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'.