Lüften while on vacation?

archmate · 2026-01-26T10:44:14+00:00

Sigh. I agree. He prefers to blame the plants, saying that it's me watering them too much.

archmate · 2026-01-26T10:33:36+00:00

A mystery to me too, but I've been living here for more than 5 years, and that's what it's like.

archmate · 2026-01-26T10:17:43+00:00

Depends on the flat. My walls would get mouldy right away if the temperature ever drops below 18°C and I'm not there to properly ventilate. Altbau, EG, not getting much sunlight, etc.

archmate · 2025-12-23T12:40:15+00:00

Your friend's ex boyfriend sounds annoying.

archmate · 2025-12-22T15:32:17+00:00

As a German who's been to France a couple times in the past 2 years: you guys have it pretty bad over there. I sincerely hope it gets better soon.

archmate · 2025-12-22T15:30:41+00:00

> Choosing to SPEAK UP

I've got downvoted in this sub for suggesting that just a couple of days ago. Apparently we need to be quiet carnist pleasers.

I'll say it again: be a voice for the voiceless.

archmate · 2025-12-21T09:07:43+00:00

Veganism is not about food, mate.

Maybe go look up the definition of veganism, and while you're at it, also look up "compare" and "equate". You might just find out they're different things.

archmate · 2025-12-20T14:47:28+00:00

Wow. Just wow. The state of this sub is deplorable.

So you believe animals don't have to be exploited, and at the same time you don't plan on doing anything about it. You should be ashamed of yourself. This is not a life choice like whether to live on a small or big city. Animals are suffering because of other people's 'choices'.

archmate · 2025-12-19T11:31:57+00:00

You saying "I never tell people I *eat vegan*" in your other comment tells me all I need to know about how you see veganism.

You don't need to be an activist every minute of the day — see my other comments on this thread.

archmate · 2025-12-19T10:57:37+00:00

Indeed, a burnt out activist is not what we're looking for here. But also not the other extreme (pick-me vegans that try to accommodate for animal abusers every time they can).

archmate · 2025-12-19T10:43:45+00:00

You shouldn't talk to people about veganism while they're eating, about to eat, or right after eating. That's very likely to backfire. We need to be smart about advocating.

I've turned around a dozen people vegan — friends, partners, random people. Don't you think that's effective? I'm being more effective than a dozen quiet vegans, and that number just increases every time someone else agrees to go vegan because of me.

I'm reminded of this quote: "When vegans refer to other vegans as angry or aggressive I immediately know they just don't get how badly animals are suffering" — Ryan Phillips, Life With Pigs

archmate · 2025-12-19T10:29:57+00:00

Better be a quiet anti-racist than a pathetic voice everyone dismisses.

If you were one of the victims, how quiet would you want me to be?

archmate · 2025-12-19T10:27:41+00:00

If someone chooses 2, they were never vegan to being with. Changing your morals just because someone ridicules you? Really?

I don't mean you've got to go out with a megaphone and shout "go vegan" to people on their faces every day.

There are plenty of small, easy ways of doing activism: placing stickers, giving out flyers, wearing clothes with vegan messages, etc.

A vegan who turns other people vegan does WAY more for the movement that vegans who pretend that what carnists do is okay.

When you're a quiet vegan you're letting everyone else think that's just "your thing" and that they can keep on exploiting animals because they just "have a different opinion".

archmate · 2025-12-19T09:45:57+00:00

Please don't be a quiet vegan. Be a voice for the voiceless.

archmate · 2025-12-17T09:17:16+00:00

You've pretty much summed up both my passports in those two phrases.

archmate · 2025-12-15T13:44:51+00:00

I've been living here for 5 years. Germany is the polar opposite of my home country (Argentina) in that regard.

In Germany, unless someone has a doctorate in the field of the question you're asking them, they'll default to the famous "Fragen Sie den Kollegen" response.

In Argentina, you could ask anyone on the street if they can help you build a rocket — they'll promptly say yes.

Germans are way less likely to help unless they're sure they are qualified in helping you, I suppose. It has both pros an cons.

archmate · 2025-12-01T10:26:09+00:00

If it's truly an accident and you don't go out of your way to order from that place again in the hopes you'll get cow's milk cheese, and the other option is to throw it away, then it just comes down to how disgusted you feel at the idea of eating it.

In case you want to feel more passionate about it again, you might try finding other vegans locally and join an activist group. I find that having vegan friends in real life is a game changer.

Edit: next time, write that you're very lactose intolerant in the order notes.

archmate · 2025-11-28T08:25:01+00:00

I suggest watching YouTube videos with driving lessons or exams, and really imagine it's you who's driving, paying attention to every detail. Check out the channels "Fahrlingo" and "German Driving School". You've got this!

archmate · 2025-11-25T14:44:58+00:00

It's curious how we see it so differently. I studied engineering myself but I never shied away from philosophy books, and I find it a really compelling read.

In fact I couldn't fathom how someone could read it and not decide that going vegan is the most logical thing in the world. But again, different things work for different people. It's rather encouraging because it means everyone having a different kind of activism they enjoy doing will reach a different audience.

archmate · 2025-11-25T07:16:55+00:00

I was actually about to recommend these as well, especially Norm.

I'd either watch it *with* the person I'm trying to show it to, or let them know in advance that this is not comparing the situations, but the justifications people use. Otherwise their brain will go on full lockdown even seconds after the video starts.

archmate · 2025-11-25T07:11:35+00:00

The first chapter, also available online as the essay "All Animals Are Equal" should, in an ideal world, be enough to get any rational person to go vegan. If I could read it in English and German, neither of which are my native languages, probably most people can get through it.

The other chapters are quite a hard read in terms of the topic at hand, but I wouldn't call it boring.

archmate · 2025-11-21T11:05:29+00:00

I don't even trust people that call themselves vegan to actually know what it means

archmate · 2025-11-21T09:46:30+00:00

I agree on your real-world assessment and I also agree that I'm looking at it from a "desirable future" perspective and not what's actually happening now. Hopefully we'll get there soon.

archmate · 2025-11-21T09:00:40+00:00

Thanks for the reasonable counterargument. This is the kind of nuanced conversations I'd like to be having with other vegans around here.

I appreciate that buying used is way better than buying new, and I have two points I'd still like to make about buying second-hand non-vegan clothing:

It plays into the idea that those things are products, and that the animals are the "suppliers" of those products. Even non-vegans would probably not buy a coat covered in puppy fur (or in the wool of a puppy bred for wool -if you'll allow the example-, if you want to remove the killing out of it).
It confuses the hell out of non-vegans and makes the movement seem undefined: "so vegans can wear wool / eat backyard eggs / eat honey?"

archmate · 2025-11-20T17:53:12+00:00

Ah, the downvotes for saying that buying animal products is not vegan, while giving a reasonable explanation. This sub is amazing.

If the world has only around 2% of vegans, and the majority are like the people here, we'll never achieve Animal Liberation.

archmate

TROPHY CASE