Vegan: (noun) person who seeks to exclude the use of animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose.

Vegan Bits writers Lane and Jane just recently wrote this wonderful description of choice:

“Regardless of whether someone thinks I am crazy for eschewing animal products, or someone else thinks I’m not vegan enough, I have the option of eating what I want. I’m not desperate, I’m not starving, I’m not oppressed. I can choose. You can choose too.”

Veganism is an expression of choice, like other consumption decisions.

However, veganism is not merely a dietary choice like a preference for cranberry juice over orange juice. It’s more than that. Veganism is usually an ethical choice. Vegans choose a consumption style that matches their ethics.

Vegans seek to exclude the use of animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose. Vegans don’t eat meat, diary, eggs. Vegans don’t wear fur, leather, wool, silk. Vegans don’t use products that were tested on animals. Vegans don’t go to zoos or circuses. Vegans don’t buy petshop or breeder pets.

When vegans have a choice in the matter, vegans don’t subjugate animals to serve human interests.

Now, lots of people call themselves vegan, but don’t avoid all use of animals. Everyone draws their own lines. It’s a choice. A very, very, very GOOD choice, I may add

I am happy to let people self-identify as vegan even when it’s only a dietary choice, so long as they don’t eat any animal products on purpose. But I know some vegans reject that view.

I consider myself in transition. I call myself vegan, but there are areas where I could do better and be more vegan. As someone pointed out in my video about my kitchen, I have some nonvegan foods that I didn’t even know weren’t vegan (specifically, a particular brand of pasta). I think veganism is a journey and like many other philosophies you can say you subscribe to the philosophy without abiding by every tenant all the time. There are some muddy areas (like vegan cat food) and there are significant cultural pressures. It can be tough when you’re making the transition, but you can do it.

Going vegan is a lot like quitting smoking or stopping an addiction. It can be very difficult and is often a lifelong process. There may be some slip-ups here and there before you really get the hang of it. There will be social pressure to resume your old habits or to conform. There may be cravings or strong desires. Personally, I never crave animal products in their ‘pure’ forms like milk or cheese, but I crave milk chocolate. And I never desire to wear a fur coat or leather jacket, but sometimes I like the look of fur trim or leather. (Of course, I don’t ever buy those things, but I have desires to do so sometimes.)

Zoos are dangerous for me. I have serious emotional conflicts about zoos. I know they’re terrible for animals, but I have a strong desire to see, watch, and learn about animals up close and personal in the zoo environment. I am strongly anti-zoo, but I’ve been known to visit zoos in the past. I imagine my desire to see zoo animals is similar to a meat-eater’s desire to consume animal flesh. Even if they understand the inherent immorality of it, they have a strong selfish desire to partake in animal use.

This is the best way for me, personally, to relate to a meat-eater or vegetarian who understands, appreciates, and accepts the vegan philosophy but doesn’t go vegan. They have an emotional and physical desire to do something that conflicts with their intellectual and moral thoughts. I believe this is why many meat-eaters will use all kinds of irrational and illogical justifications to excuse their meat consumption. They act first, think later.

Human behavior is complex and difficult to understand. There is a very real disconnect between thought and action when the action is habitualized. Habits, by definition, are not conscious choices. Human adults who have eaten meat their entire lives have habitualized meat eating. Their consumption is not a choice; it’s a habit. Regardless of how well they justify that habit, it’s still a habit, a mindless habit.

Vegans, however, exercise their human capacity to choose. Veganism is a choice.

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Sections: Vegan Theory
Topics: choice, Theory, veg, Vegan