Socking It To 'Em!

1537: 

Edited by CJ Tointon

Animal Rights/Veganism is a subject non-vegans discuss amongst themselves in order to disparage it and to work out resistant arguments to it  The stock response is usually that vegan activists are 'dangerous extremists';  which means we're 'bagged' and doors are closed to us.

But not everyone has a closed mind, especially younger people.  Having made fewer independent food choices, they aren't as likely to be so defensive.  But can they rely on the information they find about plant-based diets?

First and foremost, vegans must come across as well informed and concerned about peoples' safety, as well as having high personal standards and a friendly sensitivity.  But we don't have to be too self-effacing or backward in coming forward.  If we are affable enough, some chutzpah can get us by, as long as we maintain a sense of humour and some friendly familiarity.  Personally, I don't try to be a 'best buddy', but I do try to be open and accepting of any views, thus proving that I'm ready to 'take it' as well as 'dish it out'.

People often want to know what vegans eat and the favourite question is: "Where do you get your protein from?"  The answer has to be at our fingertips, otherwise we can't carry on past this health concern.  The Answer is:  Legumes, nuts, seeds, beans, chickpeas, tempeh, tofu, soy products, leafy greens, seeds, non-dairy milks, wheat gluten!!  Whew!!  Having rattled this list off, we can then progress to other important and more delicate matters - the rights and wrongs of using animals.  Most people are prepared to put up with a bit of cheek from us here, even to the point where we can send them up for eating 'dead animals'.  But there’s a hairsbreadth of difference between friendly joshing and hitting them with a value-judgement.

Out of loyalty to the animals, I sometimes feel that I should be deadly serious and confront people wherever and whenever I can, to show just how deeply I feel about this subject.  But I notice that as soon as I start 'getting heavy', they stop smiling!  They immediately feel threatened and no longer find it easy to identify with me.  In other words, they go on the defensive.

Passing on information (with a subtext of judgement) is not productive.  Use of too many statistics is dull.  Slogans are irritating.  It's all very confronting.  Being bombarded with facts and figures is the equivalent of carpet-bombing and inevitably any connection we might have had is broken. Even if we get into high disagreement, I would still try to maintain equality and show respect for any personal view (even if I know they're misinformed!).  However far apart our views may be, our feelings for each other shouldn’t be compromised.  The human-to-human connection should be kept open.  We’re never anything else but two individuals chatting about the possibility of reassessing our attitudes (regarding the use of animals).

If we're speaking to a roomful of strangers and some level of mutual good feeling is maintained, there’s a fair chance of constructive, lively interaction.  Keep sparring - but keep it warm.  We are, after all, representing the good name of an important cause.  As soon as we forget this, communication dies and the reputation of our fellow advocates is damaged by association. 

The best teachers I had at school never lost sight of their students.  They had an eye for trouble and saw everything, even when they pretended not to.  They stood no nonsense, but never withdrew their affection.  They were always 'onside' with the students.  And I think that’s how we vegans should come across.  Not let anyone get away with incorrect information or rudeness, but not allow ourselves to slip into zealotry either.   No cowardly tactics either!  If I’m asked to explain something and try to hide my lack of knowledge behind an emotional rave about animal cruelty - it's just too obvious.  It immediately destroys my credibility.  

On some levels, people are very well informed.  Most adults know (more or less) what’s going on with animal usage and animal cruelty these days, but they don't necessarily know all the details. Presumably, we vegans do, otherwise we wouldn’t be so keen to talk about it!  With this tricky subject, our strength is in having useful information to impart, so that we can fill in the gaps.  If we can’t answer a question and we have the guts to admit it, that can be impressive.  We shouldn’t be afraid to lose a skirmish or two.  It’s the long term (mainly psychological) battle we’ve got ahead of us, so we come out at the end as a person with whom other people can identify.

