A Late Night Thread
Thinking aloud about the difference between vegans and non-vegans
Visit activeplantbased for professional help and plant-based nutrition training.
Thinking out loud
I was pondering this question a lot and whether this is true or is false.
The hypothesis is “The difference between a vegan human and a non-vegan human is information.”
Earnestly, what do you think?
All key questions
- Does personality, willingness to change, discipline, education and money play a fundamental role when it comes to people choosing to go vegan?
- Are these factors utterly irrelevant when we’re talking about animals suffering and dying for humans to enjoy?
- Do people not choose veganism because they lack knowledge and insight?
- Or are they pure evil ignoring the pain of billions of innocent animals?
- What about your friends and family, who we love and respect?
- Is it right to think badly of people who just don’t know enough, when it took me 20 years to grasp the principle behind animals being used for profit?
- What do you think?
Now, I know there’s a lot to consider, generally speaking.
I know that some people embrace change more than others, are more empathic, enjoy cooking more, have more money, enjoy higher education, are more disciplined, or all of those combined. The list goes on. Some factors I don’t even know of most likely play significant roles.
Now I also know that the interest of people lies in different areas. One might care more about health, and the other might care about moral principles and nothing else. That’s normal and fine, of course.
Yet, I cannot help feeling like these pre-determining factors seem utterly irrelevant once you get an insight into (intensive) animal farming and the principle behind that. Once you get the philosophy…
The simple fact that a sentient being’s life is ended so I can chew on it seems delusional and bizarre now.
(Side note: I’m not talking about a village man living in who-knows-where who has nothing else to survive and thrive on. And I’m not talking about any other extreme case or exceptional situation. I’m talking about “us”, who can enjoy alternatives, and have no real need for, e. g., animal protein, much like not needing to hunt, make a fire and collect berries. We’re a far cry from cave dwellers and situations like these.)
The point is; (And I might be naive here, so help me out). I think that once I have all the information and “why”s that I need to go vegan, I have no other choice, mentally, but to refuse eating/wearing/using animals (for profit). It seems so logical a step to me, one that comes without effort.
I think that when a person doesn’t choose veganism, they haven’t been provided (or researched) details in areas that would (potentially) matter to them.
The other option seems far-fetched: People being just pure and plain evil and ignoring the pain of billions of innocent animals. I cannot possibly think that. I know for a fact that that isn’t valid.
(Another side note: Sure, a minority of not-so-sane people enjoy torturing animals, but I’m -again- not talking about those cases on the extremes.)
I’m talking about charming people, like family members and friends. I respect and love these people. And I think they aren’t vegan because they lack information in a crucial area that would embrace change.
And how could I think ill about people (whether I know or don’t know them) who don’t know how to do better (yet)? It’s like being mad at a baby for being unable to talk. It’s a process of learning. And, after all, you don’t know what you don’t know.
I needed more than 20 years to learn that an animal is a living being and not a commodity for me to use as I wish to. I loved all animals and ate and wore them, too, hypocrisy or not.
My question is: Do I have an error in reasoning? Isn’t information the difference between plant-based and non-plant-based eaters? If not, what is the difference?
What do you think?
