Props

927: 

Animal Right activists are concerned about other people’s callous attitudes. But we also have an attitudinal problem. We might have walked away from using animals, and that’s something we can be proud of, but pride of accomplishment is close to arrogance. The self disciplined, vegan, animal activist needs to downplay their achievements, never be arrogant and never boast, if they want to be listened to.

It has to be said that if a person is still a user of animals they can hardly expect others to abstain. It seems obvious to say this but there are still so many well-meaning activists who are unwilling to

reduce their dependency on certain material items which they think they need.

Simply put, and without pontificating about it, vegans are all about consistency. We can only set an example if we are practising what we ‘preach’ (that is without boasting and  by NOT preaching, of course). Our consistency is based on the logic of reducing demand for products connected with animals, boycotting in fact. We don’t need to convert people to veganism, all we need to do is persuade people to reduce their demand, and when enough people do, so they effectively reduce the market for unethical commodities. It automatically raises awareness at the same time.

The more people who do that, the faster we will create a new market for ‘cruelty-free’ products, and the faster the prices for these products will drop. It might be slow at first, but it is the start of a major shift in attitude towards animals leading to a major shift in our planet’s destiny and ultimately to the transformation of our own species.

On an individual level, at first, it requires a few sacrifices of some foods and a willingness to do without the acceptance of others who don’t yet share this understanding. As individuals, we have to be pioneers, putting up with some loneliness, and doing without a few home comforts to which we’ve grown accustomed.

Humans, especially those of us living in the so called ‘developed world’, are the spoilt brats of our world. To a large extent, our lives have been spoiled, since we can no longer enjoy living in a state of unselfconsciousness. We are constantly reminded that the material world is available and we’d be fools not to get the best out of it.

For many in the underdeveloped world, life is possible with just a little food and shelter, and not very much more. When one weighs the true advantages of both types of life, one realises that even bare survival would surely be better than all the luxuries we have become addicted to today, because the luxuries are stolen. As we gradually become aware of the dangers of rich living, as our lives become progressively sadder and unhealthier, so we might wish that we could rid ourselves of the shame we feel and our lost innocence. We might long for the unselfconsciousness we have so sadly lost. But beyond what we might want for ourselves there’s one other aspect of modern life we need to throw-over, because we so badly need to atone for what we have done – done to so many life forms but particularly to the animals. 

Most of the items we’re attached to are merely material props. They’ve been our comforts during our spiritual ‘growing up’. Now that we are beginning to realise what we’ve let our self be drawn into, we have a chance to shake off our need for all those little luxuries, particularly the fancy foods and clothes we spend most of our money on. They are props we just don’t need. We are capable of doing without them, and as soon as we know this to be true we are on our way to true progress and transformation.