An escape tool

1609: 

Communicating our message is made doubly difficult because we know that any sort of pushy approach will inevitably fail. As vegans we have to act in such a way as to not put people off. We have to let them tell us when they’re ready to listen. And when they are, we need to start from scratch.

There’s no better place to start than by identifying what familiar food products use ‘caged-eggs’ in their ingredients, and then to point out what happens to hens living their whole foreshortened lives in cages. Part of this is to untangle the misinformation the Industry puts out. But to our rescue comes on-line education, which makes face-to-face instruction unnecessary. When any of us need information, we can look for it ourselves. The Internet opens a DIY door, directing us to web sites, blogs and books. The sort of information we need, to make an ethical assessment of the situation, is now readily accessible. From there, we can make all the decisions about what to do, for ourselves.

Consistency

1608: 

I’m aware, and maybe you are too, of the scale of animal exploitation in our society. Commercial interests normalise animal abuse by concealing the truth of it. Apart from vegans, no one suggests that keeping animals captive and killing them for food is wrong. One of the greatest faults in our society is that there is never a strong enough base of compassion from which any of that sort of questioning could arise. And today, there’s still not a sufficiently strong enough ethical basis to stir people. Almost nobody questions ‘the use of animals for human consumption’, so nothing changes, and will never change unless some of us can enlighten others to the truth. That can only come about if we can show others that life is possible without resorting to using animals. 

If we can ever escape a lifetime of normalising animal-eating, then it can only start by re-examining our habits, attitudes and addictions, especially in regard to the food we eat. To re-examine all of this, we need a little altruism, and that means we need to show a level of empathy that's been numbed in us, with which we’ve complied for the sake of accepting meat and dairy and eggs into our diets.

We live in a carnivorous, violent society. The thought of leaving that behind is an attractive idea but there’s a price to pay. If Society remains as it is for any length of time, it means that we, as vegans, will be on the outer for a long time to come, and that’s an uncomfortable thought. If we can face that, it will be because our sense of empathy is strong enough to hold us together for ‘that long time’. If it is difficult for us to live in a society that shows minimal empathy, it will only make us vegans more determined to stand between our fellow humans and the animals they abuse. By considering the true victims of the System, the billions of animals for whom it’s so much worse than anything we can possibly imagine, who are living on death row, in prisons all around the world - for them there is no reason to hope.

However hard life is for any of us, rich or poor, we can be grateful that we don’t have to suffer as much as the poor creatures. We may have been born into a violent and animal-abusing world but we do have some chance, however slender, of escaping it. The animals were born with no chance of escape whatsoever. If we can hold that thought, it may help us withstand being ignored or ridiculed, and lighten the degradation we might feel at being part of this unholy human species.

What better thing can we do than set a new fashion in compassion? It is never about being ‘cool’ or even solely about being ‘vegan’, but about being consistent in our conduct, in all our daily activities. And if we aspire to consistency, we do it to set an example, which others may or may not choose to follow. We aren’t here simply to enjoy the experience of living as free human beings enjoying the advantages of a human-dominated world. We have obligations, chief of which is to show reasons for making radical attitude changes. And these, down the track, will lift humans out of their subservient, violent and weakened state to become the angels of mercy we were meant to be.

Taking the easy approach

1607: 

There’s no time for contemplating ideals and as for listening to vegans … get real!!

         

As animal advocates, vegans are supremely ignorable. What we say doesn’t cut it. Conventional attitudes sit more comfortably with people. The world of plenty, promoted by the Animal Industry, is most attractive. It’s therefore not surprising that veganism is dismissible. Vegans are disliked for our high moral tone. It seems that in people’s list of values, it’s always other issues that are more urgent. Human issues always trump animal concerns. Omnivores like to put it this way: “We are happy to use a few ‘naughty products’. We don’t need to feel too guilty. There are more important things to worry about” .

However, for the thinking person, this sort of acceptance of how things are doesn’t wash, because of the secrecy, because the whole mess of animal abuse is kept behind closed doors. That should make us very suspicious.

We are hoodwinked into believing that the conditions under which animals are kept are acceptable and that animal foods are healthy.  I’m constantly amazed that otherwise intelligent people fall for it and don’t feel the need to look more closely.        

Comfort

1606: 

In the West we live comfortably enough but many of us are confined in an attitude prison where human-centred consideration outweighs the consideration of anything else. We trash the planet and we dominate animals, and all for our own benefit. We like what civilisation has given us, but we’re compromised by our addiction to comfort. So, whatever the price in terms of damage-caused, we know now that we are too soft to make any principled decisions that would interfere with our comforts. So, we don’t live in harmony with things especially outside the human realm.

         

Being trapped by comfort is rather like being born into the bottom of a pit with steep, slippery sides. There’s no chance we can climb out since we’re weighed down by our addiction to pleasure and the happiness it brings us. If we’re happy to stay where we are or we’ve given up trying to escape this 'pit', we know we can still survive in a human-biased bubble in which we don’t have to think too deeply about where we are or what we’re doing, as long as it’s comfortable.

         

The worst aspect of this 'pit' exists in our use of violence-based Animal Industry products, mainly in the form of food. Most people would, in theory, like to be free of this 'pit', but they don’t realise how trapped they are, especially by their need for comfort food. They choose to stay with what they know, and don’t want to be told anything which is discomforting. So therefore, talking about abused animals being used for food evokes uncomfortable feelings of guilt and squeamishness. But there’s another factor involved, where, even though some are willing to forgo a little comfort for the sake of self improvement, people don’t want to feel as though they’ve been pushed into change. If they’re going to change they want to do it at their own pace.

         

Your regular vegan response might be, “What? Leave it to them to decide if and when? Too slow, too slow”. But we know that if any sort of psychological pressure is applied to the reluctant-changer, they’ll dig their heels in and tell us, “There’s nothing worse than being morally blackmailed into 'self-improvement'”.

         

So, do people really want to change as much as vegans would want them to? It’s doubtful. If we ever start to speak to anyone about intensive farming or abattoirs we will see their eyes glaze over. At first they might seem interested but they probably only want to improve their life in the pit, not actually escape from it. They fear ending up in the fringes (like vegans appear to have done). They don’t want to learn uncomfortable facts or make too many radical changes, especially concerning their comfort foods. They want the best of both worlds, but they are torn between holding back and moving forward.

         

Some, however, are ready to move on. They want to find out what's really being done to animals, what's going on behind those 'closed doors'. But, eventually, they’ll see that it’s not as quick a fix as they first thought. There's a dilemma. On the one hand, they’re attracted to the idea of self improvement, even outraged by what they find out about animals and animal foods, but they may not like the idea of having fewer food and clothing choices. They mightn’t like the idea of so much hard work involved in changing the entrenched habit of a lifetime. And then the idea of moving on may not look quite so attractive. Would-be vegans look about them - their health is okay, their life is okay, they don’t have to confront face-to-face animal torture and no one is pressuring them to change. The idea of no-change doesn’t seem so bad after all, especially since it guarantees all the comforts, plus social acceptability and normality. The decision to change is deferred or thrown into the too-hard basket.

