Veganism should be as diverse as possible (but that requires free speech)

(As always, you can watch and listen, or, if you'd prefer you can read below)

THE AIM IS TO REDUCE AS MUCH HARM AS POSSIBLE

I want to make it perfectly clear, that to be a vegan, you absolutely do not have to speak about veganism and you don’t have to try to convert ANYONE, ever.

However, for those that do choose to be active in the vegan community, we have an OBLIGATION to the animals. Veganism may be the fastest growing movement in the UK but we still only make up 1% of the population.

And that means 99% of the population are still paying others to kill animals on our behalf.

Right now, we need to be reaching more of the population. But how do we do that? How do we show people the barbaric nature of animal agriculture, and how do we influence them to forgo such practices?

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF INFLUENCE AND SOCIAL PROXIMITY

In looking for answers we can learn a lot from Psychology. And one of the things we find is that influence is determined by a variety of factors, but Social Proximity plays a MAJOR role. We’re more likely to be influenced by people who look like us, talk like us and sound like us.

In short, similarities between individuals reduce the defences of the ego and make it easier for us to see ourselves as the person speaking to us and make it more likely that we take their ideas on board, almost as if they were our own thoughts and ideas.

So how do we harness this for more effective activism?

Well, the world is a diverse place, so we need a diverse group of vegans. The more diverse we portray veganism, the greater chances we have of reaching the diverse groups within the population as each group will be influenced the most by speakers they relate to the most.

VEGANISM SHOULD BE AS DIVERSE AS POSSIBLE

So, Veganism should be as DIVERSE as possible. We need to be celebrating vegans of all races, creeds and sexual orientations. If we’re only open to a few groups of people then we miss out on the possibility of reaching any person that may not be a member of these groups. We have a duty to the animals to be as diverse and inclusive as possible. Unfortunately, this inclusivity also applies to political positions.

SO VEGANISM SHOULD BE welcoming to differing political positions

The piglets having their teeth cut out don’t mind if you’re conservative or progressive, they don’t mind if youre authoritarian or liberal, they just don’t want to be harmed. They wanna be able to live their life free from the pain and suffering that we impose on them.

If we are to end the systemic abuse and oppression of animal bodies we need to ensure the vegan community does not become an offshoot of any one ideology. This only serves to reinforce that one ideology and significantly reduces the chances of others being influenced.

We owe it to the piglets, and the chicks, and the cows and the fish and every other animal that we subject to the whims of our desire.

but what about Nazis? Should we accept Nazis?

In making this video I was discussing it good friend and I was going to say that we should.
I was going to talk about ecofeminism and the intrinsic link between our oppression of humans predicated on the ability to dehumanize to the level of animals and that if you extend human rights to animals you undermine the ability to justify the oppression of humans.

I was going to talk about Daryl Davis and how he de-radicalized over 200 members of the KKK by befriending them. And that if we befriend Nazis and expose them to the core principles of veganism then we could deradicalize them.

However, it seems that Hitler and many top generals in The Nazi Party were overtly pro-Animal Welfare, with Hitler going so far as saying the future of the world would be vegetarian. It seems humans will always be able to dehumanize others by likening them to cockroaches and will always be able to justify their extermination in terms of self-defence. SO I have to clarify: We should not be inclusive to any ideology that wishes to deny humans the same rights that it wishes to extend to animals.

As I said, strong ideas held loosely.

However, its worth noting that the possible inconsistencies some people might have with their morality should be pointed out and debated, not shamed into a corner with no discourse.

TO DO THAT WE NEED FREE SPEECH

Anyway, now that we agree on the importance of diversity, how can we encourage it? Well we can make a conscious effort to support and encourage different members of the community to speak out and carve out a platform for themselves. And if we see a void in the vegan community we could step up and fill it ourselves. But to do that, we need freedom of speech, freedom of association and the freedom of belief.

Unfortunately, there are some people who wish to restrict the diversity of the vegan movement. Recently a campaign was launched to prevent Vegan Speak from speaking at Vevolution. Ironically, (there’s a lot of irony in this situation) he was going to talk about why we need Diversity of Opinion in the Vegan Community.

However, some members of the community put their own political ideologies in front of doing the right thing for the animals.

And It’s a shame because, at nearly every event I’ve been to over the last year, one thing has resurfaced over and over again, and that’s how people feel we need to move away from this rigid political stereotype that vegans have.
There’s a left-wing case for veganism, and a right-wing case for veganism, and a libertarian case for veganism. And yet, we only get to hear one of these cases.

Along comes someone who was willing to argue for diversity and a small group of people with loud voices prevent him from speaking.

If we allow small groups of people to dictate who can and cant be given a platform we isolate all those who disagree with that group and it’ll take a lot longer to gain widespread acceptance that we should not have the right to kill animals.

I’m not saying we should personally support ideas we disagree with, although if we have friends who subscribe to that ideology, it might be worth sharing those ideas as it’s the most likely way of reaching them, but no all I'm saying is that we should at least allow others to support those ideas if they wish. We shouldn’t be preventing them from speaking if others want them to speak. We shouldn’t be putting pressure on organizers to drop speakers if said organizers feel the individuals have valuable ideas.

However, we do not need to individually support all ideas we can let the marketplace of ideas flourish and let that determine who gets to speak.

If were going to usher in a new era of animal welfare,

then we need LIBERAL vegans, and INTERSECTIONAL vegans
And CHRISTIAN vegans, and MUSLIM vegans.
And PRO LIFE VEGANS and PROCHOICE VEGANS
And ACTIVIST vegans, and NON-ACTIVST vegans.

We need vegans from all walks of life and all political ideologies.

So, this is an important test for any vegan.
Can we put our political ideologies to one side and focus on the animals?

Thanks,
I'm The Doubtful Centrist and remember,
Strong Ideas, Held Loosely.

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