I often ponder how humans think (or don’t). Personally, I gather as much knowledge as I can in every second of every day. I try very hard to have an open mind and be willing to change when faced with information that contradicts my previously-held beliefs.
People say weird things to vegans, many people feel instantly defensive (because they ‘know’ deep down and it comes from inside them, not the vegan). Statements like “you can’t make me vegan” or “don’t push your beliefs on me” (whether on not you even actually SAID anything lol).
Of course I can’t make anyone vegan! I also can’t make people not abuse children, or rape women, or not be racist, etc. But when I woke up to the horrible behavior I was displaying in pure selfish ignorance I changed. People like me are grateful to ‘know’ because we care more about being a decent and informed human than we care about following along with society’s illnesses and violence.
Beyond just normal FB paranoia there is excess paranoia with vegan posts – anyone not vegan will likely feel you are targeting them. I have been posting the same stuff for over 12 years now and not one person who has come or gone has changed that or will EVER change that. I am here for one reason and one reason only, and there is ZERO doubt in an exploding vegan population that we ARE changing the world!
Veganism is just the basis of decency – same as not abusing children…it does not make me special, I am only meeting the bare minimum of not being a discriminatory animal-torturer.
There is a meme I have seen and it makes some sense…replace the words in the sentence:
“I could never be ____ [vegan]”
Replace that with any of these words/phrases: compassionate, kind, aware, informed, against animal abuse, against discrimination, etc.
e.g. “I could never be against animal abuse.”
That is how people sound to vegans. It is incredulous to us. People and the smugness some demonstrate regarding their societal training is scary. It tells me that they would be harming my family too and not giving a shit if they didn’t directly know me…as we know animal agriculture is destroying so many families...of all species, including human.
There is nothing to be ‘smug’ about in not being vegan. There really are 3 scenarios
1. vegan (of course)
2. completely uniformed of the impact they are having and the terrible behavior they support and therefore feel very justified by their trained behaviors (but being ignorant actually isn’t OK in my book)
3. understanding the impact and the terrible behavior and not changing (well - with no apology - then you are just not a very good person to participate in such abhorrent behaviors).
That’s it – all 3 choices. There are no others. I choose vegan.
What is the quote?
“Your response when you found out how badly you were behaving speaks volumes about your character?”
Or something like that anyways…
It doesn’t reflect at all on me if someone isn’t vegan. This reflects only on them. My values are iron strong and I don’t need anyone’s assurance about differentiating RIGHT from WRONG. So, while others are feeling smug about behaving in ways I would NEVER knowingly behave, I’m likewise would have to admit to feeling a bit smug in these situations that I am far better than that.
