Is Leading By Example Enough, Though?
As I read this post, I immediately understood the sentiment. As an ethical vegan, I know how frustrating — and at times, embarrassing — it can be to feel lumped into the category of ‘angry, militant vegan’. Veganism is a way to live compassionately; it’s a way to align your actions with your beliefs. To me, veganism is the best way to take control of my own contributions to this world, when so much of society seems to be spiraling out of control.
For a long time, I wanted to distance myself from the type of vegan that spoke up at a meat-eater’s dinner table, or blurted a statistic about the production of milk when someone put cream in their coffee. I, much like you, wanted to simply lead by example. I believed that if people saw me as a healthy young person who could live without meat (and in my case, without dairy), then they would be inspired to lessen their consumption as well. After all, for most of my life I was a meat-eater raised by a vegan mother, and I respected my mom for not pushing her lifestyle on me.
For a long time, I never wanted to inform someone of the realities of food labelling when they’d justify their meat eating by saying, “I only buy organic, free-range meat, though.” I would politely nod and tell them that was a good step and a much better alternative than buying from places that use gestation crates or battery cages. Unfortunately, I was always left feeling like I had somehow copped out. I realized that I was silencing myself, silencing the realities of animal agriculture, in order to maintain someone else’s comfort.
In a time when 98% of meat and dairy comes from factory farms, and animal agriculture has again and again been proved to be a leading cause of climate change and environmental destruction, is quietly nodding and approving of people’s outrageous volume of meat eating still acceptable? Is leading by example the right strategy, or in a few decades when trillions (literally, trillions) more animals have been slaughtered and our rainforests have been left ravaged for the sake of livestock, will we regret only trying to be an example of what could have been a healthier, cleaner future?
Humanity regards non-human animal life as basically worthless. We cage them, prod them, artificially inseminate them, kill their offspring so we can hoover their milk, and deprive them of the ability to express their natural tendencies. Our meat and dairy eating society demands we view living beings as commodities. We’ve done this before throughout history. We once enslaved black human beings, deprived them of their families, of space, of a life free from suffering at our hands. Would the abolitionists have been successful leading by example, by simply not owning slaves? Or was it MLK Jr. that demanded civil disobedience? Not only speaking out against the atrocities, but demanding it in the damn streets. Now, before anyone becomes outraged in my comparison of the two: yes, I know these are different situations, different species, different movements. But the foundation of viewing ‘other’ as ‘lesser’ still rings absolutely true. So as billions of animals a year continue to be enslaved for human consumption, should we not blatantly speak out against the cruelty, environmental devastation, and health risks?
I shook my fear of being categorized as a militant vegan by defining that term in my own way. Will I publicly shame a person who eats meat if they are unaware of the various implications their diet has on animals and the world? Absolutely not, but I will open up a discussion. Will I blame inner city families who are surrounded by fast food and don’t have the capacity to dramatically change their lifestyles immediately? Absolutely not, and the vegan movement will need to address this type of systemic classism. Will I refuse to associate with anyone that isn’t vegan? Absolutely not; I will act as an educator when they have questions. Will I say that people that eat meat deserve to die a gruesome death? Absolutely not. However, if people that knowingly contribute to the gruesome treatment of non-human animals defend their meat eating because of taste or convenience, it is our duty to speak out. It is our duty to educate and inform. It is our duty to be a voice for the environment, the sentient beings tortured for human consumption, and for the planet. Personally boycotting animal products so as to not contribute is merely non-participation, but there needs to be action.
Speaking out against atrocities does not mean looking down at everyone who is not vegan yet. It means giving a voice to those that do not have one in society. We cannot silence the message and valid reasoning for veganism just because we don’t want others to feel guilty. It’s not how change happens, and it’s sure as hell not what ethical veganism (or vegetarianism, although the hypocrisy of ethical vegetarianism is a whole other subject) is about.
The fact that a politician wants to advertise against meat eating is beautiful. It’s progressive, and bold, and it’s what every ethical eater should be doing. It does not shame people, but it demands people to take a look at their actions and place them in a broader context of society. What ARE the implications for eating meat? What choices do we have? Is there a better way?
As I said, I was you at one time. I allowed others to remain comfortably unaware of their habits because I did not want to make them feel badly. I did not want to seem to have a superiority complex. That’s not what veganism is about. Veganism isn’t just a choice to abstain, it is a call to action. Leading by example is a good start. It’s a personal start. But it is just that — a start. If you truly believe in abstaining from eating animals, if you think your reasons are valid, then please, do not remain a silent and anonymous person. We have too many people remaining silent already. Redefine what it means to be a militant vegan (in your case, vegetarian?) so that you do not alienate others, but please, do not silence yourself for fear of offending.
