The time is right now

Disapproval seems like a common weapon we all love to use when we’re badly narked. We don’t like what we see. vegans don’t like being shut up about it. And therefore we also don’t like the great intolerance we get from omnivores. We disapprove of them in return. They dislike our intolerance of them ... and it goes round in circles. Hard though it might be, vegans have to break that. Take the lead here.
There’s a big disappointment, amongst animal activists, that we aren’t making enough impact, but as a body we’re divided, both to the extent we are non-users of animals and also over our approach when proselytising. (And call it any word you like, but all vegans are more than glad to see omnivores ‘come out’, veganwise). There are those who go in hard and there are those who favour the softer approach - figuratively speaking, it’s between the flower or the gun? The most outraged, the most sincere activist, the bravest vegans initially go for the hard-on approach, mainly to show other vegans how solid they are. Later in one’s career (as an activist) we may see though that approach, like the child at arithmetic, who stops counting on fingers and does it in the head instead. When some of us see how the hard-on approach doesn’t work (and how!) we then ask ourselves if we can we afford to be softies? Can we set aside the ‘gun’ and smell the rose? Can we get to know each other so that we can build essential trust? Can vegans and omnivores ever get into the thick of this subject and not try to hurt each other?
Vegans know very well what they want of people: we hope omnivores will rise up against misinformation and dangerous food products. But most aren’t in that sort of mood, just yet. A lot has to happen in the Soul Department before some people will come to see what they’re part of. When the penny drops, yes, it’s not comfortable, but at every step on from there the discomfort gets better.
Things could hardly be going better for the purveyors of animal-based products. Discomforted people need to have access to inexpensive yummy foods.
All we vegans can do (and what many are doing) is promote cruelty-free products ... and encourage the boycotting of cruel products. Yes, the odds are against us right now, mainly because of price. Cruelty-free prices are higher due to the smaller-market. That’s a big problems for many of us on limited incomes, but little by little, as the companies grow and can reduce prices and sell more the wheel will start to turn. In the meantime what else can we do, even with almost impossible odds?
Presently the animal industries are laughing. They know what customers want and how much they’ll tolerate to get it. But as illnesses spread and moral outrage increases so alternatives will be start to be considered.