Being vegan is easy. Are there social pressures that encourage you to continue to eat, wear, and use animal products? Of course there are. But in a patriarchal, racist, homophobic, and ableist society, there are social pressures to participate and engage in sexism, racism, homophobia, and ableism. At some point, you have to decide who you are and what matters morally to you. And once you decide that you regard victimizing vulnerable nonhumans is not morally acceptable, it is easy to go and stay vegan
rights slavery life wisdom education racism inspirational-quotes justice animals sexism abolition abolitionist ahimsa exploitation francione nonviolence nonviolence-jainism peace-making peace-movement peace-on-earth sentience veganism classism heterosexism moral-obligation speciesism vulnerable
Ethical veganism results in a profound revolution within the individual; a complete rejection of the paradigm of oppression and violence that she has been taught from childhood to accept as the natural order. It changes her life and the lives of those with whom she shares this vision of nonviolence. Ethical veganism is anything but passive; on the contrary, it is the active refusal to cooperate with injustice
rights health slavery life wisdom extinction education racism inspirational-quotes justice animals sexism abolition abolitionist ahimsa exploitation francione nonviolence nonviolence-jainism peace-making peace-movement peace-on-earth sentience veganism classism heterosexism moral-obligation speciesism vulnerable climate-change global-warming
We should always be clear that animal exploitation is wrong because it involves speciesism. And speciesism is wrong because, like racism, sexism, homophobia, anti-semitism, classism, and all other forms of human discrimination, speciesism involves violence inflicted on members of the moral community where that infliction of violence cannot be morally justified. But that means that those of us who oppose speciesism necessarily oppose discrimination against humans. It makes no sense to say that speciesism is wrong because it is like racism (or any other form of discrimination) but that we do not have a position about racism. We do. We should be opposed to it and we should always be clear about that.
Ethical veganism represents a commitment to nonviolence.
Any serious social, political, and economic change must include veganism.
If we take the position that an assessment that veganism is morally preferable to vegetarianism is not possible because we are all on our own journey, then moral assessment becomes completely impossible or is speciesist. It is impossible because if we are all on our own journey, then there is nothing to say to the racist, sexist, anti-semite, homophobe, etc. If we say that those forms of discrimination are morally bad, but, with respect to animals, we are all on our own journey and we cannot make moral assessments about, for instance, dairy consumption, then we are simply being speciesist and not applying the same moral analysis to nonhumans that we apply to the human context.
An abolitionist is, as I have developed that notion, one who (1) maintains that we cannot justify animal use, however humane it may be; (2) rejects welfare campaigns that seek more humane exploitation, or single-issue campaigns that seek to portray one form of animal exploitation as morally worse than other forms of animal exploitation (e.g., a campaign that seeks to distinguish fur from wool or leather); and (3) regards veganism, or the complete rejection of the consumption or use of any animal products, as a moral baseline. An abolitionist regards creative, nonviolent vegan education as the primary form of activism, because she understands that the paradigm will not shift until we address demand and educate people to stop thinking of animals as things we eat, wear, or use as our resources.
I am opposed to animal welfare campaigns for two reasons. First, if animal use cannot be morally justified, then we ought to be clear about that, and advocate for no use. Although rape and child molestation are ubiquitous, we do not have campaigns for humane rape or humane child molestation. We condemn it all. We should do the same with respect to animal exploitation. Second, animal welfare reform does not provide significant protection for animal interests. Animals are chattel property; they are economic commodities. Given this status and the reality of markets, the level of protection provided by animal welfare will generally be limited to what promotes efficient exploitation. That is, we will protect animal interests to the extent that it provides an economic benefit.
rights health slavery life wisdom extinction education racism inspirational-quotes justice animals welfare sexism abolition abolitionist ahimsa exploitation francione nonviolence nonviolence-jainism peace-making peace-movement peace-on-earth sentience veganism classism heterosexism moral-obligation speciesism vulnerable climate-change global-warming
Forty-two years after Dr. King was murdered, we are still a nation of inequality. People of color, women, gays, lesbians, and others are still treated as second-class citizens. Yes, things have changed but we have still not achieved equality among all humans. And nonhuman animals continue to be chattel property without any inherent value.
racism animals sexism heterosexism speciesism
The models we have, and the standards we are expected to maintain, come to us via heterosexuality as a normative state. Heterosexuality--whatever the current version of that concept happens to be--is unremarkable because it is the standard by which everything else is measured. That is heterosexual privilege.
sexuality heterosexism privilege heterosexuality
We should never present flesh as somehow morally distinguishable from dairy. To the extent it is morally wrong to eat flesh, it is as morally wrong and possibly more morally wrong to consume dairy
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