The newest criticism of veganism to maintain the status quo of meat-eating: ‘veganism comes from an urban bubble where people are disassociated with rural life and nature.’ It’s just not true. It’s a lie. Animal Rights (AR) exists in the history of ethics and has roots in both rural and urban philosophies.

Buddhism is ancient and largely vegan. The ethical principle being: do as little harm as possible.
Same goes for Jainism, the principle being: equality amongst all living beings.

There is a long philosophical history of applying human ethical principles to our treatment of animals that essentially results in veganism/vegetarianism/animal rights, just uses different words to describe the principles. There’s even a book on this history of animal rights: The Longest Struggle.

This argument against animal rights is sort of like saying women doesn’t deserve rights because feminism has only existed for a short time in history. It simply isn’t true. Feminism has existed throughout history, it just wasn’t always called feminism.

Moreover, the simple fact is: if you eat lower on the food chain, you kill fewer animals and you use fewer resources, period. The fact that some animals die in harvesting grains doesn’t negate the fact that fewer animals die as a result of eating only plants than as a result of eating both animals and plants.

Sections: Vegan Resources, Vegan Theory
Topics: animal rights, books, history, Theory, Vegan