Why you should be a vegan
Life from the perspective of a vegan.
By Andree Sophia on Wednesday, February 18th, 2009 - 712 words.
I’m a vegan animal rights activist. I have a big mouth. I speak up against animal cruelty and expose the truth. I sometimes get feedback from offended omnivores or even other vegans who believe that animal rights activists often go to far when trying to defend animals. I don’t like hurting peoples’ feelings but I must admit that I get carried away at times and say things that are shocking to others who don’t share the same values. I’m provocative. But it’s all for a good cause.
I think the problem is that most people have absolutely no idea about what it is to be an ethical vegan and therefore can’t understand those outbursts. Even vegans/vegetarians argue on what is ok or wrong to do when it comes to expressing opinions on animal rights issues. I can only speak for myself but I’m sure many vegans feel the same way… so here it goes.
Being an animal rights activist, to me veganism is not just about a lifestyle or a diet. It’s about how I value living beings and the importance I give them. Veganism is a way of living at peace with the world. There’s not one single day where I don’t think about the billions of animals that are being killed unnecessarily for food and clothing. I’ve seen the pictures, I’ve seen the videos, I’ve pet animals that were tortured, I’ve talked to the media about it, I’ve shouted out the atrocities on bullhorns.Fighting animal cruelty is a mission I have and I think about it every single day. When I walk down the street, when I buy food, when I watch TV, when I read the newspaper.
I understand that omnivores can be defensive and offended when they’re confronted by passionate vegans…but what about the animals that are being killed at this very moment? Who are the actual victims here?
Today I walked downtown and saw four women with fur coats and dozens of people with fur trim on their winter jackets. Do you have any idea what goes on in my mind when I see a fur coat? I think of the 50 animals that were killed for that ugly luxury! I think of them being anally and vaginally electrocuted. I think of them being skinned alive and bludgeoned to death. I feel horrible when I walk by those women without saying anything. I’ve let down those 50 animals that were killed for vanity.
I was shopping for a jacket today and couldn’t help but notice that awful leather jacket a man was wearing next to me. Actually I didn’t see a leather jacket, I saw a cow’s skin on a tall man.
When I go to the groceries I see dead flesh wrapped in plastic. I see milks cartons and think about the veal that was taken away and later killed. When I go to the restaurant and read the word chicken on the menu I think of hens playing and chatting together and then I see their bodies in plates.
Sometimes I manage to think about something else. But sometimes I dwell on it and start thinking about what more I can do to help. And sometimes I feel so powerless and depressed that I feel like I’m letting animals down.
Not all vegans are like that. Some go on with their everyday lives satisfied with the fact that they do not participate in this cruelty but don’t take part in any kind of outreach. That’s not enough for me. I must speak up for animals and expose the cruelty and try to make a difference.
Sometimes I get carried away and say things that are offensive but true. Let’s be honest here. It’s true that millions of animals are being torture and killed unnecessarily everyday and that it’s absolutely unacceptable. It’s true that being vegan is the best way to end this cruelty.
So I can understand why a passionate vegan would say those kinds of things tot omnivores. It’s not the most compassionate way to be. But nobody’s perfect, right? At least no living being was torture or killed in the process. So in the name of all Vegans With Big Mouths I’d like to apologize if you’ve been offended. But for Christ’s sake why don’t you go vegan! It would solve the problem!
