I hate to sound overwhelming

593:

Yes, as vegans we know people should see what happens for themselves, even by watching video, even by seeing still-pictorial evidence. They should see the ‘horrors’ to know them. But deaf ears and blind eyes put us a million miles from wanting to see this.

If we don’t want to see it we won’t give our permission to have it shown. So, when someone like a vegan fronts up with facts and pictures it’s as if we are trying to damage their sensibilities. Even damage our friendship with them.

You can imagine the reaction. A fortress mentality develops to protect ones right to choose what food one eats.

As a vegan I might not realise the damage I can do whenever I heavy people over their food. The omnivore is doing their best on many fronts, keeping pace with various sensitivities. There are a thousand good causes to support.

But to me doing their ‘best’ is not convincing, if they’re still supporting the abuse of animals, condoning cruelty, etc. I’ve often thought that by imposing shame on people over this matter will eventually turn them to reform, whereas in reality most people have been lulled into a false sense of security about the food they eat and the acceptability of farming animals since that whole way of life is accepted by almost every other person around the world. If this is so, then why should anyone listen to what vegans are saying?

The odds against our view are overwhelming. And it seems the only way to get our point across is to shout louder than the din of popular acceptance – so we get pushy over this. And for that we are disliked.

Vegans are, however, just a minor irritation to be brushed away like a fly on the shoulder. And that means we may not be able to reach people directly, head on. Apart from being regarded by most people as weird, even if we could get people to take us seriously it wouldn’t get us very far, since we’ve been effectively silenced by the media. And these days if you don’t frequently read about an issue or hear about it, it fades in importance.

Vegans have never had the freedom to disseminate ideas. Since we’ve never had a stage to speak from it’s all the more galling to see how the Animal Industries have monopolised the media. They are the friend and the client of the Animal Industry who in turn use the media to continually pound home their point, that their products are satisfying and acceptable. We, as potential customers, are daily reminded in books, papers, TV and radio, that their products are both very available and nutritious. They don’t go into too much detail because their message is what people want to hear anyway. People become convinced they can’t do without it … and so business continues uninterrupted.

You’d think that the level of lies and nonsense couldn’t possibly last for much longer, but for the present, things don’t look too good for either the human or the animal. The Animal Industry’s message is constantly being freshened up with expensive promotions. Our message, on the other hand, gets no coverage and is therefore easily forgotten. They have all the advantages, we have almost none. To help them secure their advantage, they pay actors big money to promote their products (often glamorous and articulate celebrities). And this is successful, up to a point, since they are selling to people who want to believe in what they’re being sold. It’s comforting!

Do I find that depressing or what?, especially since I know that most of my friends have been so easily manipulated.