Thoughts on veganism (and capitalism in general)

[leejooheon]

I somehow managed to come across some vegan discourse, and it left me with some thoughts.

A lot of people who complain about veganism are so genuinely misinformed about it. Like, veganism is sustainable and the way animal products are produced is not only harmful to the enviroment but also objectively unethical.

At the same time though, there are definitely vegans who are crossing the line, pushy, and very disrespectful with people for simply eating their cultural foods, or being tone deaf by calling it "animal slavery" or comparing it to things like the holocaust. Animal abuse is horrific, but comparing it to racial issues has some really chilling implications.

I don't think eating animals is unethical by itself, it's literally a part of life that is undeniable. But the state of animal agriculture is abhorrent and in a perfect world, we simply would not eat as much animal products as we currently do. The reality is that in a sustainable world we would not be treating animals as commodities.

That being said, most people are obviously not going to go vegan or involve themselves in any activism. And I do not believe this makes anyone evil, so a lot of the guilt tripping really bothers me, it's not going to make people want to get involved. And even vegans consume products made through exploitation, because almost everything we consume is made unethically, and I just don't find it feasible for people to try and cut off everything damaging that they consume. At the end of the day, it's the fault of corporations, and the average consumer doesn't do much of a difference.

I think a helpful approach is to encourage harm reduction in every way an individual is willing and able to. Maybe cutting off animal products is too overwhelming, but there are other ways to include enviromentalism in your life. Buying food locally is also much better in general. That still isn't going to change the world, and so I don't think individuals should be held responsible, but at least it minimizes it. Idk what the solution to these large problems would be when corporations are not going to stop any time soon, it really does feel like the world is just doomed.

Comments

[adore]

yeah, it's the way animals are farmed for their meat in factory production lines that makes the meat industry more unethical and unsustainable than it ever was. cultures that eat meat are typically cultures that don't have alternate protein sources or even alternate food sources. like, lentils aren't going to grow in greenland.