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Why you should be a vegan
Life from the perspective of a vegan. …
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"Let’s be honest here. It’s true that millions of animals are being torture and killed unnecessarily everyday and that it’s absolutely unacceptable. It’s true that being vegan is the best way to end this cruelty."
since we're being honest…it's also true that the vast majority of humans on the earth simply don't care which is reflected by the statistic that only about 4% of north americans are vegetarian and about 1% vegan
i'm vegan, as are my wife and two daughters – have been for about 5 years
while 'meet your meat' was all it took for my wife and i to make the plunge from full on meat eaters to full on vegan basically overnight, i've found that the vast majority of people i've talked to about it don't really care about animal rights – hell many people don't even care much about human rights, so animal rights is a bit of a stretch for them
most of my friends care more about the health and environmental impacts of meat eating, and it seems more an more people are concerned with the health impacts – as highlighted so recently by oprah's "vegan cleanse"
while i find it irritating, i think that we vegans have the greatest potential for influence in that last category – personal greed – another fine example is that nampoor woman who won sexiest vegan – she's apparently the most powerful woman in bollywood atm – no small thing considering that bollywood revenues are ten times that of hollywood revenues – i was very happen when i saw that news piece and thought of the tens of millions of young girls who want to be just like her because of the shallow reason of thinking she's beautiful
while i'd rather people become vegan because they realize that chopping sentient beings into little bloody pieces then eating them is morally wrong, i'll take any converts i can get, and i think personal greed has more potential for converts – "skinny bitch" and oprah and peta's sexiest vegan are, i think, onto something.
i just say all this to increase your potential for converts by customizing your pitch to the level of the individual – i've found that for most people animal rights arguments have the least potential
Kareena Kapoor*
By all means be a vegan. But don't shout in my face. Don't blackmail me. Don't assume that because you believe in something, I should too. And give me credit for making up my own mind about what I should eat.
And, if really, all you see when you walk down the street are references to animal products, I suggest (and this is said without a trace of flippancy or even irony, and with your best interests at heart) you see a psychiatrist as soon as possible.
I have been a vegan activist for almost 14 years. I feel exactly as you do in what you wrote above. I have put many people off with my outspokenness in the early years, just as I have created many vegans and vegetarians. Over the past 6 or 7 years, I have toned things down a lot. I continue to promote veganism but without being in people's face about it. The sustained effort over years is powerful. It also sends a message to those who have known me for years that veganism is the right way to live.
Having empathy for the most marginalized and brutalized members of our society does NOT warrant going to 'see a psychiatrist'.
Anyone that educates themselves about how we treat the billions of other species on the planet and 'makes up their own mind' to still eat meat is either an expert at justification or a sociopath.
Great article Andree…the animals can't speak for themselves so keep using your big mouth:)))
Well, well. A classic Animal Rights Extremist response. Don't like what I say, so resort to name calling. For the record, my exhortation to see a psychiatrist was in response to a comment about seeing references to animals when walking down the street, NOT because of empathy with anything. And if we're talking of sociopaths, how about the ARE's who rob graves to blackmail the living relatives, or who send razor blades through the post to researchers, or burn down the homes of people they don't like?
And at the last count their were a shade under 1.6 million species on earth….but accuracy with facts never was an ARE strongpoint
I guess it's easy to ignore the suffering you see walking down the street if you stay ignorant about it Fred, but you can't honestly say that you agree or support the atrocities that happen to animals in the name of our consumerist society. Look around… animal products ARE everywhere, and it's sickening. It is outrageous to me to think that people can love their dogs and cats in their homes, and sit down to eat a steak or chicken and not see the connection.. it sounds more like denial to me!
Congratulations for making your own choices on what you eat… but are they ethical ones? No one is asking you to believe something (unless that you believe in animal cruelty), all that you need to think about is right and wrong. Is it RIGHT that helpless earthlings are suffering everyday when there are countless ethical and cruelty free options?
At least Andree and other activists like myself are trying to better our planet! The ARE's and the awful things you're talking about aren't ok, neither is sweatshop labour, or genocide… But what are YOU doing to stop any of it? Do you do your part? I know that I don't suggest that one form of suffering in the world is worse then another, so I do my best to educate where I can, and where is needed. No one can do everything, but you can do your part to stop suffering on the planet, and until you do your part, you have no spot to criticize.
Great article Andree! Well written! You took the words out of my mouth.
