What is Veganism? Vegan Philosophy, Lifestyle, and Values Explained

Veganism is often misunderstood, and from what I have observed in the last few years, I can surely say that most non-vegans and anti-vegans who hate veganism or label it “pop culture” or a “trend” don’t even know what veganism really means. Now, to answer the question,

What Really is Veganism?

Veganism is mostly a cause, a lifestyle, and say, a philosophy according to which we strive to stop animal abuse and reduce the suffering of sentient beings as much as we can.

There are several arguments against veganism, but if you give it enough thought, you would know that none of those arguments really hold true. Irrespective of what your idea of how life began on Earth, we can all agree that this planet is not a place meant for human beings alone; non-human animals are also born on this same planet, and have the right to live, like we do. We have taken this planet, nature, and the lives of billions of animals for granted, and that is why we are suffering today — clue: climate crisis.

Back in the ancient times, hunter gatherers might have relied mostly on meat, but today, given the abundance of resources we all have, it is fact that we do not need meat and milk products. This is what veganism fights — causing unnecessary suffering and abusing animals.

Choose Cruelty-free Options — Let’s make the world a Better Place

Reducing The Suffering of Sentient Beings:

The keyword in the vegan stance is “sentient”. Without giving it a minute or two, you could easily make a (dumb) joke that vegans are also harming and killing plants, so how is veganism acceptable? As mentioned earlier, the keyword is “sentience”. Plants are living things but are not sentient, meaning, plants can’t feel pain or emotions.

Non-human animals, on the other hand, are sentient creatures like you and me. They experience and feel pain. Would you be able to feel pain when someone smacks you in the face? Yes, all non-human animals, irrespective of their species, can feel pain likewise. Imagine being killed using a big, sharp sword, when you are helpless and begging for mercy. Imagine your private parts being hurt repeatedly. Imagine being compelled to go through pregnancy over and over, only for your children to be stolen away from you, to be treated (harassed) exactly the way you were treated all long. How does that make you feel?

Another surprising fact: Non-human animals experience emotions, love, hurt, grief, and depression, too. You can easily imagine a dog being grief-ridden when the dog’s master/owner/parent/child (a puppy)/mate dies. We see posts like this often on media and social media. But what makes us think that only dogs are capable of so much of love? That, again, is our ignorance. Not just animals like dogs and cats that we have been conditioned to think of as “cute”, “loving”, “cool” and “adorable”, all sentient beings can also feel love for one another, experience joy and happiness, feel sad, hurt, anxious, and even depressed. This means, cows, chickens, goats, fish, pigs, rabbits, rats, and all such land animals and sea animals can feel physical pain and emotional pain like we do. Their pain is very similar to the pain we would feel when tortured. They have flight-or-fight responses, too. They have defenses and self-protective nature, too. In all these ways, non-human animals are like us. They just can’t express it the way we do because they don’t communicate the way we do; that doesn’t mean that we get the right to torture them.

Pigs raised in a Pig Farm — Animals Experience Love and Pain, too

Vegan Lifestyle: Billions of animals are abused, tortured, and killed everyday. this happens in multiple forms — for clothing and dressing, for entertainment and sports, and mostly for food. Vegans, therefore, refuse to buy or consume or support any product or service that comes from animal abuse. Vegans don’t eat meat, drink milk, and consume other animal products such as eggs, honey, etc., don’t participate in or pay for sports and entertainment activities like horse-racing, bull-fighting, fishing, hunting, animal circus, etc., and don’t buy animal products like fur, wool, leather, etc.

Why is it so hard to go Vegan?

While it could be easy to give up on clothing, cosmetics, entertainment, and sports for most rational people, it is hard when it comes to food that most non-vegans refuse to go vegan. In my opinion, there are three reasons for this.

1. We are made to believe that meat, milk, and eggs (and for vegetarians, milk) are absolutely necessary for a “balanced diet”, to be hale and healthy. Several studies have been done on this subject, revealing the benefits and harm of consuming these foods. Doctors are also made to believe the same. But the question here is not about the nutrients present in meat, milk, and eggs. If meat and eggs were absolutely necessary, how have vegetarians been living this far — vegetarians must have perished. And if milk, curd, butter, and cheese were a must for being healthy, then how are vegans alive?
2. We love our food choices so much that we don’t want to be rational. Food is not just for hunger satisfaction. Most of us love tasty food and are food lovers or “foodies”. Binge-eating is common. Food is a pleasure, and we enjoy food so much that we consider food probably the most satisfying comfort. As though this is not enough, food is also closely associated with our religious beliefs, cultural preferences, family upbringing, and our ideas of right and wrong. We are so attached to our favorite foods and staple foods that we don’t want anybody telling us what to eat and what not to eat.
3. Let’s admit it, most of us resist change. It’s less about not being biased and seeing the truth for what it is and more about sticking to our comfort zone and justifying our actions and ways. But certain changes are necessary for overall well-being and equality, and while it could be easy to call others out when we think they are wrong, shouldn’t we also be open to change ourselves?

Do any of these “reasons” justify abuse, ask yourself. The honest, rational, and moral answer would be no. Period. That is why vegans happens to be vegan.

Go Vegan today!

This is not a subject that most of us are familiar with. We are not taught about animal abuse, sustainability, equality, etc. in school. While there are hundreds of thousands of activists to speak up against social injustice in other forms such as capitalism, casteism, patriarchy, racism, Islamophobia, queerphobia, and such, there is not enough awareness about veganism yet.

It is understandable if you are not yet familiar with veganism and have questions. The goal of this post was to only explain what veganism is and why we should go vegan if we care about justice, freedom, kindness, and rights. There are several questions that are often asked by people who are new to veganism or are in the transitioning phase. In this page, we will try to answer as many as possible.

Hope you found this read useful! 😊 💚