         

When the vegan 'missionary' has left and the horror stories have faded, the omnivore will sink back into their old familiar, cushioned pit, and be grateful that they didn't try to escape.

Escaping the ‘pit’

1605: 

Our world is full of murdered animals. And so it seems obvious, from the ease with which we kill them and eat them, why there's so much violence and selfishness associated with our species. It’s rather like a ‘pit’ we’re kept in, where escape means leaving behind the very people and lifestyle that makes our life liveable. But as conscientious consumers, we must leave the animal-killers behind. If we must get out of the pit, we have to convince others to do the same. It's not quite like oppressed people fighting for their own freedom by undermining the oppressor. In this case, we are not fighting for ourselves or only for the welfare of our fellow humans but for the liberation of those who can't free themselves - the 'voiceless'.

Animals can do nothing for themselves to counter human behaviour. They are helpless against  the domination of humans who enslave them. So, some of us must act on their behalf, to defend them from attack, even when attacking them is legal and usual and accepted by nearly all people. The defencelessness of innocents is a classic cause. Even though it means that all 'freedom fighters' must be at least vegan, we know there are many who are outraged by the violence and self-serving nature of animal-abuse and animal-killing. Which is why, against all odds, vegans are keen to encourage others to join the cause.

         

Today, this is beginning to happen as more and more of us are calling on others to join us in boycotting every branch of the Animal Industry. If consumers act together we can dismantle animal imprisonment and the whole industry reliant on it. We presently have in custody billions of animals, locked in concrete and steel tombs, awaiting execution. For them and for all of us, that’s a pit worth escaping from.

Lamb Shanks on the Australia Day BBQ?

1604: 

Edited by CJ Tointon

"Australia Day" seems to be an excuse to bring out the worst kitsch and violence amongst the carnivorous population of the country. Meat and Livestock Australia's latest ad suggests blowtorching a vegan's food! It encourages us to barbeque animals; more specifically, the babies of animals, since the younger they are the tenderer they are to eat (apparently). Doesn't that make you ashamed of being Australian? But what's it all about?

Well, just watch a few seconds of Vegan Australia's "Hilarious Behind the Scenes" clip. They've used the word "hilarious" to get the inquisitive amongst us to see that there's nothing 'hilarious' at all about lamb-slaughter. And once you've opened the clip; you just have to watch it until, like me, you sicken at the sight of it all. Then you realise that if you eat lamb on Australia Day (or any other day) you are eating a frightened, terrified, panicked animal that has been brutally executed. By eating your Australia Day barbequed lamb, you are literally eating terror! Imagine how that affects your finely tuned body and your sensitivity in general? Is it any wonder there's so much cancer and other deadly health conditions killing off the carnivores.

If you see footage of lambs living in safe conditions (say at a sanctuary) you'd see something you've perhaps forgotten - lambs have tails! 'Down on the farm' their tails are routinely cut off. When a lamb is happy, it wags its tail. It likes to wag its tail - just like the family dog does! Presumably, the 'Meat' people, knowing their lambs will never be happy, regard a wagging tail as superfluous, although they'll give us some other reason for it being amputated.


The following statistic may not affect you if you are a 'lamb-flesh-lover'; BUT, well over one thousand of these babies are executed every day in Australia - that's forty thousand a month! This sort of massacre almost makes it a moral imperative to become vegan! But the suggestion in these ads is that to be a true-blue, ridgy-didge Aussie you must eat lamb on the 26th January. For any intelligent, free-thinking person, however, no clever or 'hilarious' TV ad can convince us that it's UN-Australian to avoid eating lamb on Australia Day - or any other day!

Animals vs Humans

1603: 

Edited by CJ Tointon

Fifteen billion (edible??) animals live amongst seven billion humans on Earth today. How must we seem to the animals themselves? Perhaps as the makers of a great deception? We humans act like Grand Lords of the Harem, assuming that the animals should feel privileged to be bred, used, tortured or killed. The hen is pleased to provide a daily food parcel. The ape is proud to step forward for scientific research duties. The sow is delighted to offer up her babies for their tender flesh. The cow ever-ready to deny her calf milk in order that the Grand Lords may enjoy it. And the Grand Lords do accept these bounties. But in order to ensure supply, the Grand Lords must betray each and every creature. The hen ends up amongst ten thousand others in cages. The ape ends up insane. The sow is encased in an 'iron maiden' and her babies taken away and eaten. The cow is harnessed to a suction machine and her babies are also taken away.

We know things these days about animal cruelty that weren't widely known forty years ago. And most people are distressed when they hear about it. But how strange that it doesn't seem to change their eating habits? Perhaps this shows just how strong the impulse is to protect one's own food supply and one's own vital energy source. People refuse to alter their familiar food regimes if they consider there is no advantage in it for them. Nor will they choose a lifestyle that separates them from others. But guilt can have a sharp cutting edge. If we just cannot dismiss what we know is happening to farm animals; we won't feel too comfortable about our food choices if they're animal based! The ideas that vegans are putting forward only highlight this dilemma. Unfortunately, pointing it out is usually not welcomed. To the omnivore, we inflict discomfort just by bringing up 'animal' issues! For this reason, most people avoid talking to us - especially about food!

Vegans might be lonely because they deliberately disassociate from the lifestyle shared by almost everyone else. They not only boycott many products sold in shops, they also boycott events like barbecues, dinner parties and restaurants. Because vegans withdraw from social events, they're likely to be made into social 'misfits'. They need to find a way of dealing with this loneliness and vilification.

We all suffer of course; the omnivore from guilt and chronic stomach complaints - the vegan from social alienation. But vegans know they're standing up to a great hypocrisy in Society and they have a mountain of work to do to turn it around. We must strike a delicate balance. How do we advocate strenuously whilst not necessarily going on the attack? How do we remain friendly with those we judge? How do we stay emotionally detached and not let things get to us when we're cold-shouldered? There's a lot to handle here; especially when we're openly avoided for simply wanting to talk about these things closest to our hearts.  Yet, for the sake of the animals and their eventual liberation, we must find ways to handle it

Boycotting Wins No Friends?

1602: 

Edited by CJ Tointon

'Animal Rights' is about introducing values that were unheard of before. Most omnivores don’t know themselves to be 'omnivores'. They think they're just ordinary people, eating and wearing ordinary things that they buy at ordinary shops. They haven’t given much thought to the connection between living animals and the shoes on their feet (for instance). And if they have, they probably just think animals are there to be used by humans. They wouldn't consider them deserving of 'Rights'.

Perhaps the best consequence of human entitlement concerning animals is that the grossness of it has given rise to outrage (in some quarters) and thence to abolitionism. Over time, the vegan's avoidance of animal products becomes second nature. Vegans are at the extreme opposite position to enthusiastic carnivores. We know there's a huge gulf between 'them' and 'us' and we openly criticise the vast majority for being insensitive to the fate of captive animals. The ordinary non-vegan thinks vegans are too whacky to listen to and the ordinary vegan thinks the enthusiastic carnivore will come around soon enough.