REMINDER : Arguing on the internet is like running in the Special Olympics…Even if you win, you're still retarded.
sea4….thanks for the heads up. You're quite right (if a tad politically incorrect)…I'll leave the loonies to their psychopathy and go and do something more useful!
If you ask me, you are the extremist in this argument, Fred. Andree Sophia wasn't trying to "blackmail" you, as you put it. Why does a person standing up for animals after conducting their own research make you so angry and defensive? If we can't have a society open to debate and discussion, then what can we have?
I wonder if you think that anyone who disagrees with you is "loony" or "psychopathic." Those are strong words.
here's the thing…non-vegans think it's some kind of style choice like you like blue shirts and i happen to like pink ones, and i shouldn't try to get you to wear pink ones just because i do.
it's not a style choice that causes most people to become vegan – it's a moral choice
to me, the morality of the issue is more similar to this example:
you like to eat severely mentally handicapped human beings
i think it's wrong and therefore do not
i will do absolutely everything in my power to stop you from eating mentally handicapped human beings because i believe it's morally wrong of you to do so and because it's morally wrong for me to stand by and let you
future generations will look back in horror at the unbelievable wrongness of eating animals for no other reason than flavor – just like we now look back in horror at the practice of owning and breeding slaves
Yup, I think you shouldn't waste your time bashing around here. You didn't want to debate but to argue which is a total loss of time. Sorry Fred…but hope you enjoyed the rest of your day. Don't be mistaken I totally support what Andrée wrote. I totally support ALF, ARM, SHAC, Sea Sheperd & co. You've got the right to express yourself in a respectful way…but you didn't, hence my comment.
As the local religious nut, I want to express my sympathy for vegans. I feel your pain, for we share one thing in common, and that is having to endure the mockery of arrogant and willfully ignorant naysayers who don't even want to try and understand.
I believe animals have souls, perhaps less developed, and that no mammal should ever be subjected to torture and murder. Though I don't have a problem with hunting for survival, as long as the balance of the local eco-system is respected. After all, hunting is part of the natural order. Factory farming, on the other hand, is an unholy abomination.
With fish I think you may be pushing it most of the time, though. At that point you may as well begin arguing the merits of eating living plants (did you know that plants hooked up to polygraph machines register extreme stress in the vicinity of fire?) I'm not even sure it is possible to torture fish. So I am a fish-a-tarian myself.
I am also a proud vegan and agree with everything the author so eloquently delinated in this article. I believe that many factors contributed to my cholce to become a strict vegan. Health, environment, and especially, animal rights led me to the best choice for me. I will admit that I wish everyone would see what I see and believe what I believe, but that will never happen. I'm sure anyone deeply deciated to any cause will admit that! But until that day, I take solace in the fact that maybe one person will read this article and take a step towards a vegan lifestyle.
Good article Andree. Funnily enough, the bit I liked best was the bit that caused Fred to lose so much sleep over your mental well being. The whole point (Fred) seems to be that Andree's conviction gives her a different perspective on the humdrum treadmill of fur coats, leather jackets, supermarkets and restaurants. She's choosing to see the world differently. She's giving it meaning. So put the psychiatrist talk someplace else.
Having said that I'd like to make a few points against the vegan comment tide.
1. "Veganism is a way of living at peace with the world." So is omnivorism. I take on your point about animals for clothing. I take on your point about unnessecary cruelty and overkilling caused by the cruel and fuctuating demands of the market. But surely there is an in between? Where there are international laws to regulate the killing of animals: only for food, in sustainable numbers, minimum pain.
