Do yourself a favour

567:

We vegans could seem like a threat to people’s peace of mind, but since at the moment vegans are in such small numbers we’re still very ignore-able. (In most countries veganism is hardly known about at all). Here in Australia it’s rarely mentioned in the media and for most people the whole idea of animals having rights is a completely foreign if not laughable idea. Gradually things may change, who knows? At present though the general attitude towards veganism is either to find it incomprehensible or a vague threat to one’s own lifestyle. Possibly it’s even a subject that’s dangerous for impressionable young minds.

            Any threat vegans pose isn’t physical of course but we can be somehow disturbing all the same, because we touch on everything all at once; if we do make an impact we make it deeply. For example, we argue that animal slavery can be related to just about everything that’s going wrong today, illness, global warming, world starvation and many other central issues. We show how humans are being destructive and selfish for being-as-they-are; that we are collaborating with destructive forces by simply remaining omnivorous.

            The central question is about whether humans are nice or nasty, and whether being nasty can be justified.

            We live the way we do today in laboratory conditions of our own making. We’re almost desperate to find out if we, humans,  are worth saving. Does it mean that we, despite our brilliant discoveries, have gone too far? Have we destroyed too much to deserve to be spared?

            Vegans are presenting a principle that is shunned by the world at large. We think that we present an answer to the world’s problems. Its neatness is its incontrovertability (which is hardly a reason for people to be so hostile towards it, but people do so hate to be shown to be wrong).

            Compassion theory is obviously making its mark. We care about things we didn’t care much about fifty years ago. We care for trees and threatened species. We care about the planet. We care about taking children’s views more seriously, we show concern for worlds outside our own world, when they’re in trouble. But ‘compassion’ (heart-intelligence) isn’t always recognised gladly. For some it poses an obvious threat to the status quo. For instance, the herbivore is a threat to the meat eater, and when we accuse omnivores for their lack of compassion we make easy enemies.

            Our impact on people is a bit negative. Just one disapproving look makes it easy to dislike vegans, and to dislike them seems to be a prerequisite for dismissing them and therefore any of their criticisms of omnivores. Once dismissed, the omnivore, who hates being put on the spot, sets out to disapprove of us. They resent being forced to protect their dignity.

            Therefore vegans shouldn’t be too ready to make omnivores feel bad about themselves - indignant people will probably never listen to us, and that would be sad, to say the least.