But what happens when our animal-eating friends show no signs of 'coming around'? Do we give up on them and leave them behind; or try to convert them? If we go for conversion, we might be forgetting the confidence they feel at being part of the large majority who hold the same views about using animals. We may forget how daunting it is to attempt to change public opinion when we are just 1% of the population. But we don't know just how close they might be to agreeing with us and from our own point of view, there should be no need to lose our friends over a difference of opinion - even on such an important matter as this. However, with too many disagreements and harsh words exchanged, vegans can easily find themselves in social isolation because of their ethical viewpoints.

One of the main reasons omnivores eat what they eat, is that everybody else eats it! They reckon it can't be wrong if everyone does it! If that's the case, it's a very long way from thinking for oneself and questioning something so widely accepted. Perhaps we can say that omnivores simply don't have a vegan's scruples. Maybe they don't want to suffer from the vegan's feelings of alienation? If they need to feel part of the crowd, it isn't very likely they'll be interested in new values like species equality.


But things are changing. Today there is widespread information about cruelty to farm animals. We know that most animals are confined to cages (or their equivalents). We know they're kept in slum conditions, regularly mutilated and medicated and we know that at the end, every animal suffers the terror of a brutal execution at the abattoir. Omnivores can't pretend they don't know! And they can't get away with a blanket statement that 'vegans talk rubbish'.

The slow process of building Animal Rights Consciousness

1601: 

Edited by CJ Tointon

If vegans enjoy being vegan, then we're hardly likely to be disturbed if you don't agree with us. Vegans don't usually feel unsure of their decision to become vegan and therefore they don't mind (in fact they even encourage) disagreement. We know our arguments are watertight. Who would gainsay our right to stand advocate for the countless animal victims of human cruelty or question the wisdom of representing the voiceless billions of animals presently in human jails?

The main problem vegans have is with image. We feel urgent, we feel compassion, we feel frustrated that things aren't moving on more quickly. But omnivorousness has been around for a very long time, perhaps millions of years. And we are trying to alter that as quickly as we can. But it may take far, far longer to end a habit like using animals. That's what present-day vegans are having trouble getting their heads around. We live in a perpetual stew about the 'slowness' of people to take us seriously and take up a vegan diet for ethical reasons. What we see is the juggernaut of animal foods increasing and becoming ever more affordable to more and more people throughout the world. How does that make us feel? Perhaps that our work for Animal Rights is just so much pissing into the wind. And then the mind makes a jump. It tells us that we can still work hard for the animals, but not get side-tracked by useless judging of omnivores. We can just be happy in the slow-but-steady progress of Animal Rights Consciousness.

 But if we can't manage that, if we are hardened disapprovers of our fellows, if we are grim and strict and serious and judging; all that will certainly come across. And we vegans will look worn out and unattractive. In fact, we already have that image; of being like evangelical pastors who preach the unvarnished truth. No one can be bothered arguing with them because they always kill the enjoyment of argument. Pleasure is sinful (so they say). But discussing difficult issues should be a pleasure. Discussing values should be a pleasurable necessity.

Morality, ethical upbringing, values - they're all guides, pointing us in more or less the right direction. But we're now heading into a very different Age. We're becoming rapidly aware of the sophistication of a vegan style of life for best growth. Vegans have a chance to grow in very constructive ways. But we always come back to the same question: "How do we present?" I would suggest that we don't improve our public image by saying: "Thou shalt not eat meat!" That doesn't sound inspiring at all! Whereas "Lighten Up - Be Vegan" seems to be worth investigating. It's more attractive and 'hip' - and just as moral. 

Style

1600: 

Edited by CJ Tointon

I like to think of my conscience as being open to advice; but I know it's still very much influenced by Mum and Dad and other early formative influences. However, I think I'm still able to self-question: I know my conscience is open for development like everything else that's part of me.

My conscience is a bit wary of 'God-botherers', 'Goodness-preachers' and 'Morality-devotees'. They have their own stories to tell. My conscience prefers the company of those who are more constructive and freewheeling. It admires those seeking to avoid 'Doing Bad', but is sceptical about 'Do-gooders' who are often motivated by the prospect of notching up brownie points. However, my conscience does retain a fondness for 'Morality'. If a person's heart is in the right place and one tries to be true to oneself, then Truth will win out. My conscience respects all the rules; but it likes to do it with panache and style. That's what I like most about 'The Vegan' lifestyle. It's a smoother operation, with an almost lifelong guarantee of having a well-functioning body free from the poisons of animal-derived 'foods'. Vegan heads are clearer. Vegan minds are faster and vegan consciences are freer from guilt. From one sophisticated idea searching for 'style', comes a healthy and much more sensible lifestyle.

Style isn't just about 'doing it right'; it's about doing it with a strong sense of self-assurance. Style colours everything; including the level of gentleness in our relationships with the environment, people and animals. A vegan lifestyle is necessarily gentler since it's devoted to minimising harm. As the sophisticated, gentler side of us develops, we go beyond the nerdy health/diet interests and lead ourselves towards more compassionate, sympathetic thinking and empathic attitudes. For animal eaters, egg eaters and milk drinkers, there can be no possibility of any real style. Their choice of animal foods causes them to harden up too much. This is the price the 'meathead' pays to keep in step with the animal death protocol.

Our poor carnivorous friends! What a sorry bunch they are! What they have to do to handle their deeply brainwashed attitudes! They believe animal killing is safe and acceptable. They don't believe what we say about addiction. The majority of humans on the planet are hooked on certain 'favourite' foods - most of which are animal-derived. There's very little panache, style or grace associated with eating dead animals or their various extracted secretions.    

Morality sets a low standard for human behaviour; if only because it's so obviously based on a double standard. It allows the very opposite of what should be condemned. It says that peace and love may be mixed with ruthless violence - as long as it doesn't harm humans. Such a partial rule doesn't inspire much confidence. I'd rather morality had a sound base of avoiding anything that is not humane. This is exactly why the vegan principle focuses on the basic ethic of 'harmlessness'. 

I am not rubbishing the usefulness of old-fashioned morality, however. It's just that conventional morality is like a steppingstone to more interesting things. Morality is a very approximate reference point. It's like the rules we have in sport. Players play by the rules. But Life is far more complex than a game of sport. For Life we need a better sort of morality; a morality that deals honestly with no double standards. A morality that declares for itself exactly and is not afraid of being questioned.

 Vegan morality is always open to questioning. Happily, so far it hasn't been successfully challenged as a principled, practical, life-confirming attitude. Vegan 'philosophy' enjoys the ultimate reputation of being the honest broker. And if no one dares to challenge it; then it automatically becomes unquestionable. The main reason no one can question it, is that it has no ragged corners, no dodgy areas we'd rather not look at. Vegan principle is impressive in that it is based on intelligence, not merely emotion. This is its main passport to being taken seriously.

