Sunday, July 21, 2013

Bullying persuasions

783: 

For all the time I’ve been vegan I’ve been fighting demons. The demons are in the lifestyle (and therefore the attitude) of my fellow humans. The demons inhabit the mind of the omnivore, who might sense them but can’t quite believe they exist, and so aren’t afraid of them. Vegans are free of these ridiculous attitudinal lodgers but nevertheless have to live in what seems to be an alien world, made up of people who observe the very opposite of vegan principle. The strength I need for ‘the fight’ definitely comes from the clarity of this central vegan principle (harmlessness), but to become vegan one must be a bit of an outsider. We have to learn to accept some level of alienation because of our marginalised lifestyle.
On the one hand I’ve found that being vegan gave me a lot of leverage in the form of justification. Being vegan allows me, even tempts me, to flex my muscles, show my passion, and sometimes even to steal the show. It’s fun to do that and, best of all, it shocks people. It surprises them. I must admit I like to ‘get passionate’ about animal liberation, but there’s a fine line between my being passionate and my being offensive.
            In order to get people to trust me (enough to listen to what I have to say), I need to show that I’m fundamentally a kind person. I might do a lot of talking about feeling compassion for farmed animals, and of course I’d like to see that same compassion amongst others. But I don’t have to be pushy about it. In general, I like to think that people are kind and have plenty of compassion to go round; there’d be many who would come to the rescue (of farmed animals) right now if they knew how to. Something is missing though; it’s sad that they can’t make the connection between the need for rescue and stopping their support of the Animal Industries.
            Because there are so many animals ‘in trouble’, that’s why my own sense of compassion is so strongly directed towards them. In wanting to demonstrate my feelings for them, I like to think it makes me a nicer person (but I might be wrong about that).
            The reason I put it that way is to suggest that ‘a nicer person’ doesn’t try to make other people feel uncomfortable or guilty’; they, instead, try to explain what’s involved in leaving the omnivore world and becoming a herbivore, and that’s all. Obviously food is on the mind of most people, concerning taste, cravings, restrictions, health, safety, economics, etc., so food throws up several difficult things-to-be-dealt-with. What we eat and don’t eat is central to daily habits, and it follows that many  people think that a vegan diet would be too restrictive. Such a diet shouts ‘discipline’, and that’s a big downer. And yet, once it’s experienced and practised for a while, it’s the up-side that shows – the benefits become obvious and the difficulties diminish. In fact it becomes so attractive that almost anything could be given up for it.
            Vegans are in a unique position. Just by being vegan, it allows us to argue a watertight case. Right now, it may not be the optimum time for collective consciousness to be changing, not in this way anyway, but when the time comes ...
            When the time comes, the vegan argument rings far too true for it to be ignored, despite the kicking and screaming of the vested animal interests.
            In the meantime, for us, we must all go looking for a few graciously-given seconds to speak, to be heard. If I had 30 seconds to present a case for being vegan, I think it would go something like this: (1,2,3 ...) Life is safe solely eating vegan food. Animal cruelty is wrong. Farming animals is cruel. (15,16,17 ...) Humans are natural herbivores. Plant-based food are delicious, healthy and energy producing. (23, 24, 25 ...) They are planet-saving, greenhouse-friendly, and it’s good to feel that much empathy (... 30).


No comments: