TDLR: Be more supportive towards other vegans to reduce burnout in the community.
Rant incoming:
I wish the Direct Vegans would be more supportive of the friendly vegans as all forms of activism are valid and needed. It can be difficult enough being ostracized by your carnist friends and family for doing the right thing only to be met with the same treatment from your fellow vegans only because they’re doing things differently (Not everyone is capable of doing disruptive protests as they take a lot of energy) Burnout is a serious problem in the vegan community, as not being supported is the number 1 reason why people quit being vegan.
Some vegans say just focus on the animals not health or the environmental aspects while ethics is important to bring up we need to focus on the whole picture. Some carnists are more likely to be swayed by health or environmental reasons, so its important to focus on those when discussing the matter with them. Some carnists need to have a baseline of knowledge before they feel ready to make the switch (it would be daunting to change if they didn’t have someone polite walking through the beginning) then once they know we bring in the cold hard facts of how the animals are being treated in animal agriculture and now they have more options in reducing suffering in their minds instead of just “more free range family farms” or “we need to hunt more”
We need vegans doing street outreach, running petitions, writing to their representatives, creating flyers, organizing groups, teaching others how to cook ethically, filming documentaries, writing news articles, requesting vegan options, volunteering at sanctuaries, running fediverse instances.
No one has the right to tell your form of activism for the animals is pointless because it is making a difference.
We should be supportive of one another not dismissive of anyone’s form of activism. We need to save each other’s energy as much as possible because we all get enough flak as is.
If you believe your form of activism is really successful, please use suggestive tone as it more respectful towards everyone’s different situations.
+1 to health/environment reasons first, then animal rights.
I used to be one of those carnists who refused to care and justified my choices in stupid ways. I made the switch to vegetarianism for environmental reasons, and once I did that I had no reason to ignore animal abuse.
I became vegan for animal rights.
I think the argument made that rich people don’t deserve to be rich because it’s an accident of birth should apply to animals. It’s an accident of birth that they’re born into factory farms and know only suffering, our struggles for liberty are bound up with theirs. This world is cruel and we have a lot of privilege we can use to do a whole lot of good.