Alone

1599: 

Let’s face it, vegans are a tiny minority. We are outsiders and will remain so until substantial numbers of people start to take veganism seriously. It’s debilitating to be alone, so we form groups to give us a better chance of survival. A movement builds and everyone talks about how-it-could-be. We never talk about the loneliness of individuals holding a radical viewpoint and being alienated because of it. Some individuals put aside their social isolation and get enthusiastic for gaining some status within the group. In my own experience, I’ve found that groups narrow down to committees which then lose sight of the original target, and becoming a group push (for exposing some of the most terrible animal abuses). I’ve noticed that the individual activist gets forgotten about, the emotional support-network becomes weaker. Instead all energy goes towards a frantic attempt to finance on-going projects. That would have it’s own rewards if there were any successes but often there are none. And at each failure, we feel resentful. What else can we do but continue to attack the Animal Industry. But this is so amorphous that it virtually includes everybody, producers, retailers and consumers alike. In reality, most people have ways of not responding to the horror stories and the Industry simply doesn't care. But it is the consumer we need to target, because our best hope is that we can help people make better shopping choices as part of their own consciousness raising.

         

We may feel isolated and 'out on a limb' but, as vegans, we must never lose sight of the fact that our own consciousness has been raised for the purpose of better empathising with animals. The ordinary consumer knows a little about us, that we feel strongly about animals and eating meat. They probably know the writing is on the wall, and that eventually they will have to change their attitudes to these animal slaves we keep on farms. Soon enough, most people will be clear about unethical abuses of animals. But there's still a lot of confusion about meat being unhealthy. As vegans, we probably won't be able to prove how dangerous animal-eating is, but we will have an impact if we let people know how unethical animal farming is. Most omnivores can handle doing something that’s not healthy but are less able to accept that they’re doing something morally wrong, like eating these sadly abused and often unhealthy animals. They will be ready to agree that veggies are healthier, but this only to divert attention from what they feel most guilty about - the caging and the killing.

This is where we could start to make an impact, when we emphasise empathy and sensitivity and a general softening of attitude. We may feel lonely and exiled from normal social life because of our opposition to the ways of the omnivore, but we know it's a waiting game we play. Others are still a long way from considering another’s feelings when that 'other' is not a human. As vegans, we are waiting for the penny to drop, waiting for them to see what we have seen and respond to that the way we have done.

In the end it comes down to the impossibility for almost anyone to condone cruelty, when they see pictures of a frightened young lamb being manhandled into the killing chute or a tiny new born chick being thrown away as so much rubbish - a living creature being gassed to death for being male instead of being (an egg laying) female. The wrongness of this one human behaviour is enough to make sensitive people risk social isolation, when there might be a chance to bring about change. And that change would be a significant alteration in people's attitudes, that would eventually make the whole business of animal farming illegal. 

Ah, but the loneliness!!

1598:

What’s it like being an animal activist, someone who wants animals to have a proper life but whose words fall on deaf ears? With almost everyone chomping away on their meat and various animal secretions, nobody seems to be listening to us. Omnivores aren't interested in anyone who tries to keep them away from their 'simple food pleasures'.

         

As vegans, we know how it feels to be alienated, isolated and alone but perhaps that experience is essential, because it lets us empathise more closely with farmed animals. It helps us not forget that domesticated animals are not only abandoned to their fate but continuously at the mercy of violent humans. As vegans, we are trying to expose the violence inflicted on farm animals and act as spokesperson for these animals, and gather support for their liberation-from-humans.

It’s no consolation therefore, for us personally, when we realise the apathy and silence of almost everyone around us. And what's most disturbing is that, the way in which we regard  farm-animals shows a hardness, especially noticeable amongst otherwise kind and intelligent people. They’re certainly harder than they'd like to be, but for the sake of practicality, for the sake of being able to continue eating animals, they can't afford to communicate too closely with their soft side. For fear of where it might lead to.

         

I want to be an advocate for animals but I also want to be close to my friends. However, at this point in time, it seems the one might have to be sacrificed for the other; the louder I speak up the sooner my friends seem to turn off and walk away. The softer I speak up the easier it is for my friends to tune out.  

         

I don’t underestimate a vegan's pain when we are being marginalised by others. I know, living near to few vegans is hard going.  it could be dangerous to feel so alone. It could drive a guy crazy. But I also know that there's more danger, because of a need for acceptance, that it might tempt me back to my old idiot-ways. So, I have to tell myself that I’m serious about acting for ‘the greater good’. But do I put too much strain on personal needs here? Perhaps it's important to find ways of NOT feeling alone and to find ways of not feeling that it’s all pointless. Certainly, it helps to know other vegans, and meet up with others of like mind to lick each other's wounds. But in reality, we all live apart. We’re on our own. This is one big personal challenge for most vegans - not in the changing of our diet but in our need to face up to a diminished social life and a shortage of simpatico companions.

I'm 'right'

1597:

In the best of all possible worlds we work for the greater good rather than our own good. The idea of having such ‘spiritual’ goals might seem a bit off-putting. So maybe, all we really need is a milder manner, and then we don’t have to feel so spiritual about it. It’s just a matter of putting ourselves second and addressing the greater good first, and without fear.

Whatever fears we may have, they are nothing compared to the torments of those we’re aiming to help. The problems each of us faces might be seen within that context – of others’ greater suffering. For vegans it comes down to straight-out empathy with exploited animals. The theory goes: by deflecting the focus away from ourselves, we can deal with others' problems more intelligently, because there's far less self-interest to get in the way. Self-interest can be a great motivator but it's also a dead weight, often sucking the best juices from the fruit before anyone else can make use of what’s left over. Coming back to the ideal - self-interest should be nicely balanced with others' interests. There'd be no better way of setting a good standard for the future than performing acts of altruistic kindness, which themselves might even act to make us become proud to be human.

Even when altruism is unselfconscious, and therefore at its most powerful, our main mistake is that we deal with closer-to-home problems first, to get them out of the way, so we have a clear run at the more global stuff (call it working for ‘The Greater Good’) but we might never get that far. We might never quite clean up our own act (to our own satisfaction) to be able to consider ‘the greater good’; because we might never finish cleaning up personal issues, we might never get around to focusing on the big issues, which are based on more fundamental principles.

Although it's possible that vegans might not have cleared up all of their own personal issues, they have made one big step in life, they've chosen to see animal cruelty as top priority, and with this, they've addressed a very BIG issue. But the problem is that many vegans don't know where to go from there. The only obvious thing left for us to do, it seems, is condemn. We condemn both what is wrong and those who do the wrong or those who tacitly support the wrong. And by condemning, we project such levels of disapproval that we appear to be looking down our noses at anyone who is not yet vegan [imagine how unfair that must seem to young people and children, and the genuinely ignorant adults amongst us!!] - we seem to be saying that in order for people to improve, they need to be more like us. That's the perception, especially for those who choose to denigrate vegans. So, perhaps vegans could learn something important from this common perception.

