Veganism as a new idea

Vegans seem preposterous to the ‘outside world’, as if we are making radical changes to our lives in order to alienate the very people we are close to. Vegan ‘behaviour’ seems to be either the height of bad manners or a play for attention, as if vegans want to be radical for its own sake. People try to rubbish the idea for its sheer madness, and cite the negative health consequences for vegans to emphasise that it’s taking things too far. They may also consider the welfare of farm animals too unimportant. Of course, nothing makes vegans more frustrated than when they hear things like this, and will feel they’ve nothing to lose by putting their case more aggressively … which makes the adversary dig their heels in harder, and so the chasm widens until there’s no chance of a meaningful dialogue. So, how could we play it instead? I’d suggest we try to remain equals, me no better than you just because I’m this or you’re that. We may have differing beliefs and values separating us, one from the other, but it’s all very subjective.
We can notice it more easily when it happens between cultures, where racism emerges. For example, it’s probably true that within the Western culture especially, we grow up believing we’re a bit special. That some are more superior than others, genetically superior to blacks or the people from poorer nations, or special for being cleverer or better looking. Within cultures it spills over into ethics, making me better than you because I’m vegan or I’m a responsible environmentalist, etc. We even ask ourselves how can we seriously tolerate people who are so obviously less advanced.
If we are going to make things better for our world, firstly all of that attitude has got to be dumped. If we thought of one another as equals we’d never allow ourselves to look down on others or put up with being looked down upon. And then it is logical that we’d extend this same feeling to other species . . . and that’s where vegans are coming from. We consider animals just as worthy of respect as humans and just as entitled as we are, to a life. Ideally we’d feel an equality with animals, not just for the animals we know, like dogs and cats, but for cows and chickens and wild animals, and in fact any creature with sentience, simply in order to minimise our violence towards them. By holding onto this standard of ‘equality’ we can maintain our humanity, which in turn will give us back a feeling of well being.