Food-like

600:

The tastelessness of the vegetables and the poisons sprayed on crops has moved people towards considering organic produce. Gradually it’s catching on, especially where the prices aren’t too high. The same will happen with cruelty-free items, which will prove to be healthier and yummier. However, today, right now, this particular ‘reason-for-buying’ is not widely considered yet.

            We comes back to ethics, always. We have to consider the matter of  many, many more people becoming ‘animal conscious’. There’s a double whammy here in that people aren’t fully aware of the plight of animals nor do they realise the support they give by being consumers.

            In the Animal Rights movement, if we’ve not yet been successful in sensitising people, it wasn’t because our hearts were in the wrong place but because our heads were. Our biggest fault is that however bravely we fight we still smell of defeat. Maybe we are, at heart, deeply pessimistic people, doom-laden activists. And maybe that’s why we keep being so judgemental. We doubt the purpose of investing so much energy into something that’s ultimately going to fail. Animal Rights doesn’t, in reality, seem to have much of a prospect. And some people think this way and they are understandably disappointed, but if we had a more realistic time frame which accorded with the gigantic lifestyle revolution veganism represents, we’d see our main job is to set things up for future generations. It sounds a bit too altruistic for you?

            In all honesty, we all want a bit of reward, instantly if possible. For going vegan. For taking up the cause of animal liberating. If only it were that difficult. Altruism is the easy bit. It’s the studying of issues which presents problems for people like me.

            The rough game-plan, the spiritual spark, all that might be worked out in our heads, but lots of information has to sink in, in order to have it to draw upon, when talking through the issues with anyone else. There are books to be read, videos to be watched and even hands-on experience with farm animals. There’s quite a lot of work to do just to get familiar with the main issues, but that’s not all.

            Emotionally we must attack our own selves with at least some of the horror. It’s been documented so that people like you and I can find out about it. That’s not easy in a lot of different ways. It’s hard to read the material and harder to watch the visuals. But let’s slip back to the matter of effectiveness. I suspect that some of us more angry people watch the footage and read up too, to stir up more and more anger within our own heads.

            Once you’ve seen or read about what’s being done to farm animals, heard the arguments and gathered enough information, you form a picture and from that one may draw answers, as if plucking them from a tree, when people want to know something, when they ask questions. We need to be ready with something informative or instructive to say, just in case we get the chance to say it.

            After reaching a point where we can talk about anything important or trivial (veganism and football) in the same breath (almost anyway), and for there to be hardly a flutter of judgement sneaking into our conversation, only then can we enjoy ourselves, in the talking. The Talking. I’m not referring to preaching or unimaginative lecturing but letting talk be a thing of itself where it we always take the creative approach. Let things arise in conversations as they will, almost unselfconsciously. That’s opposite to pushing-our-boat all the time, evangelising at the first opportunity.

            This is a soft revolution. It’s all voluntary. It’s all about cooperation. This is not a fierce, slogan-driven mob activity but a chance for education to happen. It’s not morality and “bad, bad, bad”, we don’t live amongst saints nor are we ascetics. We aren’t discipline junkies nor are we a religious cult. I hope we’re softies.

            But, as effective softies we must beware of this delicious-looking ‘high moral ground’. Watch it even in the tone of our voice. Ultimately, it’s our steering clear of disapproval and not being too free with our judgements, or our talking-down to non-vegans as if they were little kids, or stupid, or morally bankcrupt.

            An inexperienced teacher, when a student can’t understand something, puts it down to the student’s stupidity, rather than poor teaching. Perhaps we vegans don’t give others a chance or a challenge. We know we have ‘a better way of living’ but it’s likely others don’t know that. How could they? Perhaps we should only be telling people what they might need to know, rather than telling them what to do. And if someone wants to change they want to know how to make a safe transition. That’s where advice comes in. But at any early-stage interest, practical advice, nothing more. Importantly, people need time to weigh things up for themselves. To try new things out in the kitchen. To test the waters. What they don’t need are slogans, especially stale ones. Nor do they need pushing or shoving or being ordered around. Hurry slows things down, whereas self-hurry does the opposite. No one should hurry anyone over this very personal and private decision, to not use.

            Specifically, communicating Animal Rights, we haven’t yet worked out how to get people interested, let alone impassioned, let alone to actually to like us enough to want to … be like us!

This is where the blog ends, until after Christmas.