poles apart

There’s an enormous difference of opinion between the protectors of animals and the users of animals. Many of us who are animal (or environmental) activists have been involved for so long, that it’s possible we’ve forgotten how it felt when we still accepted things the way they were, living as an integrated part of the mainstream community. And now, all we know is how it feels to be part of a minority and to be shut out of discussing these matters that are so dear to our heart. But for non-vegans things are very different. On these issues they’ve always been part of the majority, a majority who eat any foods they like. Just to take one example of a routinely used product, cheese. To most people cheese is always just cheese. There’s as much thought given to the origin of it as one would give to the origin of sunlight, it just doesn’t enter the thought process. So when we say “no dairy products” (which includes cheese), the cheese eater cannot connect that food with something they do that’s wrong. We can talk all we like about animal slavery but to them cheese will just be cheese and vegans will just be weirdos.