F*** The Vegan Police

Insufferable vegans only harm their movement. Judgmental, idealogical hardliners seldom change people’s minds–particularly when fear isn’t an available motivator. It’s time to revolutionize vegan evangelism with a compassionate, empathetic approach tailored towards the mindset of an inherently anthropocentric world.

The new term “plant-based” didn’t spring up from nowhere. Some vegans understand that they have a PR problem. The “V word” has become a politically loaded term– so much so that some food brands are dropping the word “vegan” from their packaging and opting instead for “plant-based.” This semantic work-around is a response to years of negative publicity from insufferable vegan ideologues.

Idealogical groups usually end up cannibalising each other, as exemplified by many political and religious groups throughout modern world history. At the risk of sounding cliche, finding common ground is almost always the more productive route.

For Best Results, Compromise

When you consider the result of your attitude and actions, you will see that a gentler, more moderate approach to activism will yield greater benefits for your cause.

Tobias Leenaert of VeganStrategist.org, uses the example of the “great vegetarian burger and the awful vegan burger” in his book How to Create a Vegan World: a Pragmatic Approach.

Envisage a situation in which you can buy a lunch for a really hungry nonvegan friend, whom we’ll call Bill. The restaurant offers two meatless choices: a great-tasting vegetarian burger (it has some egg in it to bind it), and a terrible-tasting vegan burger. Which one do you pick? From an idealistic viewpoint, you may reason that you cannot allow yourself to buy or even recommend anything nonvegan. Pragmatically, you may decide that if Bill eats the bad vegan burger, he may undergo an experience that will literally and metaphorically leave a negative taste in his mouth. This may make Bill less likely to become more open to trying other vegan products and to lose his “veg prejudice” in the future. Eating a tasty vegetarian burger, on the other hand, would mean some complicity in animal suffering, but the psychological effect of a person thinking Is that meat free? That’s yummy! is probably much more catalytic and valuable in the long run.

How to Create a Vegan World: a Pragmatic Approach (page 25), Tobias Leenaert

Public Opinion Changes Slowly

Change rarely happens overnight, and even the staunchest activists have to coexist with the rest of the world. The most effective human rights campaigns are won with positivity and a peaceful coexistence with the rest of society. Historically, marginalized ethnic/religious minorities, racial groups, and sexual orientations gain public favor when the majority population deems them harmless. Fear instigates hate. And people hate vegans. Not because they fear them, but rather they fear being subjected to uncomfortable conversations, insufferably judgmental rants, and even threats to their business or way of life. Vegans need to ease their way into the hearts and minds of the moderate, omnivorous public.

Not Vegan Enough

The best way for vegans to ensure that they’ll never see a vegan world is to hold newcomers to an impossible standard. Shunning honey, pet ownership, second-hand leather, and backyard egg-laying hens only serves as an idealogical barrier to the moderate, yet veg curious individual. The vegan police keep people out, when the whole idea is to keep them in.

Ethical Veganism as a Spiritual Movement

Pragmatism is effective and great, but it’s also boring. What about the people who are looking for a spiritual and ethical movement? Is there such a thing as being too pragmatic? 

The idealogical and pragmatic sides of the vegan/plant-based movement can and should coexist. There’s nothing wrong with gaining spiritual fulfillment from the practice of ahimsa, the Buddhist, Hindu and Jain tradition of not wishing harm to any living creature. The personal benefits of practicing universal benevolence gives veganism much of its allure and staying power, and should not go under-appreciated for the sake of dry, soulless pragmatism.

The Bottom-Line: No one is going to become convinced with the same arguments, and no one is going to be persuaded by only one argument. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to eliminating unnecessary animal suffering.

Health reasons. Environmental reasons. Ethical reasons. Spiritual reasons…They’re all good reasons.

Misanthropy is a demon that must be purged from vegan movement. Real vegans keep humans within their circle of compassion–and simply not eating people isn’t enough. We must not turn our backs on our own species, even as our own species turns its back on others.