More Compassionate, Nonviolent, And Just Than Alternatives
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Mary Martin has a great post up right now about the concepts of compassion, nonviolence, and justice.
I invite you to
read her blog post >>
Some of my off-the-cuff thoughts, in no specific order:
- Animal agriculture is not compassionate, nonviolent, or just.
- Breeding, mutilating, confining, fattening, and killing animals is violent.
- Eating animals is an expression of violence.
- Veganism is more compassionate, nonviolent, and just than the alternative.
- But veganism alone will not create world peace.
What do you think?
Part-way through Martin ventures from the concepts of compassion, nonviolence, and justice towards another concept: efficacy. She writes:
“the most significant vehicle for the liberation of nonhuman animals, just like the liberation of human animals, probably isn’t going to be a petition. Or vegan pumpkin pie.”
I’m not sure that’s true. I mean, it’s certainly true for the particular animals who are rescued or released, but I’m not sure that it’s really fair to discount culinary activism or politics. Or other forms of activism, either.
Personally, I think leafleting is HUGE. If I had to choose one method of activism that I feel most comfortable supporting and encouraging others to do, it’s leafleting. I support leafleting because it’s super-duper easy AND it’s effective.
Other than open rescue or undercover investigations, I think leafleting is the most worthwhile form of animal activism there is. Leafleting is a proven method that’s been used for various causes throughout history. It’s simple and easy with low barriers to entry – just get your hands on some leaflets and pass them out. It’s unlikely to get you arrested and therefore has broad activist appeal and long-term engagement.
But ultimately it’s about the individual activist. If you’re good at something and enjoy doing it (like drawing or cooking or writing) then it makes sense to use those talents and interests to guide your activism.
What do you think?
It is counter productive for any Vegan to demean the methods of another because it doesn’t emcompass everything. Some try to ‘quantify’ results and that in itself is flawed. Each of us live in a cobweb of friends, associates, and contacts. Any one person might have indirectly influnced a million people eventually and not even know it. There are too few of us for any one of us to be discounted as non-relevant.
.-= Harry Hebert´s last blog ..Quotes – Page 184 =-.
I’ve always wondered why so many folks who believe in social change are so committed to “nonviolence”.
The cold hard fact is – VIOLENCE WORKS – and is, by far, the most effective way of achieving social change.
I’m an African American man who works in the construction industry in New York City, and the only reason that I have my job is because there were Black and Latino men willing to risk their lives and freedom by waging violent protests that forced contractors, unions and the City of New York to desegregate the industry.
This happened during a time period when there were widespread urban uprisings in Black and Latino communities, where protesters used violence to force an end to the more egregious forms of racial discrimination against people of color in this country.
And I could go on – but the bottom line is simple, social change comes through violence.
Nobody ever won by having the “moral high ground” – but lots of causes have won because one side was willing to be more violent than the other side.
So, if you’re really serious about the moral superiority of not killing animals for meat (and I totally disagree with that concept, but for the sake of argument let me put it out there) are you prepared to actually DO SOMETHING to coerce the folks who profit from raising, slaughtering and marketing meat for human consumption?
Cause, on the real, if all you’re willing to do is hand out some leaflets, folks are just going to toss those leaflets into the wastebasket on their way into the supermarket to buy a pound of hamburger and some pork sausage and the chickens, turkeys, pigs and cows will continue to be send down the chain to be cut up at the slaughterhouses.
.-= Gregory A. Butler´s last blog ..THE NEWSWATCH Wednesday 11/18/09 3:53 PM =-.
I disagree with you, Gregory. My personal experiences suggest that leafleting IS worthwhile. Many people will simply discard the leaflets, but a significant number will read them and think about it.