit our convenience, we introduce an incompleteness or
inconsistency into our life, and that surely leads to double standards.
In the end, if we can’t
muster sufficient personal power, to change any faulty parts of our own daily
existence, then our personal authority will drop off. And without that feeling,
we can’t fight corruption or change the system we live in.
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