“We don’t have to eat something in order to make sure it doesn’t go extinct. It’s more than a little ridiculous to think we’d have to eat animals to keep the species from going extinct. There are other things we can do.”

And yes, mostly it is used to attack veganism.

So I think we need to take it seriously by not taking it seriously- point out what the question is doing. But I do NOT think veganism is about exterminism (Donna Haraway’s term- if you don’t know her work she’s a prominent scholar of animal studies that is fervently anti-vegan). We’re such a long way from a vegan world that this is not an issue. IF in some future world cows and pigs started to become endangered species, then that will be dealt with accordingly. Also, there is not a universal set of farm animals in the world. Cows, for the obvious example, are treated differently in other counties, just as dogs are in much of the western world. The exterminism scenario will NEVER happen

But I think the question functions as mentioned above. The questioning vegan was probably just trying to figure out how to answer it.

I know this person. I have had conversations at a potluck with him. I have read his passionate discussions in our forums. We have been to the same events.

He is not just sitting around worrying about this one thing! This was one question of many, and it reminded me of others who have asked that question, who were less sympathetic characters.

If I only knew him online I might be suspicious, too, especially if all he did was agonize over that question (but that’s not the case). I did not provide a full bio because it was the question I was addressing, not the questioner.

And yes, this person is one who thinks a lot about how to make the whole world vegan. He’s impatient. He wants it NOW. That may be why he got to thinking “what if…?”

First, what if people worried about these kinds of issues in other circumstances? For example, what would happen to all the people who are currently starving or dying of disease if the world suddenly changed and no one starved or died of disease? There would be consequences and some would be bad, but should we worry about those consequences or should we continue to prevent starvation and cure disease?

Second, OK, so what if the world went vegan? Let’s think about our vegan utopia. Let’s make a plan. Let’s imagine it and visualize it and TRY TO MAKE IT HAPPEN.

Perhaps I should have elaborated on the question. He had thought a lot about it and wanted to know what other people thought. This is not a person with a small mind, but instead one with a huge heart.

These people have small minds and can’t think outside the narrow box of what currently exists. They simply cannot imagine a better world and so they let their lack of creativity determine their reality. Sad.

Here’s my response to people whose imaginations can reach far enough to pose ridiculous hypothetical scenarios yet can’t reach further to find realistic solutions:

IT DOESN’T MATTER.

The future of animal agriculture is not in your hands. What is in your hands are your individual actions. When you eat animals, you have blood on your hands.

You choose what kind of person you want to be: someone who eats like they care about animals, the environment, and human health, or someone who doesn’t.