I deviate from being vegan perhaps a couple times or so a month, resorting to vegetarianism. When not eating at home, it’s generally feasible to get a satisfying and nutritious vegetarian meal at a restaurant or at someone’s house.
I briefly tell folk why I do what I do and then we move on, unless they want to know more. I don’t worry about offending them anymore than I worry about telling someone that a sexist or racist joke isn’t funny, because I can do that without attacking them as a person.
But as for food options, it’s harder, though not impossible, to get a strictly vegan meal away from home, especially when venturing into rural areas. As a bisexual, I’ve formed a visceral dislike toward labels and rigid ideas about identity. Veganism is more a matter of something I imperfectly strive to do than it is a matter of who I am.
But identity politics seems to be a feature of our culture. That’s bad because if one focuses too much on one’s identity–“I’m a cyclist, I’m a lesbian, I’m a conservative…”— it becomes harder to have a foundation of universal empathy. The cost is spiritual. I mean that in an agnostic way.
So, though I’m not afraid of using the label ‘vegan,’ I prefer to tell folk something to the effect of : “I try to just use plants for food, my clothes, and other stuff. I don’t like to use animals, if I can avoid it.”
Your suggestion of deviations from a strict adherence to being vegan calls to mind the principle of striving to become better, not perfect, striving to do the least amount of harm feasible, instead of trying to do no harm, which is impossible. This principle applies to every process for meeting my wants and needs, not only what I eat.
For example, I choose cycling over motoring, for reasons already mentioned ad nauseum on these threads. But biking involves doing less harm to the ecosystem, as opposed to doing no harm. To quote Rousseau: do what is good for you with as little harm as possible to others.
So, regarding consuming animals, it’s arguable that some people in the Third World might not have viable alternatives. But the vast majority of us who consume animal products amid the amenities of industrial society, do so out of habit, convenience, and lack of information, not necessity.
I chose to be ‘car-free’ and ‘vegan’ as a logical response to information. That’s part of personal growth; we change our attitudes and behaviors as we gather more knowledge. But it’s not about NEVER driving and it’s not about NEVER consuming animal products. That over-emphasis on the intrinsic good or evil in particular behaviors seem religious in a bad way, or perhaps even superstitious.
But the availability of viable alternatives determines the morality of our choices. That is why, for example, killing my housemate because he didn’t flush the toilet would be less justifiable than killing a violent intruder.
We’d be hard pressed to find anyone engaged with this thread who is not aware of info about how animal products are produced and viable alternatives to consuming them. That’s the issue, not whatever breaches of discourse RSR may or may not have committed. Even if she were the vilest troll out there, that wouldn’t change the moral issues our food choices entail.
But as people concerned about animal rights, we should keep in mind we don’t have a monopoly on truth, no matter how passionate we are. We have much to learn from others, regardless of whether they strive to have a vegan way of life.
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