Smile Easy

1575: 

Edited by CJ Tointon

Vegans are accustomed to people having a go at them. Usually it's a half-hearted attempt to make our oversensitivity (in their view) towards animals look foolish. When in company, an insulting comment is often enjoyed by everyone. All the more reason why we shouldn't let ourselves be provoked. We don't need to show outrage; but we must be sure our arguments can ride out these minor annoyances. At the very least, we should be able to say something which makes us appear competent.

Meat eaters, from their safe, majority position, always like to put-down the righteousness of non-meat eaters. They often attempt to show how easy it is to make us angry. My response? I bring on the 'smile-easy' look - just to confound them! What's really happening, however, is meat eaters winding up non-meat eaters as an excuse for NOT having to listen to what they don't want to hear.

If we start to show anger at them, it gives them the green light to shut the door in our faces. When we do get some sort of a hearing, we’d better be prepared to be regarded as fair game for attack.  They reckon they have the right to attack us, because we’ve dared to question their most private lifestyle habits. Most carnivores don’t care about animal suffering and don’t want to talk about it - but not all. Some want to take us on. So, as vegans, we need to be ready for a dose of 'dinner table attack'.

When I find myself the butt of a carnivore’s joke, I know I can put up a good fight; but I don’t achieve much if it simply makes them more keyed up than they already are. Their initial aim, with their sharp-edged 'joke', is to attract attention and gather support, in order to overwhelm me. If I take umbrage or withdraw into silence, then it seems that I can’t come up with a sharp enough retort. Then they smell blood and go in for the kill!

These are still early days for Animal Rights. We’re building foundations and encouraging new attitudes towards animals. We’re outlining law reform that will illegalise abattoirs and animal farming. This includes the keeping of birds in cages (whether they’re budgerigars or hens) and fish in bowls (or fish-farming tanks). What we are proposing annoys most people hugely. And we’ll be either ignored, joked-about, or remonstrated with. My point here is that it’s futile to spend too much time fighting with everyone who disagrees with us.

For my part, I don’t want to waste my life fighting every local skirmish. Maybe those who laugh at us do need to be ignored, if only because jokers and 'people with vested interests' are still in the ascendant. Many of them are just busting to put us down if they get the chance. Discretion might be the better part of going in 'boots and all'.

Our compassion for animals is right - of course it is! It’s the logical outcome of anti-slavery. Obviously it feels right to us. It’s a waste of time getting upset that so many don’t agree with us. It’s a waste of our emotional energy. Having a sense of humour about it all is the healthiest and most logical response, even if we have to handle a heckle or two. It’s ridiculous for us to wage war on every puff of smoke. We don’t need to take on every redneck we meet, or parry every joke. We don’t even have to be intimidated by the smooth operators representing animal farming corporations. In fact, we don’t have to be afraid of any of them! We know all too well that none of them have the mettle to take us on in serious debate. 

The world is in a transitional stage at present. There’s so much openness to so many issues and yet, on some matters, there are still too many questions remaining unasked. For instance: how is it that some of us are passionate advocates for animals and others are indifferent or hostile? I’m always asking myself how come vegans are so relatively enlightened and omnivores so backward?


The fact is, our differences are specific and not general. Vegans have more self-discipline and we are, in some ways, much more fearless by way of applying such a comprehensive boycott. We’re constantly investigating and thinking about ethical issues and we’re more used to questioning and arguing our case. This probably makes us somewhat frightening to our opponents and if I’m right about that, then it follows that our adversaries might feel nervous whenever we’re around. So, we don’t need to wind them up. We don't need to engage them in a fight. We just need to try to allay their fears - that's all. And remember to smile easy!