Exploding some more Myths

1249: 

The myth that it is safe to eat meat is attractive.  In contrast, the vegan message isn’t so attractive.  But the capacity of younger people to make casual segues into what, to my generation, might be radical changes to  lifestyle, is remarkable.  But if the young are more able to swing into such changes, it doesn't always follow that they'll maintain that change.  They may not realise at the time just how much changing they might have to do.  Certainly, they need to know what vegan principle is all about, and find out what is true and what is myth.

Some favourite myths must be exploded. The first would be that meat, and therefore animal farming, is essential for human survival.  That statement is certainly worth talking about, and I'd cite nutritional studies which show that not to be the case.   

Another myth might concern the efficacy of prescription drugs and supplements, and their popularity as shown by the number of chemist shops on Main Street. This myth is fuelled by the number of people after a chemical cure-all, or their need for alleviation of chronic health conditions. Their focus on self-cure leads people to believe that it’s okay to test drugs on animals, because it’s the only way to have safe pharmaceuticals and therefore a safe life.  

Another myth might be that unless we have animals living as our dependents, that we’ll be lonely. Stemming from that myth, we find that we sentence dogs and cats to a life of social isolation and loneliness.  Dogs especially suffer, and I hear them yowling in houses in the city, imprisoned and lonely and often confined to the indoors, while their humans are away for many long hours. And this is all about human comfort - humans ‘lighting up’ when they feel simpatico with their dog or cat. (Does the animal have that same ‘light up’?  We’ll never know.  But the thrills of animal-human relationship are certainly experienced by humans).  ‘Pets’ are a great source of comfort to us.  But what is this?  Isn’t it really all about how we humans put our own welfare above the comfort of the animal?  We can't on any account allow ourselves to be lonely!

People are so locked into these sorts of beliefs, but they are based on myth.  Vegans show a different view of human safety and survival.  Do we need meat, do we need drugs, do we need pets?  If we say ‎’yes’ to any of these we may win public support, but each ‎‘yes’ means animals will suffer because of that ‘exception’, that “yes”, that myth.