If you and I are already vegan, it means we feel as though we are indisputably right. The big danger in being 'right' is that we can't help telling people that we are. And then, it's doubtful if we're much help to non-vegans or learning much from them about ourselves. Because of this, more than anything else, people may suspect our motives. It's probably nothing other than a mistrust of something not properly understood, but we vegans do build our own trap; we're rightly proud of being vegan and we can never resist the opportunity to let it be known that we are. And, when noticed, then we can't help trying to persuade them to our way of thinking. I am guilty as charged!

But that's all okay, if it were not for that damned perception. It's the perception that wounds us more deeply than ridicule. And non-vegans' negative perceptions of vegans is common. "Vegans are what they are, in order to chalk up their own, chiefly, spiritual achievements". Now, this is an accusation worth looking at. If only to examine vegan intelligence.

It is true that sometimes we vegans are keener to show that we aren't wrong than that we are right. What I think many of us are saying is, "Someone like me is too intelligent to be wrong". It's almost as if that means, "I'm better than you, so you'd do well to listen to me". Vegans might not be natural boasters. We might be modest and quiet, but on this matter, we are torn, because we all have an inner compulsion to be doing 'our bit for the animals’. It's possibly true that some of us animal activists know we are being ineffective when weér at our most judgemental and disapproving, but nevertheless carry on doing what we do. Our perception of ourselves is that we are being as we are, and 'condemning', mainly to make ourselves feel better about ‘our commitment to the cause’. But I think part of this is wanting to confirm, within ourselves, that we are in the 'right'. Perhaps always 'right'. 

Experiments in Non-selfishness

1596: 

Owing to human-made problems, it's as if there is a cloud-bank of fear hanging over our heads, warning us that we're on the brink of having to start all over again. It's as if the things we've been used to are no longer around; the essential services and commodities we took for granted, we can no longer find - we now have to learn to see them as non-essentials. In this world of 'shortages', however much we’re going to have to suffer, we'll be better prepared if only because we are more aware of things, which before were more sub-conscious. That awareness has shown us one big thing, that human brilliance isn't all-positive. There's a balance to be struck between intellect and conscience. Across the raging river of confusion, eco-thinking and living more sustainably is one stepping stone, and being vegan is another. The more people are able to see clearly, the more they notice where there's a need, and the more they want to help. Working for the greater good certainly sits well with our conscience and eases the confusion.

One important faculty humans have is an ability to foresee possible outcomes and drive towards them. Having goals makes the work we do more purposeful and enjoyable, even if it's still hard work. Working with purpose means not feeling resentful about having to do it. Working with an altruistic purpose is its own pleasure, not for my benefit but for the benefit of future generations.

But once we aren't afraid of experimenting with altruism, then in theory all of us (children, parents, grandparents or equivalents) can find ourselves pointing in the same direction. When the experimenting starts at home, no one outside the home is going to notice what we do. If 'going vegan' is one such experiment, you can be sure no one outside will be interested in that. And yet we find ourselves 'doing' it, and hoping for some break-through. The goal is largely selfless and not at all confused - we want animals liberated, and we want to see signs that it is beginning to happen.

If there are no evident signs that things are changing, if the animal-killing industry is thriving and people seem to accept the status quo, we might feel we are failing. Which is why vegans need support and recognition, if only to confirm that we're really making headway and that the World is changing because of it.

As sad as the situation is, in regard to using animals, that the practice is firmly entrenched, and some say it's been entrenched for over two million years, we're trying to turn that around. It is almost certainly the most entrenched of all human behaviour. It's both sad and ugly, and for many of us today, we'd do anything to un-entrench conventional eating habits.

We want  a world where we humans no longer think it appropriate to use animals, for anything. This isn't a popular view, for obvious reasons. Vegans are not being applauded for their pioneering lifestyle or boycott. The opposite is true in fact, where vegans are ridiculed and where family rifts occur, where friends go their separate ways and where relationships break up because of the difference in attitude towards animals and the eating and wearing of them. Many vegans do lose family and friends and have to become solo fliers. And eventually they get used to it and tell others, "If there's no support, get over it".

We know repairs must go ahead, whether people like it or not, even when they are afraid of having to 'start again'. The fear is that each individual will become so weighed down by guilt and by the weight of their own stomachs, that it will be impossible for them to make the essential decision to change. If it goes the other way, if humans are on the way to retrieving themselves, then it's good to know that we are very adaptable. When change is in the wind, humans change and adapt to that change. Perhaps that's only possible because we humans are conscious of the need for repair, even though it might be outside our own immediate interests. We can see why it must be done, and by being aware of the bigger picture, we are always being drawn to the need to work together towards levelling the playing field, so that all interests are being taken into account, and not only the interests of the privileged. By taking that egalitarian initiative, many people do unite and make no fuss about pulling together, because they can feel the enormous power of people who are thoroughly involved. There's no power like that, in people who are inspired by the enjoyment to be had from working for the greater good. Once it's been experienced, it makes the individual's personal ambitions look somewhat outdated and even ridiculous. 

Choice starts in the Imagination

1595: 

If we aren’t sure about our direction in life, we can use our imagination to foresee another place, another dimension, where people rather like us are doing the things we do, but very differently.

They don't go with the flow necessarily. For big decisions, including what their main energy source is going to be, they consult first with their conscience, to see if a choice is connected to ethical energy. These imagined people are more subjective than us. They're more intuitive and confident, but at first glance they seem similar to the disciplinarians we knew from the past. They seem to be doing ‘good’ all over the place. Ugh! It's sickly sweet.

So, let's try again.

Now, we let these ‘imagined people’ tell us things about ourselves, but not to encourage us towards ‘goodness’ as such, more like common sense. Theirs is, after all, only the voice of an all-round, engaged-conscience.

If we want pleasant possibilities for the future, it's going to depend on restoring a balance between being too clever and being too heart-driven. The conscience, being the chief chooser-of-things, lets some doubtful things through, stops some, encourages others, and these are 'things' we want or we think we need and can choose to have. We, living Western lifestyles, can afford to buy so much that we want that we've slackened off on the conscience, to avoid missing out, for a better run, to 'get ahead'.

The mystery of life, the game and fun of it as well as the conscience of it, has been largely left behind. We humans are now perpetually on-the-chase. And we know, at least in a material sense, that our 'dreams' could come true. Westerners have inherited generations of privilege, largely by our ancestors ripping off the rest of the world. With our sharp brains we've 'built' opportunities, suitable for those of us who are 'materially privileged', and for those of us who are educated as to how to take full advantage of that privilege. But as it turns out, too much of our brilliance has been self-benefitting leaving behind a lot of damage, that even Nature can't fix up. But perhaps we can fix it.

We’ve arrived here, in this present age, with one thing to our advantage. And it's unique to our species and to this time - it's a type of fuller consciousness. Today we know what we’ve done, we’re aware of our mistakes and various destructions. And some are willing to learn from these mistakes, even though they weren't responsible for them. We're becoming aware of our potential to repair. And that's down to having enough awareness of what’s happened, followed by our having a consciousness of consciousness itself. In that one way, today, we are alive to it all. We don’t have to see ourselves as automatons, or as being controlled by big business or as having to rely on supernatural forces. We can be self-guiding, since today we are aware of the human potential for being both destructive and creative. We both have a choice and are aware of our opportunity for choice. I doubt if any earlier generations have either had so much reason to repair but also so much freedom to choose what most needs repair.  