2. Jess, "empathy for the most marginalized and brutalized members of our society "? I'm sorry but I do resent this blurring of boundaries. A society is the "customs and organisation of a civilised group of people" (OED). And this error- a lapse of concentration I'm sure- points to a broader disingenuousness: the anthropomorphising of animals…
3. "people can love their dogs and cats in their homes" I know there are many kinds of love. But it always struck me that there was a lot of projection going on with pets. I mean, you can love a person or a thing. (OED again Im afraid) Another person can reciprocate. The two of you both love. You are on equal footing. Equal, as in the same. As in the same species. When you love a thing, you are projecting yourself onto it. Like loving a handbag. (not a leather one I take it, Andree) You are in love with illusions that you have created. You are in love with yourself. Its like narcissism. Isn't loving an animal more like loving a thing, than a person?
You're asking humans to care about animal lives when they don't care about human lives? Good luck.
You're a vegan. Good for you. It's cool that you care for animals, we all should-now more than ever.
But I want to ask you something (and this isn't rhetorical by any means).
Do you hold the value of a human life equal to that of an animal's life?
Cause if the answer is 'No' , then don't you think that your activism would be better channeled towards "Human Rights" and saving "Human lives". What humans do to each other around the world is at often times equivalent or worse than what they do to animals. And there are countless people suffering and dying everyday.
That said, of course there is a need to protect animals. But I would tackle it from more of a "saving habitat" front. For that's where the most damage is being done, when the homes of wild life are being destroyed on a massive scale. And because I'm more worried about our effect on the planet as a whole.
It's just that I so dig the passion within people who care about the world. But as their numbers are so little, we need them to focus on having a bigger impact since the world's leaping towards oblivion every day.
As for eating. Well, technically we fall under the category of animals too. And there's the whole food chain business, starting from the plants up to the carnivores to us. Plus you say you're "fascinated by the differences between cultures"—–this is a culture thing.
And hey, you also said "Chris'ts sake". You know he wasn't a vegan
.
Andrée, I read your essay and thought I would share a few personal thoughts (en anglais): Thank you for your time taken to write down your thoughts.
Andrée, I read your essay and thought I would share a few personal thoughts (en anglais): Thank you for your time taken to write down your thoughts.
I met a pansy yesterday; he was crying his eyes out by the garden. When I asked him what was so distressing him, he said 'my other pansy friends and I were having a gab in the sunshine and blowing in the breeze with some grass when all of a sudden somebody ripped us out by the roots and didn't give tuppence that they were hurting us and letting us bleed our life-giving waters into the stinging chlorinated waters in the vase.'
Being a pansy myself, I know what its like to have other people say hurtful, hateful and spiteful things to me about matters that are really not theirs to decide without caring a whittle that I might have feelings too. It is an easy thing to cast aspersions at people we deem by our own standards to be Untermenschen.
A druid will not cut a tree or snip a rose until asking the Spirit of the Forest and Fields for the blessing and the right to cut down that which is living and green. I think this is a sensible approach.
In a glat-kosher slaughterhouse, the highly ritualized and scrutinized shechita (slaughter) of an acceptable animal is done by a shochet with much care and devotion to The Faith and the life of the animal, such that it "offends not The Father." Indeed, next to freshly broken glass, the ritual knife of the Shochet is one of the sharpest surface known and the 'one stroke' rule is such that the animal simply loses consciousness during the prayers and laying-on of hands to comfort it.
I'm an unrepentant and grateful meat-eater. I like my Ontario Beef (Prime Rib Roast) rare, et je fais un rôti de lard comme le façon que j'appris de mon grand-maman Tessier, née dans le village de St. Marc-des-Carrières, CO. Portneuf. I serve local turkey with gratitude for Canadian Thanksgiving and use the left-overs to make nutritious food for my loving dog. I buy my meat for my table and my business through a responsible supplier that I personally know and I have been present during slaughter as is custom for the men in my family who are chefs and highly trained butchers.
A different perspective on animal cruelty: I knew a family who tried to enforce a vegan diet on their puppy – a wonderful happy English Bull Terrier. Poor dog; they killed it within three weeks from malnutrition. They said it was toxicity from meat in the dog's system. I need to gag, excuse me.
