Reckless decisions

Sunday 23rd May 2010
What sort of people are vegans speaking to when they do get the chance to speak? We always hope people will be compliant or better still be eager to learn all the stuff we want them to know but it’s likely they’ll bogged down and reluctant to listen..
We have to consider that many people DON’T feel badly about behaving badly. For instance, if they do know about the suffering of animals it might not matter to them. and therefore eating these animals doesn’t concern them. What would get people to pull back a bit on their animal eating?. I’d suggest such a radical move only ever happens if we want it to badly enough.
As vegans we need to appeal to this deeper sense of want. We can appeal to their sense of right-behaviour, to their health, to their compassion, all the time realising the weight of opinion against us that says: “If it’s legal and if most other people do it there’s no argument in the world that will persuade me to change”. They won’t even let their minds rest on the subject of animal rights let alone change their diet. They’d say to us: “This is my food, my favourite food we’re talking about here”. No way are they going to give up the pleasure of the Sunday roast. It’s such a powerful substance, food. It’s the one consistent strand linking all the days of our lives, right up to the present day (along the lines of “I am what I eat”). To attempt to alter any part of that might seem reckless.