Life without lobster, my dear. I just can’t imagine it.

910: 

Winning support for Animal Rights was never going to be easy. We live in a conspiracy of misinformation which suits almost everyone, because it allows people to be speciesist, which in turn allows them to indulge in animal foods.

            While vegans are trying to defend abused animals, non-vegans are trying to do the opposite, by ‘not giving a damn’ about them. The educated food lover might wriggle out of the ethical quagmire but they keep sinking back into it each day, by cooking their bits of dead animal and practising the dark art of ‘animal cuisine’. It sounds quite respectable; it helps cooking enthusiasts to apply their sensitivity to the aesthetics of food, overriding the ethical side of it (the provenance of  those foods). It emphasises ‘food quality’ (nutrition or taste experience) in order to downplay the origins of animal foodstuffs.

For most people their pleasure is in indulgence. They think about it, savour it, salivate over it - the omnivore gastronome drools over food all day. The wealthy gastronomes indulge themselves in all the exotic delicacies without a single thought given to the animal behind what they’re eating; their favourite fleshy foods must not be given up lightly. Life without lobster is unimaginable.

Light switches and dark rooms

909: 

The status quo of animal-use is like a lump of concrete - at present it is set strong. It’s stronger than anyone’s good intentions to change it. Those of us who aren’t involved in the abuse have to deal with it. We have to acknowledge this reluctance-to-change, and the disappointment that comes with it. It shouldn’t put us off. It will always be hard to persuade the carnivores to switch across, and just as difficult with those vegetarians who are proud of the progress they’ve already made, in getting away from eating meat.

If an attitude is locked, it shuts out any chance of progress. If, for instance, you regard animals as little more than things, your attitude won’t let you see them as sentient individuals.

However far we’ve already come, the concrete attitude sits there blocking our way. But it’s useful for the animal advocate too. It could act as a springboard for re-evaluating where we’re coming from, just in case we’re held back by another sort of attitude block.

            I think vegan reasoning points to the ideal, up ahead; it doesn’t show us how to get there but it explains why we should be moving in that direction, to discover how our reality can make sense of those who aren’t yet aware of it.

Humans are in dark rooms, looking for a light-source, groping about at random instead of discovering what should be obvious (like where the light switch is in this dark room). Once we locate the light switch suddenly everything is clear. We regret the time wasted spent searching in darkness for such an obviously more appealing reality.

On one level we already know that there’s a parallel reality to the one we’re familiar with, and in that ‘reality’ we can see things from the opposite perspective. For me it was a surprise. It made me want to be less obedient to authority and more intent to discover if there was any order beyond the chaos.

The following of sequences brings us from one reality to another. I think a vegan diet, for example, is a more intelligent way to go (simply because it’s safe and ethical and more energy-producing.) The same goes for non-violence or compassionate attitude – it’s wiser if only because it makes us feel less ashamed. And that can’t be a bad thing.

Always in front of us is the common aim: to eventually rescue the animals as well as our own souls. In other words, the sooner we can relax about the hugeness of the challenge, the sooner we’ll be able to entertain another reality, consciously. That will be one which satisfies our need to be working for a great cause (whether it be to get people to go vegan or to get people to be less-violent). 

Gratitude

908:

The effects of veganism on one’s whole organism, just by going vegan, is so beneficial to oneself. For my own part, out of that came an urge to pay back – my gratitude made me want to spend up big, in order to promote what I’d discovered. I thought to myself, “Hey, I’ve got an aim! At last it’s clear. I know what to do ... so bring it on”.

            No amount of effort would be enough to pay for so much strength of purpose. Most activists I know are so grateful for what veganism has shown them that they’re constantly energised by it. For my part I know I’d do anything to further this ‘clean-up’ campaign, to ease the animals’ pain and to ease my own conscience. So, that’s why it feels so natural to want to build a strong support base for animal liberation.

Momentum

907: 

Optimism becomes more of a reality when you think of work as something pleasurable - the whole task of trying to change vast numbers of people’s minds isn’t so much about its ‘impossibility’ as the challenge of it all. We just don’t need the lead-weighted mind-set of inevitable failure; we can’t afford to fail before we’ve even started (and in terms of making a substantial impact, we haven’t really started yet).

It helps for us to remember just what has to happen to set off change on a large scale. We need to see the sequence of things, by remembering how it was for us, as each attitudinal barrier fell, only to expose the next one, which in turn fell to the next, and so on. The struggle was lightened as the sequence of events formed a pattern; the pattern of change became satisfying enough to move us on to the next stage.