What I find most amusing is that rather than be sucked into the maelstrom of your anger, I can remain quite calm and pleasant and invariably end up saying "look who's doing all the shouting" at so-called 'activists'. I don't need a bullhorn to make my point or express passion. I use the pen and the word in any number of languages I am pleased to speak, quite successfully so.
Some Anglophones often yell at my French-only or Norwegian-only speaking family or friends; yelling at somebody who doesn't speak your language or understand you doesn't make them understand better; it only makes the person doing the yelling look aggressive and lacking in perspective and the ability to rationally make one's point.
Some vegans or vegetarians are quite social with me and cast not judgements on my free choice. In turn, I am enabled to respect their choice.
In my private life, I unquestionably believe in the Doctrine of Transubstantiation and in a loving Creator that frees me of guilt and anger. Ergo by extention of your thesis, am I not culpable of eating meat through The Host (sic. Flesh) and therefore should immediately stop this my bounden duty by my own free choice as a Canadian who choses what and how to worship? You're brash! And your apologia is flawed by guilt and a rage that has you poisoned to the point that you resort to swearing, much like the soldiers I served with, defending innocent children from the murderous Provisional IRA in Northern Ireland in the 1970's. Yes, I have quite a history, don't I? Wisdom and Age are the gifts of Time.
Nei-Nei my child, you nor your kind shall not dictate to this free spirit or to the customers I thankfully serve who are grateful for my skills and caring devotion to my art. I'll go on eating my Ontario-raised meat and poultry, enjoying my Ontario-grown vegetables and fruits, and feeding my beautiful and unconditionally loving Red Setter, his favourite Ontario venison and Ontario duck. And I remember to be grateful to the Almighty Creator whom I choose to call God that He blessed ALL OF US in Canada with the freedom of choice and all good things to eat as we so please.
For most of the vegans I know, the suffering of animals is not taken as a bigger deal than the suffering of animals. Most of us are Human Rights activists as well (Myself included). As for spending energy of saving humans who are starving instead, why not do BOTH by being vegan. Agribusiness uses 80% of all of the farming land in the world to produce grains for ANIMALS FOR SLAUGHTER. By not supporting the agribusiness, you are saying "hey thats not really ok that we are using most of our farming land to grow food to give to an over-populated animal population just *JUST* so they can be slaughtered for our wonderful over-indulging consumerist society". Stop using those grains to feed the animals that were only created to kill, and you could solve world hunger 4 times over. Talk about kiling two birds with one stone (metaphorically of couse
).
See the thing is, if we were only consuming meat to be satisfied, we wouldn't be in this predicament in the first place. If we all chose to go to our local farmers markets instead of the chain superstores that are supplied by factory farms we wouldn't be in this predicament. If we all still had to find our food and hunt it and slaughter it and skin it and drain the blood from its body ourselves, we wouldn't be in this predicament. Im sure there is a middle ground somewhere Max, but it is long long gone, along with all the farming families, and surviving just on what you need. I'm definitely not saying we shouldn't indulge once in a while.. but we shouldn't be able to indulge to the point that we can go to the grocery store and see hundreds of dead animals chopped up into cuts and ground into slop. As long as you are buying meat from there, you are supporting agribusiness. Plain and simple.
As for the religion argument, I find it to be quite a coincidence that our society was brought up on Christian ideal, and that Christianity is THE ONLY main religion that believes that animals don't have souls and that God put them here for our use. You think your all mighty God created animals for you to torture? To use for whatever you see fit? To over-breed and let other people in the world suffer so that the top 20% of people in the word can eat and buy whatever they want while the 80% live off of nothing and starve to death…? Some god.. Funny that there aren't factory farms in other countries based on religions that think Animals have souls, and deserve good treatment. And when there is a slaughtering taking place it is done ceremonially, and the animal is blessed, and it only done out of need and offered.. NOT WANT, and greed, and and other basis of the crummy ideals that we live off of.. Have what you what when you want…
Really interesting debate I’d never really thought of treating animals as moral equals but I think it makes logical sense
Veganism is a just another religion that proselytizes.