Early Approaches

1536: 

Edited by CJ Tointon

As self-appointed advocates for animals, vegans find themselves in a tricky position.  We assume that we have the right to talk about them (on their behalf) because we no longer eat them.  Maybe we are in a strong position, but it still doesn’t give us the right to tell people what to eat or to expect them to agree with us.  We need to be 'invited' to speak on this subject and for that we need to earn the listener’s respect and interest.  We have to be convincing whilst going easy on the moralising.  Perhaps ask a few questions (just to keep the conversation going) in order to encourage them to also ask questions.

         

Sure, we may want to be activists, communicators and educators, but we also need to be sensitive to peoples' problems regarding their food addictions.  There are some practising vegans who don’t aim to be activists at all;  they're happy just to do their own thing.  Others, however, aim to persuade people to protest, demonstrate or get into direct action regarding Animal Rights.  They believe the cause is worth promoting, despite the seeming lack of interest amongst most people.  We need to be optimistic that peoples' attitudes will eventually change. 

Unfortunately, attitudes aren't changing radically enough to bring about the sort of chain reaction needed to alter today's fashion and make veganism the 'new way';  the spark that sets everything else off.  Environmental causes, health matters, even the problems of world hunger are always so 'humans' orientated that no room is left to emphasise the main issues concerning animals.  And if animals aren't targeted, we remain a species concerned only with our own interests.  We'll never go that essential further step, to see the ramifications of condoning animal slavery.  In fact, the root of most problems is Human Nature being too human-centred and unless we have the courage to deal with that aspect of our nature, nothing else can change thoroughly enough to secure the future of either our species or the planet itself.

Returning to the nuts and bolts of this 'tricky position' we vegans find ourselves in, we need to face a few initial blockages, in order to move past them.  Firstly, we keep our feet on the ground by realising just how unaware 99% of people still are about the level of animal cruelty involved in producing 'animal-derived foods' and the health problems associated with eating these foods.   We face apathy.  "The sun's hot, the water's cool, the beach is inviting.  Who gives a stuff about animals"?  And we face those who might feel compassion for animals but aren't ready to commit. "I admit it's a serious issue.  I'm listening.  I'm ready to consider.  I'll hear you out.  I'll try a plant-based diet - but I won't become an activist"!   There are many stages of acceptance which are still a long way from the sort of single-mindedness of the entirely convinced.  That is, being convinced that the vegan principle is the key to unblocking the path to greater things.  And unless we arrive at 'greater things', we are always going nowhere.

People have to first break down their mistrust and dislike of vegans.  If we can show an interest in them, trust grows and dislike diminishes.  If there's a spark of interest, or even a question, then we’re almost in business (unless they’re just being polite).  If they do provide us with an unguarded, intelligent question, it opens up the communication channels like nothing else.  It makes it no longer necessary for us to walk on eggshells.  If they take the initiative in asking, it makes our job that much easier.  No more needs to be done.  It's down to them to chew over (no pun intended) what we've been able to tell them.  

What we DON'T want in the early stages, is for the door to be closed in our faces as the result of our clumsy way of approaching people over animal-related issues.  "Once bitten twice shy" and the door may be closed on us for ever. 

Guarded curiosity

1535: 

I’d like to stand on a soap box, with microphone in hand, in front of a crowd of eager listeners, and speak my heart out.  But those days of soap box oratory are dead.  Today, we need to communicate in a more intimate way, in one-to-one conversations, about a whole range of related issues.  So, when talking casually-almost, when this subject of animal-use comes up (not necessarily introduced by us) our first words will probably set the tone of the whole conversation.

It’s obvious that vegans do significant things that others don’t do. That might provoke an interest.  I’m in luck if it does.  The conversation might go something like this:

“You’re a vegan then?”

“Yes”

“Why?”

