For all vegans

[Amber Lynn]

I am an anthropology major in my senior year, and I have been conducting research on veganism. This semester I am examining what it means to be vegan. So for anyone who'd like to respond, and possibly be included in my research, I just would like to hear why everyone became vegan. What factors were involved in making the big leap to veganism. Also, what does it mean for you to be vegan? I find that veganism is a very personal thing for a lot of people, so what does it mean? Is it really just about the animal, or is that just where it begins?

Feel free to talk as long as you would like, I am really interested in this. I will probably post more questions later.
:)

[pradtf]

amber,

vegan means i don't take something that belongs to another sentient being. the concept makes sense since presumably as a sentient being myself, i wouldn't have it otherwise.

there is no 'big leap' to veganism. it is the only way once one understands that symbiosis is preferable to parasitism and that other beings actually do have interests and therefore merit due consideration. admittedly though, that acknowledgement may be a bit of a leap for some.

you can see a bit of my trip to becoming vegan here (though it does have a dietary slant to it):
http://towardsfreedom.com/pun/viewtopic.php?id=37
there are others in that thread as well who's stories may be of interest to you.

in friendship,
prad

[pradtf]

> Fjord's stories are really astounding.
yes they are. but you have to know that fjord never really became a vegan. he was an almost vegetarian who would occasionally eat meat if it was offered because he felt he could communicate with those that did and bring up the vegetarian issue. nor was he really an animal rights activist. he was a very kind and compassionate fellow who managed as albert schweitzer said to 'extend his circle' to include some other species.

> I am finding that the realities of what is done to animals seems to be the ultimate factor in making the
> switch to veganism and vegetarianism.
i think that is a very powerful motivator for some.

> however, I have found that there are so many more issues associated with veganism. Vegans are usually
> advocates of fair trade, sustainability, environmental preservation, etc etc.
> In my experience they also tend to be more aware not only of the consequences of their actions
> down the line, but also about politics and how people are being affected all around the world.
i think your observations are generally quite correct. part of the reason has to do with a willingness to find out what is happening rather than thinking that reality consists of only what we see around us.

> So I suppose my question is do people become vegan in part for these reasons?
yes, but also no. it depends upon the order of priority for which there seem to be 3 main pillars Health, Environment, Ethics (HEE). your ethical vegans of course are mostly motivated by what is done to animals, but that may not be the case for those who become vegan for environmental considerations or health reasons. i myself became vegan for nutritional reason and am sorry to say that i really didn't care about what happened to animals - i had to learn to become more ethical.

but you see, this really isn't vegan so much as it is vegetarian (or dietary vegan). similarly, an environmental vegan may be primarily concerned in preserving the habitat regardless of what happens to its inhabitants. some environmental vegans may think that they are doing their part by not supporting the meat industry, but would have no objection to hunters killing for food as long as there is no environmental impact.

again, this really isn't in the spirit of veganism, imho - though their personal actions may appear to be so.

> Or is becoming vegan a gateway to knowledge that is not at all mainstream?
> If it is so much more than animal rights, which I believe it ultimately is,
> why is that the only consistent contributing factor I receive?
as i wrote above: "vegan means i don't take something that belongs to another sentient being." the reason vegan is so closely tied in with animals is because animals are on the low end of the sentience spectrum. hence, if you can respect the rights of animals, presumably you can do so for humans as well, therefore fair trade, social justice (ie anti-racism, feminism, anti-childlabor, speciesism) and even environmentalism (the assumption being that a sentient being of any species, should live in its appropriate environment).

this is somewhat different than the idea "we are all animals", though pragmatically it amounts to the same thing.

so, my feeling is that vegans (not just the purely dietary ones) are active in many areas because they have come to the realization that oppression and exploitation are wrong. it's along the lines of what martin luther king said, "an injustice to one, is an injustice to all". unfortunately, mlk wasn't vegan despite his admiration of gandhi (though his son is), so his concept of one and all didn't make it past the human species, though the essence of his teachings is something all can learn from.

in the next post, i'll try to briefly state 2 main approaches to vegan - insideout and bottomup.

in friendship,
prad

[pradtf]

insideout and bottomup

these 2 ideas are not contradictory though they do present somewhat different angles.
practically, though each gets us to the same place.

the insideout is somewhat along schweitzer's 'extending the circle' to include other species. notice that this is a fairly centralized notion motivated possibly by the need to improve one's own personal morality. there may not even be a recognition of inherent animal rights here. instead, one acts in a certain way because it is personally moral to do so along the lines Steve Sapontzis suggests (click here).

the bottomup is more along Tom Regan's (click here) insistence of inherent animal rights. one merit of this idea is that if you can recognize that a rat has rights, it should not be too hard to also understand that a human does as well. this provides a solid foundation for appropriate behaviour when dealing with all species.

what is interesting though, is through either perspective benefit is being given to those who are most helpless, most exploited, most abused. the importance of giving this benefit is irretractably entwined with the existence of the human species, something recognized over the centuries as the following quotes demonstrate:

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."
Mahatma Gandhi, statesman and philosopher

"If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who deal likewise with their fellow men."
Francis of Assisi, saint

"For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love."
Pythagoras, philosopher and mathematician

"Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages."
Thomas Edison, inventor

"Until he extends the circle of his compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace."
Albert Schweitzer, missionary and statesman, Nobel 1952

so next time someone argues "until man learns to treat man humanely and fairly and equally, how can you ever expect him to treat an animal kindly also?", that person needs to understand that you can't have a building without a foundation. the vegan way provides that foundation and is a necessary part of our evolution (and these days, increasingly so, of our survival).

in friendship,
prad

[MaryAnne]

Are you still looking for information? I have been a vegan almost 40 years