Saturday, January 5, 2013

What is the Biggest Issue?


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Whether vegan or omnivore, most of us have a stock of well-rehearsed responses to the big issues of the day. Up our sleeves we have our shock-sentences plus our best lines of persuasion. But essentially, advocating for animals is about being confident and not saying more than is necessary. This is dense information we’re capable of passing across. We might choose to say little but we should be sure of what we do say, our facts and figures, quoting them without resorting to bluff. Background knowledge is essential. It’s the basis of our arguments. We can show empathy, commitment and positive attitude all we like, but it’s our hard background evidence that is most convincing.
But coming back to the omnivore who might be having to listen uncomfortably to what we’re saying, they’re probably having terrible time, visualising how it would be, to go vegan, and have to deal with so many personal challenges. Would vegan-living be a great opportunity or a big headache? Is going vegan too much to take on?
Crowding in on all these considerations is another question. Is Animal Rights the biggest, most important challenge or should other Big Issues be dealt with first? (The omnivore is slippery here. Sooner be an environmentalist than to give up food. Anything but that!!)
Well, here you might fundamentally disagree with me. But for me it’s the need to re-humanise humans that is most urgent, and all else will follow naturally after that. It’s not as if change has to be a long slow process, it can be quick, and once made we can move on to other Big Issues, all of which need attention. Nothing, however, can substantially change if we’re attempting to reform one thing but refusing to act humanely over our food choices; for every improvement we make to our lives we negate it all by eating, three times a day, the corpses of murdered animals.

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