“It’s something I feel passionately about”

         

If ever I get this far I’m usually tempted to go into too much detail, but that isn’t necessarily what anyone wants to hear, especially if it sounds as though I’m using their enquiry to start big-noting myself, bragging about my superior ethics.  As soon as ‘my passion’ is mentioned, I look like an animal-liberationist whose epithets they've heard so many times before.  In future, they’ll regret asking for fear of being bored witless.  Maybe they try to change the subject.  And soon enough we're talking about the weather, and then climate change, and then ... anything but the animal issues I'd hoped to start talking about.  This is the reason for not showing our hand too soon.

The conversation could go another way, where we meet provocation, first up:

“You’re what?” (said with mock surprise, implying madness, and meant to put me on the defensive).

Or, it could go another way, in a show of guarded interest:

“y….e .. s.  Go on” (hoping to pounce on my first foolish statement, so they can then go in for the kill).

So I'd prefer a more 'negative pitch' (sales lingo) and try to coax them into thinking I'm a bit vulnerable or a bit innocent - if I don’t seem too eager, then it’s not hard to lure almost anyone into asking me to explain myself.  And that is the original why-are-you-vegan question I really wanted to answer in the first place.

It often clear that there are curiosity and protection strategies going on here.  We see it all the time when it comes to animal-eating - people's need to justify themselves.  We also notice how people want to put a dampener on our righteousness, whilst at the same time wanting to find out things.  They’re curious.  But guarded.  We can never tell how curious people might be, or how genuine their curiosity, nor can we afford to waste any opportunity.

         

We need to be prepared to say what we stand for, and why, saying what we want to say confidently yet casually, informingly yet non-confrontationally – answering in such a way that leaves the other person interested and better informed, but not put off and NOT out-manoeuvred.

Going Public

1534: 

"All meatheads are murderers" - when we start hurling abuse in public it works wonders, in the short term.  At the time, it unifies fellow protesters and makes us all feel good, because it sounds brave and aims to strike fear into people’s hearts.  But unless we’re willing to continually escalate that approach, it loses its power and eventually fizzles out.  With any big- talk and threats, we make a rod for our own back.

The aim of any Animal Rights protest should be to win people over.  It should start with setting a good example, the same as we expect of others.  If we want to ‘go public’, we must be prepared to be cold shouldered.  We shouldn’t be upset if everyone ignores what we say. Most people are products of a powerful culture, imprinted from an early age, which tells us that animals are meant to be used - and following on from this, that the usable ones may be kept captive, killed and eaten. In the light of that culture, all animal-friendly arguments will appear ridiculous.

It’s possible for us to just push through, to keep talking past the silent treatment.  But perhaps that’s not the point.  Gone are the days when we casually bump into people on the street corner and converse with them on serious matters. Today's new ideas don’t circulate like that.  We could possibly find new ideas in the media, but that is too tightly controlled when it comes to this subject.  Social networks and the Internet are more informative, but on this subject no one wants the extra aggravation in their life - if it’s Animal Rights or veganism it spells something highly inconvenient, so any available information is often by-passed.  For us it’s always going to be a long haul for which we need the patient, step by step approach.  And the first step is the most important one - attempting to make that initial connection.

We need to show that we’re genuine.  Establish that and we're half way to making a connection.  Then we have to be ready to answer any question.  Then, if there are differences of opinion, we need to deal with that in a non-threatening way.  We need to come across as being interested in helping improve others’ lives, whilst at the same time wanting to liberate animals.  We should be seen to have no other agenda.

Awake

1533: 

As a vegan I sometimes feel like an alarm clock, resented for making an unwanted wake-up call, but later appreciated for the jolt given to the new day, for putting forward a new way of seeing things.

But there again, I often feel as if I’ve been thrown against the wall, so my bell no longer works and my timer’s stopped, and that’s because I haven’t learnt how NOT to make myself sound unpopular.  I often wonder whether we vegans are trying to wake people or alarm them.