Don’t Ever Mention Philosophy

1594: 

The word I was taught never to mention in Australia is 'philosophy'. It turns Australians OFF. Fair enough. I’d rather call it ‘attitude’, anyway, for when it comes down to the use of animals, it’s people's attitude which is so deeply-set, and doing all the damage. Perhaps for many people this particular philosophical attitude won't change. But if it CAN be changed, then I think it becomes the seat of one's attitude to a lot of things. But, don’t mention 'philosophy'. No one even knows what it means. The very word looks scary!

Going vegan means a big lifestyle change. It’s a practical every-day imprinting of a philosophy of harmlessness. It’s based on ways of doing things non-violently, and that starts by showing no violence to animals, and it feels 'kinda-right' in a powerful way.

When I was ‘going vegan’, I was experimenting. Not at first to protest animal rights but in order to experiment with the feeling of a new energy; something about a mixture of feelings centred on hope, now at last being free of 'animal guilt'. I can only think of it this way: the power of plant-based foods provides us with a more exciting and effective energy. Perhaps it comes down to making the vital link between self development and using solely plant foods.

By going vegan we might discover our own potential, for jumping hurdles, for ‘making the effort’, in the true spirit of experimenting. And it's not so much to do with diet as with proving to ourselves that we don’t need outside help to confirm or stick with this latest decision. Attitude covers it completely, and if you can handle the idea of 'having a philosophy, 'then I think it flows directly from this more sensitive attitude.

Experiments in imagination

Imagine what it would be like to ‘go vegan’, trying to give things up but always finding it to be an effort. If it is like that, surely, we’ll eventually give up and go back to being omnivore. Better to look at this project in a different way, by making this an interest in experimenting and for us not to be giving up too quickly? Going vegan is not easy for everyone. As with any new skill or ‘discipline’, it needs energy and effort. But is it worth so much effort? Worth so much fear of failing? Success in this sort of experimenting starts by doing-without, that’s the first hurdle, but after that, with food-replacements, everything changes and it all becomes more interesting. 

However it's not necessarily easy; from suffering a few chemical withdrawals (as with dropping any substance we're addicted to) we come to another hurdle for vegans - the huge weight of public opinion against us. Shopping is sometimes hard. It’s easy to think it's a conspiracy! Vegan products come, and then vanish from the supermarket shelves, as if some dark force is dragging us back to more conventional behaviour. Vegans struggle from this sort of frustration as well as from general lack of support. We suffer, not so much from apathy as hindrance.

In an ideal world, there’d be some lightening of the load, a romantic notion of pioneering, a noble setting for performing acts of 'good example', and you'd think that would be enough to earn some respect, “These vegans are doing the right thing. Let’s join them”. But that certainly isn’t the case right now! In what has to be an experimental world, we are still looking for the key, to unravel the worst in human nature. And in Animal Rights, it isn’t anything so grandiose as a consciousness of great spiritual significance, it's more like an introduction to the world of testing things out for oneself. It’s what I think Animal Rights will become – a platform from which we can dialogue this and other difficult issues of the day. It's where we can exchange views without rancour and with much more constructivity, etc.

Then, we’re breaking the cycle, turning things around. Then, we’re experimenting and not just accepting-what-is. 

'Self' advice

1592: 

Edited by CJ Tointon

If we ingest 'blood-foods' or get involved with the killing, we're just being ordinary omnivores.  Who is 'Out There' to tell us not to do this? Certainly none of the captains of industry! They control us almost completely and thrive on the dollars we give them. We are in thrall to them. There's nothing 'Out There' in The Universe that can help. 

Humans are so tied up in knots and so subservient to corporate masters, that they can't find their way out of this Death Star maze. The Universe can't be blamed. It has to be careful not to get too involved in human struggles. But it's not averse to dropping clues, maybe suggesting politely:
"You humans have screwed-up here, and here, and here, and……..you probably need to find alternative ways". There are clues; but they need unpicking and they reveal many destructive habits of humankind. The main clue is - food - but what humans use on their bodies, for shoes, clothing and entertainment is also implicated.

But it flows back to - food. The richness and seductiveness of meats and animal-derived secretions. We'll allow nothing to interfere with the promise of gastronomical delights. And there's that 'special feeling' - something between being taste-satisfied and being stomach-filled. Food is to our highly attuned senses as fresh air is to lungs. The very thought of "Going Vegan' is unthinkable. It sends a shudder down the spine. 

We love our animal foods too much to abandon them. Food is like a demon on our shoulders, keeping us controlled, calling the shots, twisting perceptions and leaving the poor-sucker-human in the corner trying not to notice the elephant in the room. But a listing of all the dangerous (animal-derived) ingredients is there for all to see in print on packaged products - but not on cream buns! And the very worst are there in those cream buns. There's nothing evident to the untrained eye, however, linking this concoction to cruel animal-derived food and all that signifies. And while we're raging-on here; let's not forget what's hidden in the wardrobe! Skins of animals, spun silks from boiled-alive worms and wool from early shaved sheep who then suffer horribly from the cold. To get this 'stuff', great numbers of animals suffer and are eventually executed when they are no longer 'productive'.    

Everything here points to a big lesson to be learnt. It's symbolised (for easier understanding) in the way we regard animals. The cavalier way in which we use animals represents the careless way we look at all the human privileges we enjoy. What is the purpose of these privileges if all we do is abuse them? We humans are blessed with fine minds, sensitivity, discrimination, kindness, generosity, stamina, self-determination, etc. Ah! But perhaps that's the one! That last one I mentioned. That's the poisoned challis - self-determination!

The snag is in the focus on 'self'. It's evident even in self-enlightenment. Too much time focusing on 'self' and not enough on 'the other'. That's what happens when we think of food. We forget about our impact on 'others' (namely innocent animals). 

Ideally, 'self' should partner 'the other', so that we're never very far away from empathising with the less fortunate. It does have to do with morality, plant-based diets, self-discipline, boycotting and being 'good'; but more to do with 'intelligence'. Not cleverness, but implicitly an altruistic intelligence, plain and simple.  


But back to the mad world we live in today. We have big violence and big violation causing us big problems. For us (as well as for the animals and the planet) our long-term-survival is threatened. The Universe expects us to be able to read the signs and symbols. They're staring us in the face. And if there is a signal showing us our second chance to save ourselves from our own self-destruction, then it would seem a shame to have thrown the baby out with the bath water; a shame to have to learn about 'self' this way - by attempting to destroy it!

Rebel - With a Cause

1591: 

Edited by CJ Tointon

When we attack animals, we attack ourselves and erode our rebelliousness. The 'changers' and 'rebels' in Animal Rights activism, are always going to be under pressure to conform. But rebel-activists and abolitionists need to see this one through - come what may - against all odds. If we have to be solo fliers, we need to determine long term plans.

