Boycotting wins no friends

1769:  

Animal Rights is about introducing a different set of values, perhaps unheard of before. Most omnivores haven’t even considered that animals deserve ‘the right to a life’. Vegans have, going on to pursue their responsibilities, discovering how the liberation of animals impacts on daily life, and then operating on an entirely animal-free basis. This not only means changing diets, clothing and other commodities, but leaving their friends behind in the process. Omnivore friends, being more self-protective or self-interested, aren’t into developing new value systems that impact on so many of their daily habits. But sticking with the old value systems of their parents' generation is embarrassing, especially since they face a moral dilemma. It's easier to be omnivorous but difficult to ignore what vegans are saying.

The situations facing some animals are famously well known. They are exploited - the hens kept in cage; the chimpanzees going insane in science laboratories, the breeding sows in ‘iron maiden’ sow stalls, the dairy cows turned into a milk-making machines. Today we can't pretend NOT to know about animal cruelty. Fifty years ago people didn't know but today even young children get to find out what happens 'down on the farm'. It's distressing to know about it, but strangely, eating habits don't necessarily change because of what is known.

Perhaps this shows just how strong the eating impulse is. We're reluctant to change our food habits unless it’s to our own advantage. It's unlikely that most people would choose to change their lifestyle if it meant separating from others. We are the masters of our own destiny, endowed with a will of our own and living in a free-choice world. No one has the authority to tell us what we may or may not eat. We are the arbiters of our own choices. But the more we learn about the life of farm animals, the harder it is to be comfortable about our choices.

         

The whole idea that vegans are putting forward highlights this dilemma. We can't help but inflict guilt just by the very mention of 'animal issues'. It isn't surprising that once we are known to be 'vegan' that most people try to avoid us.

         

So we vegans might be lonely because we’re avoided and lonely because we deliberately disassociate from the lifestyle shared by almost everyone else. We may well be regarded as social pariahs. Since we not only boycott many products sold in shops (to our own considerable inconvenience) but boycott social events like barbeques, dinner parties and restaurants, we are disliked. This is something which vegans need to find a way of dealing with.

We all suffer from our choices in life (the omnivore suffers guilt and chronic illness, the vegan suffers from social alienation). There's comfort in being part of the mass, and doing what others do. And there's no comfort for vegans who are on the outer, and only part of a small minority. However, there are special advantages - it’s great that we’re into self-improvement, great that we stand up to the hypocrisy in Society and can do it without bitterness. But we have to take into account our need for other people. And this comes down to our approach and how we advocate for animals - how do we advocate strenuously whilst not necessarily going on the attack, how we remain friendly with those we might want to judge.

The big question for us is surely how we stay emotionally neutral and not feel depressed when the people we know avoid us or avoid talking about this subject.