            How it happens: We move from a basically, fairly selfish life (human-centred) to doing something for ourselves that merges with ‘doing something for others’. We move from the teeth-gritting stage of trying to be more selfless to a type of ‘work’ that isn’t boring or reluctant. Instead of needing results to spur us on we take on a project with impossible odds and find that to be not so much of a turn off. Momentum becomes more important than results; as long as we’re going in a consistent direction, day by day, that is enough to hold our interest and prevent us giving up. 

Communication and optimism

906: 

An optimistic vegan is like a small boat in a rough sea, facing up to impossible odds. Everyone wants to sink us, the carnivores for speaking out against them, the vegetarians for undermining their position and even fellow vegans who just want to lash out at everyone for disagreeing with them. The abolitionist vegan has to be single minded, and not get upset by criticism or ridicule, wherever it comes from.

In rough seas, our job is to hold out for the port in the distance even though we can’t see it, only knowing that our direction is right.

            It is a big turn-around in attitude for most people, to swing our way. That challenge keeps us on our toes. But unless we keep optimistic we’re merely fighting a rear-guard action. It’s optimism that gives us our forward momentum. It’s based on the strength of this one single idea, the coming of an age of non-violence. By our own practice of that we can withstand the rough conditions, we can stand up to our detractors. Optimism takes us on further, it sets us apart from both omnivores and some within the Animal Rights Movement, who refuse to see anything much changing for the better; in consequence, they try to squash our optimism, saying how impossible our task is, and how “Humans will never change”. But they haven’t taken into account that people wise up to things when too many conventions and ‘stabilities’ collapse (as they do when they realise the extent to which animal food links to animal cruelty and ill health). Then, when it’s so late in the day, they realise things have to be re-thought-out.

People do change. Just look at the many vegetarians there are today after a mere thirty or forty years, where before that there were practically none. And now there are those who are practising-vegans, who are passionately speaking up on animal issues.

In Animal Rights, since we’re at such an early stage of consciousness-change, our work shouldn’t be weakened by those who talk about ‘the pointlessness of it all’. Somehow each of us has to find a way of getting over that, in order to maintain the momentum of change. In order to promote optimism.

            

Rocky road

905: 

Convincing people of the link between food and the slavery of animals should be dead simple. But it isn’t. We are seen as the ‘spoilers’, for trying to do just that. But so what? We know our intentions are good, and that should be good enough. But no. perception is everything , and if we are seen as spoilers of people’s eating pleasures we will be ignored or disliked.

            Attitude colours everything. For omnivores, pleasure pushes its way to the front, and eating comes first, before thinking; their insistence on eating-pleasure delays personal ethical development. Vegans can only clear the path and wait.

            We attempt to lift attitudinal rocks from what would otherwise be a smooth path. It’s the best training we can get, for communicating this awkward subject.

Our aims and the freedom to speak

904: 

The animal-eaters are convinced they’re not doing anything wrong, while the vegans are trying to talk them round.

Our aim is to show the difference between the food which we advise people to eat and which to boycott, based on the treatment of ‘food’ animals. This is why we decide to become vegan in the first place, to uphold this central value of humanity.

Most people believe they are humane beings, with ethical distinctions between what we should and shouldn’t do. Vegans are suggesting that our food should be consistent with humane values, in respect to the way our animals are being treated. Our role is to talk about animal issues and learn how to talk effectively, without turning people off.

Ideally, we are in the business of waking-up people who have given this matter little thought. Every adult should, by now, be aware of the caging of chickens and the confining of pigs in sow stalls. But there’s so much more animal-abuse involved with food production. And that abuse connects to other dangers, where human health is jeopardised and malnutrition in third-world countries is perpetuated, and all because we are focused on our own comforts and convenience. Added to this, animal farming is so polluting that it contributes heavily to the threat of global warming. The sequence of events, with one thing leading to the next, from food to good nutrition, to plentiful food supply, to the farming impact on the environment, that we can’t isolate any one of these issues; by adjusting human diet we affect many issues and effect repair in many areas of damage.

The world could benefit from a plant-based food regime and we in the West, where we have a real choice of lifestyle, can instigate the necessary changes.

The omnivore needs to be helped to see the sequence of these connections, but for that to happen they must show a willingness to change. And we, as vegan advocates, only speak about all this with their permission. If it’s not forthcoming then we’ve got problems. And we have to ask why people are so reluctant to talk or listen when it come to the question of Animal Rights. Food is the big persuader and the possibility of endangering the enjoyment of favourite foods causes them to close down on what we have to say. So, until we make progress on their giving of permission, for us to speak about all this, we have to wait. Forcing people to hear what we have to say will help us make no progress at all.