But it's not all to do with determination. We also need 'external' energy and the one essential energy source is - food! If the food we eat is rubbish, it can't energise us properly enough so that we can carry out all the important functions of life - including activism and rebelliousness. And since rubbish food is mostly heavy in animal material (as well as being heavy on the conscience) we end up with a hard edge to us. With a hardening of our food habits, we progress to hardened arteries - and so on. It leads to a string of other problems. 

Plant-based foods are good for self-development; but we still need a mental state of independence. As an independent, self-feeding, self-funding adult, we might become conscious of the wisdom of dropping bad habits and replacing them with better ones. This independence of mind tells us that we can't be intimidated by things such as missing our favourite (animal-based) foods or being 'one of the crowd'. When we slough off our old conformist skin and end our servitude to profiteers, we can go solo flying! This is when true independence of mind allows us to determine what we're actually going to do about the issues of animal abuse, animal-derived foods and many other big issues.

The origins of today's big issues are usually inspired by violence. Animal-derived foods start with violence. Food then is the symbol of the human's main mistake or weakness. When food is unethical and connected to cruelty and corruption, it represents that weakness in our species which can be traced back to low levels of rebelliousness - the mistake of compliance. Ingesting animal-derived foods undoubtedly corrupts a naturally functioning healthy body; but it also inhibits empathy. By choosing to not ingest this type of food, vegans establish a deep connection with animals. We 'feel' for the billions of them abused and abandoned daily. By boycotting animal-derived foods, we disassociate ourselves from a system of heartless animal production: the playing out of the dominant species ruling by force and cruelty - the human mastery of all other species. I'd suggest all global problems can be linked symbolically back to - food! With this in mind, plant eaters know they are working for peace.

A huge proportion of agricultural greenhouse emissions come from livestock production. Animal-derived food has a massive carbon footprint, which is almost entirely solved by going vegan. A huge proportion of world poverty is connected to low-cost fodder production, diverting crops from feeding humans to feeding livestock. By becoming vegan and no longer using animals, we make no connection with the fodder trade. And let's not forget the lab animals! They are nothing less than the caged slaves of drug companies and hospitals who thrive on illness. The 'medical industry' tries to curb illness (caused by eating animal-derived foods) by prescribing vivisectionist drugs so it obviously isn't in their interests to discourage animal usage.
Food - that symbol of consumer compliance. We go like zombies towards the shelves containing what we perceive to be 'food'. By consuming it, the connection is made with the cruelty of animal farming. Symbolically, food derived from violence, brings violence into our lives; but we learn to love it. Perhaps we compare the extremes of animal farming cruelty/violence with our own relatively small acts of violence to mitigate our guilt?  But we still want to witness it. We lap it up in the evenings, dramatised on TV. Perhaps we are preparing ourselves for a general hardening of attitude needed to survive this harsh world.
"God, make me less kind". 


Our unkindness is good for Big Profit Industries. A hardened attitude (notably towards non-human sentient beings) breathes vital oxygen into the lungs of Agribusiness, Pharmaceuticals and Arms Manufacturers. They thrive on the customers' weakness for violence. The most popular TV programmes serve it up by the plateful (to sweeten the tedium of lengthy ad breaks?) in the form of stories and fantasies; anything to divert us from ourselves. It's all about 'hard attitudes' these days. Hard attitudes to shield us from our fears of loss or injury. But we all know, on some level, that there is a connection between 'hurting' and violence and animal-derived foods; especially if we ingest 'blood-foods' or get involved with the killing.

What is Effort?

1589: 

Edited by CJ Tointon

Is there a gratitude factor? If so, is it vital for growth?

Isn't any growth just a matter of give and take;

Taking what's on offer, but remembering to give back?

Appreciation is part of gratitude.

It's good for the giver to be appreciated.

But if gratitude doesn't come freely and willingly;

And things are too much of an effort,

Intentions fail. No effectiveness. No satisfaction.

Any benefits for me, from my 'acts of goodness', might come with strings attached.

Instead of benefits flowing out of generosity, they're begrudged. There's a need for 

reward. An expectation, even entitlement. And when it isn't there, there are feelings

of resentment. In future, I'll 'ration out' my acts of goodness.

The desire to give back develops altruism; 

Which expects nothing but gets everything.

The mystery is how to do the right thing and enjoy doing it;

Whilst not mixing up the greater good with feelings of resentment.

Imaginary companions speaking Vegan

1588: 

Standing firm against seductive temptation isn’t quite what Veganism is. It’s not just about giving things up, or about will-power and self-discipline. It's about keeping control of decision-making, and finding a reason to be standing firm. For you, it might start as a health issue, eating plant-based foods making you feel better, but that's a side issue and a bonus for vegans. Of greater importance is the stand against the unethical treatment of animals. I ask myself, “What am I going to DO about stopping it?”

Anyone's conscience would be troubled by animal-farming, and the conscious knowledge of it edit

links to choice. The choice is to buy meat and dairy. About that we might worry. Animal Rights and Vegan are starting to figure large. More people are thinking about this, as an issue. On a personal level the question is about complicity.

But even that isn’t at the heart of this conundrum, going vegan-not-going vegan: It’s not about the guilts and reasonings of non-vegans, this is more why vegans become vegan in the first place.

The 'animal situation' affects each of us in different ways. For me, it's my claustrophobia. Horror: inescapability,  'captivity'. Mountainous empathy from me, from plenty others, for these banged-up, innocent creatures.

Your empathy driver might be focussed differently, but we all come together to do what all vegans do - we boycott anything to do with animals, because it's our only way of protesting the plain cruelty of what's being done to them.

If animal activists are going to achieve anything, and be noticeably 'effective', then it won't happen unless it's more than a diet or a gesture. I can't see how logic can point anywhere else - I can't see how it can be anything other than vegan, since any involvement with animals will always be feeding the very anthropocentricity that serves violence. And heck! Isn't it the violence we're trying NOT to encourage?

So, in my mind it's clear - go vegan asap - but it's also to be considered a step, which asks advice from body, emotions and social implications. But our own gut advice is there too, and that shouldn't be dismissed too lightly. A voice we rely on. Our conversation partner. Maybe it sits on our shoulder, as self-protecting as mischievous. It might be warning us not to go in too hard, too quickly with new step, yet another big step. Warning: Don't be too ambitious and then risk not continuing. Falling off this wagon can hurt in unexpected ways. For ex-vegans the social kudos is a bit like retiring.

For vegans there is a lure. Once you're vegan you can say you're vegan; but once you aren't vegan you can't that any more. By being vegan, you can then say , etc. But imply what? Is it done to my credit, for my honour and prestige? And there again, it may seem little to others, and there again might bring a level of respect. But the main impact is surely on oneself, the truth of being able to tell yourself that you are what you want to be. For ourselves, it doesn't seem a little matter at all. But it means being it and staying it. Glory and Purpose, eh!

