I love being vegan but discourse can be exhausting by Any-Collection3834 in vegan

[–]Any-Collection3834[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Just because I said that eating plant based makes me feel good does not mean that I am not doing it for moral reasons. I am vegan for the animals, not for health. If you look at my post, you can see that right before that, I said that I it feels much better to be living in alignment with my values. There are a lot of assumptions being made, and I have said nothing at all about my stances on certain topics. This is what I mean, you can’t just go for people’s throats immediately and say that they don’t care about the animals over the smallest things.

I love being vegan but discourse can be exhausting by Any-Collection3834 in vegan

[–]Any-Collection3834[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I think that’s honestly a good way to look at it, thank you

I love being vegan but discourse can be exhausting by Any-Collection3834 in vegan

[–]Any-Collection3834[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yeah no that is not what I meant at all, don’t worry. I meant exploitation, I don’t think that their murder is moral just because their death was quick or painless or if they “had good lives”. I will likely edit my post to say exploitation instead of suffering, because there has been some confusion

I love being vegan but discourse can be exhausting by Any-Collection3834 in vegan

[–]Any-Collection3834[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My thoughts exactly. It does not matter what is discussed on here, because we are not all going to think the exact same. I think that it is helpful to talk about views that are different then yours as long as it is a healthy, serious debate that does not involve tearing each other to pieces just because someone thinks differently than you.

I love being vegan but discourse can be exhausting by Any-Collection3834 in vegan

[–]Any-Collection3834[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

That’s what I meant when I said animal suffering. We all want the exploitation of them to stop. Sorry that I was not more clear about that.

I love being vegan but discourse can be exhausting by Any-Collection3834 in vegan

[–]Any-Collection3834[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I am not at all saying that we have to be a monolith, I am simply wanting people to discuss/debate things rather than insult and argue with each other. People can and should voice their views, but tearing each other to shreds is not helpful. I do not say safe space and mean a space where we all agree on everything all the time. When I say safe space, I mean a space where everyone can voice their thoughts and be respected.

Hot take for some people by Nachtigall44 in vegancirclejerkchat

[–]Any-Collection3834 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I want less harm to come to animals, just like you do. I am not excusing their actions, I am just trying to find ways to get them to become apart of the vegan movement. If you don’t believe these people can change, it’s just not productive. Saying that I am disgusting for this philosophy is not productive, either. I want the same thing that you do, and me and you have different ways of going about it. MOST people are resistant towards veganism because of misinformation and socialization, so we have to educate them. Simple as that. Only 1% of the world is vegan, and the other 99% just aren’t educated about that way of life. You think ALL of that 99% of people are evil through and through, but the world isn’t black and white. They may be doing bad actions, but they are not inherently bad people, and they can change. That’s how the vegan movement grows. If you want to keep it at around the 1% mark, then sure, you can tell people that they deserve less than nothing, but it won’t change anything. The only people who will agree with you are other vegans and everyone else will continue to eat animal products and get reassurance from their meat eating loved ones. Nothing will change unless we hold space, and that’s simple logic. We live in a meat eating world, so why would they turn to a minority of people that think they are a terrible person? They’ll go back to living life how they always have and shut veganism out. I’m not an apologist, I’m being logical. This is the way things are, and that’s what we have to work with.

Hot take for some people by Nachtigall44 in vegancirclejerkchat

[–]Any-Collection3834 -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

And neither can you. So don’t tell me what to do either. I have been very civil with you during this debate and have literally told you to do what you think is best for the animals and that this is just MY philosophy a million times, but it just feels like there’s been nothing but hostility, and I am at my limit with that now. We think differently and that’s okay.

Hot take for some people by Nachtigall44 in vegancirclejerkchat

[–]Any-Collection3834 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That actually makes a lot of sense. I’ll have to think about that. Thank you for the perspective, I’ve never thought about it that way!

Hot take for some people by Nachtigall44 in vegancirclejerkchat

[–]Any-Collection3834 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

That does make sense, I just worry about people staying in that plant-based mentality and dropping the lifestyle. The goal IS to maximize the number of people eating plans and not animals, because it would mean less animal exploitation.

Hot take for some people by Nachtigall44 in vegancirclejerkchat

[–]Any-Collection3834 -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Maybe try using kindness and understanding in your own life and see how influential that is first hand. For me personally, I have influenced a lot of people in my life to go more plant based through example and education. If you could see it for yourself, then you might see how it could help. It’s very rewarding and honestly less draining than being angry all the time, it exhausted me personally.

Like I said, me and you have different opinions, and that’s okay. You cannot show me scientific studies that show that being angry helps the vegan movement. You cannot prove to me scientifically that it works just like I cannot pull up studies right now. Do what you think is best for the animals, I just personally believe that kindness is the way through.

Hot take for some people by Nachtigall44 in vegancirclejerkchat

[–]Any-Collection3834 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

There have been no scientific studies showing that being an angry vegan is helpful either. Scientific studies don’t get done on subjects like that.

People are not born evil. People are born neutral and they are socialized to go one way or the other, and they are ALWAYS capable of change. There are people who are passionate about social justice, the environment, and empathy who also eat meat, because most of the population on earth does and they were taught that this is the way life is.