As potential 'persuaders', vegans can sometimes be a bit heavy booted.  We always hope others will understand our good intentions, but we can come across like old time preachers.  The fact is that we don’t really know how to get hardened omnivores to like eating vegan food or like animals enough to make a few personal sacrifices.  We resort to finger wagging or disapproving or making value judgements, none of which have the intended effect.  We even give them the old “look-at-me-look-at-my-health-aren’t-I-the-clever-one” treatment, but that just seems like big noting ourselves.  All we can know for sure is that we must keep trying to break through, even though we keep failing.

Perhaps we need to kill off the strict, clean-living image.  We have to squash the idea that we are eaters of dull-but-nutritious food.  If it has to be about food, then we’ll get further by letting our friends taste what we eat, and get them to want to eat that way themselves.  Then let them see an attractive lifestyle.  And include in the mix that spark of pleasure we get, for having such strong arguments to hold on to, and finding it ridiculous to think any other way.  Ultimately we're aiming for something like a plan for Earth’s brilliant future, aiming as high as you can get, knowing it will happen that way, as in a self-fulfilling prophecy.

To carry that off, we need to be happy within ourselves, for the stand we’ve taken and the habits we’ve mastered, and the conventions we’ve overturned.  We shouldn’t need to push our point or seem desperate when arguing our case.  If we're already there, feeling safe and sure, then we can express ourselves best by showing a different sort of sensitivity.  We don’t need to draw attention to ourselves, especially by seeming better than anybody else.

But we do need to be seen as experimenters.  In that role, we might have to show off a bit, but only to better present some important life-saving ideas, as part of a grand plan.  And if this Grand Plan seems whacky (this preposterous idea of not using animals for anything) all we have to do is simply wait.  Show patience while we let the penny to drop.  Let the idea work for itself.

We don’t need to rush anyone (we'll only achieve the opposite).  No need to prove we’re different. No need to give anyone an excuse to stamp us as ‘crazy’.  Instead we can be like a radio station that's tuned into and out of, at will; we're simply presenting a good idea for improving the quality of life.  And if we're seen to be telling a good story, then it should be an integral part of social justice, about living harmlessly and respectfully.  From that reference point we can let people draw their own conclusions.

As an advocate for both animal and human welfare, our message should be simple, subtle and soft.  It should be about non-violent progress presented in subtle, persuasive ways without the use of sledge-hammer tactics or resorting to negative slogans, such as ‘meat is murder’. 

Silence

1532:

It’s only the quiet I can hear.  There's a conspiracy of silence surrounding the worst goings-on concerning animal exploitation, and it is so profound that the most outrageous stories go unheard.  People are ‘protected’ from knowing about animals being routinely attacked because the Animal Industries must always seem respectable.  On one level everyone knows about the cruelty inflicted on animals on a massive scale.  It happens everyday and everywhere.  But there's only silence because this is the ONE thing the gutless media will not report on.  They reveal bits and pieces but never enough to properly inform, certainly nothing to inflame ordinary people.  This is all about mutual-support - the public keeps the Media and the Animal Industry financed, their dollars being vital to keep the whole rotten show going.

         

The general public is given the impression that nothing bad is actually happening.  It might seem incredible that educated and otherwise well informed people believe it, but there’s so much conflicting information it’s hard to sort out what is true and what not.  Which is why most well-meaning people give up trying (or they don’t try very hard!) and revert to habit.  I suspect it’s the ordinary people, informed or otherwise, who’ll be most outraged when they eventually learn what’s really going on.  Once they realise they’ve been ‘protected from information’, they will almost certainly bring pressure for the authorities to reveal the scale of animal cruelty, and have it reported.  A scandal could stimulate an enquiry, which could take on a momentum all its own, showing a cover- up which, once rolling, would give the media something to get its teeth into.  They’ll see the possibilities in the story outweigh the pressure put on them to remain silent by the Animal Industry lobby.