This is an interesting article and discussion.
However, I don't think that the arguments put forward justify "Why you should be a vegan". I think it is possible to agree with most of the arguments that are made in the article without being a vegan – just by being opposed to animal cruelty.
For example, I think the case against eggs from battery hens is pretty strong. I am less persuaded that it is wrong to eat eggs from the free-range chickens living in your backyard.
I don't mean to say that the argument for veganism can't be made – I just don't think it is here. I would be interested in a follow up article explaining why it is always wrong to consume animal products, even where the animal is killed cleanly. I don't think you can convert people to a cause unless you are willing to take on the difficult arguments against you- if a cow is hit by a truck and killed, why is it wrong to butcher it and eat the meat?
MattK mentions that he sees the logical sense in treating animals as moral equals. I'd like to see this logic set out thoroughly. If, hypothetically, a choice has to be made between the life of one human and the life of 5 cows, very few people would choose the cows. Yet if they are moral equals, isn't it preferable to save the greater number? Again, I don't mean to say that this argument can't be made – just that I don't see it here.
Although the vegan/vegetarian movement is noble, and worthy of respect, it is not what humanity needs right now.
Animals never will and never have been the equals to humans. The animal rights movement is not what humanity needs at the present because while cute puppies are rescued to safe homes, millions of children starve in slums, thousands of women are violently raped in war-torn Africa, and countless numbers of people are imprisoned because of what they think. We could reap so many fruit if the energy of this movement were channeled into ideas and causes that liberate THIS species! How can we, especially we of the rich countries, focus millions on animal "rights" when many of our own, conscient species, do not even know the idea of political freedom? This is only the reactionary elements that pervade modern society — with successful thinking, we can change our sights to a better future.
I can relate to every single word andree. I feel that same unsettling feeling each time i see people chomping down on flesh, drinking down cow excretions(milk), wearing skin or applying makeup which was tested on animals. While I feel the same outrage, i've learned to channel that frustration into doing my best when and where I can to help those who need it. I've realised that feeling sad and angry and helpless was not a good feeling. In time i've learned to pick and choose my battles and do everything and anything I can.. But i've also learned to relax and take a deep breath and laugh and enjoy life.
I choose to lead by example, encourage people to make changes and promote veganism, vegetarianims and getting involved in activism as user friendly. I think in this day and age people are bombarded with information and images, advertisements and sales… I find that people are more receptive to this information when presented in positive, user-friendly and fun ways. We can't just condemn people, we need to explain why certain actions and products are problematic and present easy alternatives and solutions. We must realize that nothing nor nobody is perfect.. however we must strive to do our best to enjoy our own lives, while living as ethically as possible.
In time people will come to see animals oppression as they see all other oppressions.. it won't happen over night… but its happening! We see fur stores going bankrupt, companies being sued for coruption or fraud.. we see people being charged with animal cruelty after they are exposed.. We also see vegetarian and vegan restaurants popping up in our cities, farm sanctuaries welcoming beautiful rescued animals a new home! The Obama's are adopting a rescued dog, Oprah went vegan, Ellen and her wife went vegan, We are getting closer and closer to stopping Canada's Commercial Seal Slaughter. Fast food companies are feeling pressure to change their killing methods. Grocery stores, restaurants and cafes are offering new vegan products, soy milks and healthier snacks.. There is a shift going on.. its happening.. and we are all part of it!
I am proud of you Andree, and all of you using your voice to speak up! This fight is far from over, but we must never give up! We must fight cruelty with our compassion! We must be passionate! Determined! Focused! We will win this fight.. its only a matter of time.
I encourage everyong to check out http://www.goveg.com for a wake up call. While the information can be depressing, don't let it consume you. Acknowledge the problems and choose to be part of the solution.
For the animals,
Lucas Solowey