Embarrassments over dinner

What is the art of talking? Isn’t it something to do with the free flowing, unselfconscious ease with which we toss ideas about? Keeping ideas interesting and entertaining? Perhaps the problem with most animal rights ideas is that they don’t have much ‘toss’ in them and they aren’t meant to entertain. They could well be considered the very opposite of interesting. If vegans are talking about animals they can be embarrassing because they always come back to animal slavery and that points to abolition – it’s pretty much an absolute position. The ideas are not at all fluid. There’s really no middle way. The reason this subject is so contentious is that vegans are on one side of the fence and a massive fence it is too, and non-vegans are on the other side. If we’re vegan it’s likely we’re involved and outraged by the issues whereas non-vegans are pretty much uninterested in the subject.
Animal eaters aren’t usually thinking about it at all. Every time they go food shopping or eat a meal, they pointedly avoid thinking about animals (as beings worthy of consideration). It’s a ‘non-thought’ and is disconnected from conscious daily practice. If there’s a vegan present at dinner time it’s much more difficult to sustain this non-thought when lots of different animal foods are being consumed. The meat eater (non-vegan) can feel judged or feel vulnerable to attack. Who wants that at dinnertime? It’s considered outrageous if vegans make any comment about the food being eaten. They are resented (for bringing into focus what is normally never thought about or spoken about), resented for trying to spoil the enjoyment of eating. Whenever this subject is approached there’s a memory trace formed. Whatever is said, especially in the way it is said, it is probably going to be remembered when next we’re together. Meat eaters don’t like inviting vocal vegans around to meals. In fact there’s no time when the meat eater wants to run the risk of being assaulted by vegan views. So if we are ever discussing animals with omnivores we need to think about the art of talking. The art of discussing animal rights is to keep things lively without getting personal or threatening, so that when we do meet again we’ll still be on speaking terms with each other.