Freewill

We need to strike a balance between letting people make up their own minds and giving them the information they need to make informed choices. Animal cruelty and human health are probably the most vital elements in persuading us to make intelligent shopping choices. When people understand the reason for change, not out of a need to alleviate guilt but out of a wish to be constructive, they must surely want to change in many of the ways vegans have changed. If change is entirely voluntary then, again, change is more likely to happen and remain for the long term. If anything is forced, change might take place but it won’t be sustained. Even if the animals are eventually freed and the planet’s environment saved, unless it happens in the right spirit, we will eventually revert back to our abusive habits as soon as things get difficult.
Our freewill is the apex of human development and, out of respect for achieving it, we must never let it be compromised - freedom-to-choose-for-ourselves took such a long time to achieve. Even if vegans can see all the terrible dangers facing society, we can only suggest change not try to force it, or manipulate it, because that contravenes freewill. We have to let each person make up his or her own mind, and let them make their changes when it feels safe and wise for them to do so. Which takes us back to the importance of people having confidence in what we are saying, for vegans, us, to make our ideas convincing and enticing.