Although animal cruelty might constitute the scandal, it’s more likely that the cover up itself could be the bigger story.  It might start out with uncovering the disastrous health consequences of animal food and, with the added cruelty factor, it could prove too much to sweep under the carpet.  Out of this could come a widespread determination to clean up the mess, once and for all.  It’s the cover-up that will outrage people who’ve been kept in the dark over the sorts of places the animals (they eat) come from.  This is the sort of cover-up that no one would want to pass on to future generations.

For our kids to be ‘information protected’ might be bad enough but the cost of producing ever-scarcer food to feed animals, and then only for these animals to be eaten, would infuriate most thinking people.  It would be seen as such an obvious waste of our resources.

         

The way that the Animal Industries have spoiled the quality of the lives of people for the sake of making profits is almost as cynical as the horror of animal cruelty itself.  But out of this is the trigger for a whole generation of people to take a much closer, dispassionate look at human nature, and to realise that the human isn't to be trusted around animals.  Once we accept this, then it's only a matter of time before the Animal Industry goes bust.

At this time it would be to everyone’s advantage if there were vegans ‘available’ with some useful information to help with the transition to plant-based food and clothing – imagine how foolish we’d look if we were, at this point, still angry, frustrated, aggressive and generally critical.  How, instead of feeling angry at people’s behaviour now, vegans could look ahead, to be in the best position to be useful, and to alert people.  Inform them, answer their questions and provide practical assistance.

Especially for the sake of the animals, present day vegans might want it all to happen now, but in reality it will almost certainly come to a head later, because so many things have to happen before our brave and talented journalist is found, who would write the story.  We can’t hurry the process too much just as we can’t go up to people and shake them, much as we’d like to.  So, how do we set the approach roads, so that those who are interested will feel safe, and those who are hostile are kept calm?  How do we help people understand what’s happening?

Overall, it's likely that if we seem helpful we’ll be listened to.  If we appear angry we’ll turn people away.

1531: Posted Sunday 1st November

Keeping people in the dark

Any self-respecting journalist knows how much damage they do by omitting vital information from stories about animals used for food.  It suits them to do so.

The worst omissions damage the most impressionable minds.  Children and young people will unknowingly imprint whatever information they pick up and base their habits on what they think is the truth.  But there's misinformation and a lot of subjective misleading 'harming of their defence', which they 'later come to rely on' for their own safety and well being.  For people in general and especially for kids, to be ‘information protected’ like this is bad enough, but there's yet another dimension to consider, in a world of food shortage.  The cost of wastefully producing vast amounts of food to feed to animals, so they can then be eaten by over-fed humans, is an obscene waste of precious resources.  It's the most inefficient way to feed people.

The silence and the cover-up, the unremarked waste and cruelty, the deliberate duping of people - all this is essential for keeping the Animal Industries on 'life support'.  Eventually they probably know that the truth will eventually come out, but I suppose they hope to make their pile before they just cut and run.

         

If exposed, once exposed, the full story will tell us how humans are not to be trusted around animals.  Both consumers and producers alike contribute to widespread, routine animal exploitation.  Once that is fully understood by the majority of people, the system will surely start to fail.  As markets fail, as people desert the (animal-product-producing) Industry, so it will be unable to provide the animal products people are used to.  At affordable prices.  And so the widespread transition to a plant-based lifestyles will start to take place.

It occurs to me that, at this point, vegans would be in a position to provide valuable practical assistance.  But so many things have to happen before that - first the full truth told in a major exposé.  And before any respected, talented journalist writes that essential story, the ground must be laid by ordinary animal advocates, to show that we haven't been duped and that not everyone is incapable of acting on principle.  One of the main jobs for vegans around the world is, at this early stage, simply to rattle cages - to catch the eye of the public.

Then it's up to the professional communicators to go to work, filling in all the empty spaces, BUT this can only be done by the talented writers to come, who themselves are already enlightened by vegan principle and been practising vegans for long enough to be true to their word.