Vegan

1091:

‘Vegan’ sounds difficult. Not hard to understand but hard to carry out. It’s based on principles a small child could understand but it comes down to giving-up favourite foods, and neither small children nor big adults want that. And what about clothing items, woollens, shoes, silk, and animal circuses and rodeos and cosmetics and rabbit-eye-tested shampoos?

Vegans are suggesting that ALL of this should be boycotted, because cruelty is present in the life of every animal that’s used.

Millions, billions of people, tacitly disagree with what vegans stand for. So, this is one mighty principle that vegans are trying to defend. Part of that is ignorance, and this is what we have to get used to, the pain of being misunderstood. Our own life and integrity is on the line here. We are combining many issues with Animal Rights. Not only are we campaigning on behalf of animals but for a better carbon footprint and a fairer food distribution system. Without animal farming we hugely benefit the environment and solve the problem of food shortage in ‘hungry’ countries. (It seems that in the ‘less-developed’ world, enough food is grown but most of it is sold on to richer countries where it is fed to animals which in turn feed those same humans).

Being a vegan may be difficult, but we have the advantage of  completely disassociating with animal cruelty. Whatever hardships we have to put up with as vegans, and it is more than tedious living in a non-vegan society, nothing’s really that hard for us, compared to what animals have to put up with. The thought of the suffering they go through makes boycotting their ‘products’ a small price to pay.

           

Going vegan isn’t a breeze. On a personal level we have to deal with our addiction to certain favourite foods. And we’re up against the popular belief that a plant-based diet is inadequate. But once we feel nutritionally safe and have successfully given up animal products, something else happens. We’re released from self-censorship, we’re suddenly free to talk out this subject, first in our own heads, and then to take it to the outside world.

But then we encounter a new frustration. We begin to realise the scale of ignorance amongst even the most well educated, kindest and well-intentioned people. It seems almost everyone is unwilling to sacrifice their steaks and yoghurts, their woollen jumpers or leather shoes for the sake of helping to end animal slavery. The resistance to boycotting is far greater than one realises. Reluctantly, we must admit that most people are obstinate to change. Most don’t want to know. Most don’t care. Most refuse to listen.

These are some of the hurdles we face when becoming vegan. Once one of them is overcome, it makes way for a fresh obstacle. Put another way, once one stage is reached we feel the urge to move to the next stage. And that’s when vegans want to talk ‘Animal Rights’. We would like to discuss ideas. But then we meet a brick wall, and maybe feel frustrated by people’s indifference. That’s when we might think there’s nothing to lose by stirring people up - the only way to ‘get people to listen’ is to shock them. We shout “Meat is Murder”(knowing it really means “You are a murderer”). This will make them come to their senses, and want to change, we think. But of course nothing could be further from the truth, nothing more insulting than to be called a murderer. Battle lines are drawn. It all becomes catastrophic for communication!