The failure of ‘the push’

644:

If our own self-development is directly connected with our work for Animal Rights, we’ll want to see some evidence we haven’t been wasting our time. I’ve always found that progress is slow.

            Nobody yet knows the clue to communicating this subject successfully. We are, all of us, struggling to find a way of saying what we want to say, to people who aren’t initially interested. So, how can we shake the sleepy omnivores out of their complacency? It sounds like we have to be a bit pushy.

            But the question arises: can we achieve by way of satyagraha (Ghandi’s idea of truth-force), where we only need truth to be on our side? Maybe it boils down to having complete faith in that truth-force, and that means we recognise and promise ‘no-quarrel’ in exchange for a fair hearing. 

            This is something many of us are unwilling to take on. We think it’s okay to use a little bit of force, to show our adversaries that we’re serious.

From a vegan’s point of view we think a little opposition, in the form of a fight, is justified. And the daring-ness here always makes us feel stronger. We devise our tactics; maybe we go out and superglue the butcher’s locks or graffiti the vivisector’s house.

There’s a fine line between violence and non-violent resistance. It’s thought that if we seem too passive, people will find us too easy to ignore. Then nothing changes. Whereas, if we decide to look tough or brave, we’ll be noticed. Being part of a direct action group is brave. Destroying property gives the wrong message. But breaking into a factory farm with a video camera and then getting the footage out to schools or onto the TV news, that’s quite different. We give people, kids especially, a chance to see what’s really going on. It’s essential that amongst activists we have those who are brave enough to collect the evidence. But there’s a down side, since the brave begin to think like fundamentalists, with everything being either black or white, and that people will simply be forced to agree with us, since they can’t possibly ignore what we’ve shown them. But how long will they remember when their favourite food is at stake.

In theory the ‘pushy’ approach is effective. The activists are shown on the news. People are shaken up. It looks like progress is being made, but in practice, even if people see the most convincing footage and hear the most convincing arguments, they forget quickly. Whatever a vegan says, whatever the omnivore learns from us at the time, it usually goes in one ear and out the other. I think the mistake we make, as animal activists, is to believe that once cruelty has been exposed it will be stopped, and from there we make steady progress towards animal liberation. We refuse to believe that other people may be fundamentally different to ourselves. It’s likely that with such strong traditions and with so many people with the same eating habits, that they will be able to ignore it all, in order to continue eating the sorts of foods they want to eat.

We do have truth on our side but it’s probably best to hold back on the aggression when we start to feel brave.