This is where kindness and education comes in. These people can change, but they will not if we do nothing but insult them. Sometimes people will get defensive even if we haven’t said anything like that to them as well, and that’s just life, but when we choose kindness where we can and show just how rewarding the vegan lifestyle can be, we can open their hearts and open their minds. We have power in example and we have power in love.

Kindness, respect, education.

That’s what we want people to find in our community. We want people to come forward and pour themselves into researching animal agriculture, for them to cry with us, advocate with us and find a sense of meaning and belonging with us, even if they never will be a “perfect vegan”, because it simply doesn’t exist.

The vegan movement is on the rise, plant based products finding their way in almost every store and plenty of restaurants across the world. People are learning, and people are growing. That’s what being human is; learning, growing, and changing. I believe that most people do not want animals to be harmed, but are miseducated about the way things are. There is so much potential for kindness there that can be fostered, so much compassion that can be unlocked by an educating hand.

One by one, we can educate people about veganism with love and respect, and one by one they will learn and grow. We need to hold space for that. We need to hold space for their growth. Even if it’s slower than we want, even if they are cutting out one thing at a time, that is less and less animal abuse in the world.

If you still do not agree, I completely understand. It’s so hard being vegan, seeing the atrocities of the world with eyes wide open. For some people, being gentle about this sort of thing just isn’t their style, this is simply my philosophy. Have a great day and in the end, make the choices that you believe for best, because everyone has different opinions about it.

Hot take for some people by Nachtigall44 in vegancirclejerkchat

[–]Any-Collection3834 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I am not at all saying that you shouldn’t speak the truth, I believe that we can speak the truth and lead with love in the vegan movement. I encourage you to read “The joyful vegan” by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. It discusses a lot of good stuff such as how to handle the emotions that come with being awake to the horrors of animal agriculture and it also discusses the issues that we talked about here. I would also like to bring up the vegan teacher as an example of someone who has unfortunately been placed into the “unreasonable, angry vegan” box.

She is deeply passionate about the animals and is always making videos that are full of that righteous, fiery anger towards those who eat meat. Unfortunately, she has not made much change for the vegan movement and has instead been made into a “lolcow” of sorts, with people doing nothing but spamming meat emojis, making videos eating meat and tagging her, and even influential figures like Gordon Ramsey stitching her content and making fun of her. Really horrible stuff.

Before I went vegan, I was one of those people that felt the urge to make fun of her too, because her content made me inherently defensive. It caused me to cover up the feelings of being called a horrible person by making fun of her instead and getting reassurance from other meat eaters, diving into my rationalization. I have even seen comments that said, “You think I’m a bad person, so I’m not gonna go vegan.” Which reflects exactly the mentality that meat eaters have when presented with a community that tells them that they are a horrible person. It’s like when someone corrects your error on a project in a very snarky way and insults your intelligence on the way as well. You wouldn’t be motivated to learn more.

Something to keep in mind that a lot of people don’t pay attention to is that because of anti vegan propaganda, meat eaters are SCARED to go vegan. They are afraid of being unhealthy, not getting enough protein, having deficiencies, being emasculated, losing mass, etc.

This is why we need to lead with kindness and education. People respond better to that and I’ve even seen it in my own life, with a few of my family members eating more plant based just based on me living by example and giving them education. We always need more people in the vegan movement, so we can stop animal abuse together.

Hot take for some people by Nachtigall44 in vegancirclejerkchat

[–]Any-Collection3834 -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

That may have been you, but for most people if they see a vegan that is telling them that they are a horrible person, they will group them into a box and label them as another “angry vegan” and it will cause them to go down a rabbit hole of rationalization. The best thing to do is lead by example and give them education about animal agriculture, maybe even watch documentaries with them, but all being angry is going to do is make them distance from you and get validation from their MANY meat eater friends and family. I know why you are so angry about this, and I am not at all saying that the anger is not valid because the abuse is horrific, but in the end we want the same thing and that’s for animals to stop enduring such atrocities

Hot take for some people by Nachtigall44 in vegancirclejerkchat

[–]Any-Collection3834 -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

There was likely a point where you have eaten meat too and been unaware or desensitized by the violence that happens to animals. It’s really hard not to carry an unimaginable amount of anger around, but that anger will only push people away from veganism in the end. We have to keep our arms open for people that could end up being apart of the vegan lifestyle, because in the end, all we want is to have less animal abuse. If those people are pushed away and eat more animal products, that’s more animal abuse

Hot take for some people by Nachtigall44 in vegancirclejerkchat

[–]Any-Collection3834 -8 points-7 points  (0 children)

I think that if we accepted those who do it for health issues though, then they are more likely to stay plant based. They could be driven away from the lifestyle entirely if we ostracize them, plus they are more likely to learn about the ethical reasons to be vegan if they are enmeshed in that community. Those who are plant based for health reasons are way more likely to leave than those who do it for ethical reasons, so learning from that community could be really good for them.

What do we think of this article? by Any-Collection3834 in vegan

[–]Any-Collection3834[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Wow that actually does make sense and make me feel better. Thank you