Indifference

2080:

We’ve all grown up with an omnivore’s indifference about animals, the ones you eat anyway. Becoming herbivore is quite a big step.

Once vegan, we’re almost alone in a non-vegan world. So, we try to get others to join us, and that can be a problem, when people push us away if we try to convert them. Omnivorousness is like a flow of water, the more you stand in its way the more it flows around you. Our information might have been arresting enough for us to take notice of, but for those who are not ready, our words simply sound antagonising.

Animal Rights exploded onto the scene some forty years ago, when the book Animal Liberation was first published and The Animals Film came out. The shock was fresh then. But now, it seems that everyone knows the essential details, it’s all ho-hum, so the shock-approach seems stale. Even back then, the ‘latest information’ didn’t inspire people to veganism and, without that, nothing will change.

Since the 1970-80s, the Animal Rights movement has understandably concentrated on instances of extreme animal cruelty instead of explaining why exploiting another sentient species is morally wrong. The numbed public need to have their sensitivities reawakened with some careful explanation. It may be obvious to us, but it’s likely not as obvious to most others who, on this subject, generally don’t often want to think about it for themselves.