To tap into a great purpose like this one, there's a feeling of being in harmony. And with animals too (as in, no longer being one of their abusers!!).

Even if our 'animal-relationships' are just in our imagination, we can sense them there, sitting on our shoulders, whispering great possibilities, most of which can’t be overheard by our omnivorous, cloth-eared friends. For the vast majority of humans, this matter of using animals has hardly crossed their minds. It hasn’t come up. It hasn't been taken seriously. The notion of  'going vegan' is un-contemplatable!! "It’s absurd. I'll stay as I am" is what's mainly thought.

If omnivores like their food, then they’re particularly enamoured of foods with animal ingredients. A dangerous defence for them is: “You don’t know what you’re missing”, and our response could be one of many possible replies, because it hardly matters what we say at this juncture.

The power of food

1587:

What the Animal Industries may NOT realise is that strong counter-culture is forming. But, you wouldn't think so when you see the crowds at Burger King. If change is happening it's amongst people who are not queueing outside Burger King, but are recognising that animal products are dangerous as well as immoral. Food is essential to life, obviously, but not this food. Animal-derived foods shouldn't even be classified as 'foods', since they’re toxic, unethical to animals, anathema to human biology and terrible for the environment. Yet, almost everyone remains an omnivore - no doubt, seduced by roast dinners and boiled eggs for breakfast, and an inability to walk past a cake shop.

The fact is, we depend on that pleasure rather a lot. Food sensation. And we can’t get past our own tastebuds and food-fads. We’re hemmed in anyway by our eating habits - go against the norm and social relationships are affected. Whereas, by conforming, we can 'eat from the same table', and be accepted.

For people like vegans, social isolation can be a consequence of eating different foods. It often crosses my mind that perhaps people think we are trying to be better than everyone else. Probably not fair. It might look that way, because we've got something we're confident about, not gods or guides or gurus but just a plain principle about what's okay to be doing and what's NOT okay to be doing. Because we've stumbled on it - guarding (and not harming) - we might seem confident. Not to be confused with insufferable 'rightness'.

But it's something every vegan knows (what it is) and maybe non-vegans, not yet - a lifting of a weight off the shoulders leaving behind self confidence. Not enough perhaps, to combat the social isolation that being vegan brings. But it's something we do: we boycott ruthlessly. Vegans do that because it's necessary, and by remaining vegan we are indomitable. I hope that means we don't abandon boycotting when things get rough. And they go pear-shaped at the most unexpected moments, and we have to say for the 'umpteenth time, “no” - tempted or otherwise.

Although we've made war on everyone, it isn't our business what you do, but it IS my business what the exploiters do. I choose to show my disagreement with them by withdrawing my money from them. These are the people all vegans boycott.  We boycott their products and condemn them for being in the business of animal exploitation.

Hand in hand (gloved of course!)

1586:

The Animal Rights movement doesn’t have funding or lots of pro bono help from top-level professionals. Whatever we do has to be largely self-generated and done at low cost. We can’t compete with the exploiters’ wealth or chicanery. They have all the material advantages. They own the media and advertising industries. They can buy whoever they please. They can't be prosecuted for what they do to animals. They can legally sell addictive food substances to the public. Their know how far to push the customer. On this level, veganism can’t win people over. We have to go the longer way around. Via something I'll mention at the end.

All omnivorous humans who are living in the rich Western world are having such a good time indulging in animal stuff that you can hardly expect they’d want us to spoil their fun. They don’t want to think about food, just eat it and enjoy it. They’d rather not know about animal exploitation, and thanks very much, they’re grateful it’s done behind closed doors.

In this respect, our whole society is like a mutual encouragement club – the customer goes along with what the exploiters do, just so long as their favourite animal products are available for purchase. It’s a classic drug dealing system - there’s a co-dependency between dealer and client, so we all get what we want. It’s in everyone’s interest not to betray the other.

         

If our providers give us satisfaction, then they also own us. If we continue buying their products we’ll have less and less chance of weaning ourselves off them. How seductive is their product? Well, when you look at it more closely, it’s just smoke and mirrors, it’s an illusion which convinces the brain to associate colours with excitement, pretty packaging with pleasure-giving. Look at a burger, the whole thing is a mass of colour. It's attractive to the eye. And the brain plays this little game - "Give it a try, and find out what level of pleasure you can reach by sinking your teeth into THAT!"

One’s attachment soon crumbles when we puff resistance at it. And that resistance comes from a deeper, more passionate, compassionate inner self - something we can all be proud of but something we often keep locked up. (And for good reason, so as not to be seen as a wimp.)

         

If we do decide to rouse the sleeping compassion within, then it’s obvious what we have to do. And it isn't a small gesture of good-will, or a token-contribution to a good cause. It's a fully adult decision (sometimes profoundly made by kids). It is to drop the lot, drop everything connected with animals.

Once you become vegan, a whole new opportunity arises. Yes, suddenly, the body feels it. And it doesn't necessarily feel so good. There's an ever-present lack of things. There's a jumpy, twitchy, last throes feeling in the stomach and in the throat. A disaffection. A sense of loss. But a sense of 'clean'. Or at least clean enough to enjoy the bigger meal, where we can get our teeth stuck into talk. This talk was all-prohibited before. Now we have a chance to educate. And not just others!! Suddenly we find ourselves in a strong position to speak up about something we’ve suppressed for a long time (whilst we ate them!!) - the animals, the ‘animal problem’.

The act of boycotting animal produce is a statement and a half. It hits familiar foods, it hits your shoes, it hits your favourite warm jumper, it hits the friend who gave you that jumper last Christmas. But it hits the heights too. It's The Chance. To discover things about ourselves, like patience, and like determination, and like the unconditional love we can feel for every sentient being. So, to being their spokesperson. This was always going to be my chance to get back at the 1%ers. Our chance. We can reduce the impact of the exploiters and effectively help to put them out of business, and all the while be doing it for the greater good - a noble cause.

But back to reality! Food addiction is like a lump of concrete in our gut. The food binds body and mind perhaps more than we realise. All of our life we’ve been ‘doing it’ - we've been  salivating over delicious things (like having a ‘dopamine reaction’). Shopping is huge. Shopping is spending and exerting power. It can also be a chore. But what is food shopping? It's making decisions for oneself and others, about what we are going to be doing; defining who we are, together. Conforming. "We will break bread together tonight". So, shopping becomes part of our day-out, going into the malls, the supermarkets and corner shops, to get our fix. The 'providers' who provide treats, meats and food luxuries. By the shelf, we plan our meals and snacks and indulgences and choose from eye level, pretty-packaged products, which 'they' know 'we' want. And when we are looking for a theme, we know this is the big one, the title statement of the meal ahead - the main ingredient of the meal. This feels like real adult contemplation, the cuisine of it, and how we can drool over the kitchen smells, and later the communal pleasure, and then again, our own increase in social acceptance - ‘eating together: staying together’. It’s a powerful reason to forget about animals and emphasise the need to feed ourselves and others with what pleases us.