Militant Vegan
Don't go vegan.
A friend was describing her experience with militant vegans. How they make everyone feel bad from their moral high ground. I used to be one. With friends who thought the same, it was easy. I spent hours using philosophical jiu-jitsu to convert people.
Then I wondered - does this actually help? Eventually I had to drop the hat. My veganism was making a small dent. The crusade was over. Sure, less suffering was being caused in the world, but far too little to make a meaningful difference. Systems as large as factory farming don't shift from individual choices alone.
I now pick up a new thesis. Money helps animals more than arguments. I used to think paying to offset guilt was cheating. That you must live up to your principles directly.
But money can:
That's living up to principles too. So no, I don't want you to become vegan. But if you can afford it, consider giving to charities that efficiently improve animals' lives.
Back the first half of this hard - what you're describing as militant veganism often makes people hate vegans and doesn't make them love animals any more/tap into the part of people that cares and wants to help (links to care ethics , the problems with the pre eminence of rationalism/dualism , yadayayda) - there's a place for it for sure but not in 'converting' people by trying to essentially cerebrally/ethically flex on them and undermine their own care/thoughts. Thanks for sharing this