Pay Now, Live Later

1947:

The criticism of both young and older people, for their indulgent lifestyle, seems partially true but partially misplaced. Older people might argue that the trouble with the world today is young people’s profligacy. The young, in turn, argue that the trouble today is with the older people, for causing all the major world problems. And so, whoever we are, we pass the buck.

For me as a cyclist I blame the car driver, for me as a wage slave I blame the rich, and so on. But really, it’s a whole complex of issues that rise to the surface to make us feel aggrieved. We feel impotent because we are part of the collective mind-set. We drive cars and we fly in planes that pollute our world. What can any individual do to stop it apart from not driving or flying? In today’s world, how can we NOT take part without disadvantaging ourselves? I know if I tighten my belt and act responsibly I’ll feel resentment that others aren’t doing likewise.

         

Perhaps the one way each of us can get started (doing the right thing) is by acting constructively whilst avoiding feelings of resentment – that is taking a stand without making a rod for our own backs – that is doing something for the greater good which also happens to benefit ourselves. 

         

Which brings us back to the need to save the environment, our health, the animals, the economy and most importantly save our own sense of meaningfulness. And much of that can be achieved by going vegan.

By not exploiting animals, by eating plant-based foods and by wearing non-animal clothing and shoes, we do something to make us and our world feel better. It helps pay back the debt we’ve collectively run up. By boycotting very many of the products on the market (which are unethical) we can affect the collective lifestyle habit. And that might appeal to young people who don’t see how, otherwise, they can be constructive with their own lives. They almost certainly do want to build a better future. They most certainly do not have to adopt the ruined pleasure dome they’ve inherited from their elders.

         

By going vegan, young people can show, by this one major gesture, how individual action can start the ball rolling.