Escape

574:

We vegans should see our own ‘vegan-ism’ broadly, as being not only about health concerns or salving the conscience but about seeing the connection between food choices and escaping the ‘pit’ of blind conformity with social norms - rebelling against the most ugly aspect of our social system.

That ‘pit’, for us vegans, is to some extent escapable, whereas most people who aren’t yet vegan are held locked in by their belief that it is inescapable - it wouldn’t have occurred to them, that by merely changing something as mundane as their food regime, that escape could be possible. Instead they believe what they see on the surface as a vast breakdown of values in society, and that makes everything look rather hopeless. In the light of that, they might wonder what on earth it could have to do with food.

It’s addiction to damaging foods where people lose connection with certain important values (specifically, not being able to imagine life without animal products) means the farmed animal will always be exploited. People are imprisoned mainly by their belief that the human can not do without animal protein. This ties them to exploitation of animals and all the shame that goes with it.

As advocates of animal rights it’s difficult to get that one across, because most people haven’t yet seriously considered animals’ feelings, as if they mattered. And this leads them to supporting the animal industry and see veganism as nothing more than a church of horrible disciplines. They dig their heels in, and say “No way. Vegan, never!”

If they looked a bit closer they might see their ticket-of-leave for escaping ‘the pit’. This one simple idea (the non-violent principle on which veganism is based) eliminates the havoc caused by the dominance and destructiveness of the present human race. And for each one that leaves that havoc behind them there’s a chance to regain some level of innocence. And in the innocence is the escape.