You Should Know

I'm not vegetarian but it baffles my mind how many people are against not eating meat. Some people seem to have made eating meat their whole personality and it's insane to me. I don't always eat meat and actively try to reduce it. Personally I've only met vegetarians who encourage this, even if I'm not willing to fully commit. I'm trying to make meat more of a luxury for myself and I think it'd be nice if most people did so. Better for the climate and better for the animals.

I'm no vegetarian at all but I really enjoy vegeterian food. I get some vegeterian people visibily upset that I'm eating "their" food when they know I usually eat meat.

It's like "either you're all in with us, or you gtfo".

That being said, we're never gonna convince people to try add some vegeterian meals until they become actually affordable. Cooking tasty and filling vegetarian food is difficult and time-consuming, and vegetarian restaurants are just fucking ridiculously expensive.

I wish vegans and vegetarians would be a bit more willing to promote this viewpoint.

I agree. I think that sometimes people avoid vegan/vegetarian options due to negative perception drawn from some prominent activists in the community (not helped when rage-baiters get more views and coverage).

I honestly think I would have become vegan sooner if there were less 'hardcore' vegan activists and more empathetic role models.

I fully support people making the public aware of awful conditions in livestock farms and abattoirs (nonviolently), as well as those who encourage alternative options (e.g. nooch is delicious and I wish I knew about it before I became vegan).

The people that dump red dye/fake blood on people, or block streets, or vandalise businesses, aren't doing the movement any favours IMO. The same with people who disparage others who are making more ethical choices, but not the ones they have made (e.g. consuming less meat instead of no meat in this case).

Attacking a person's character doesn't generally work; people just get defensive.

Some perspective is important here. From the point of view of the average person, what a vegan might call the "carnist" worldview, there's a cultural perception that being vegan is a kind of monolithic puritanical religion. As if to live a life without using animal products is comparable to the self-flagellations of the penitent Christian.

But it has to be recognized, that perception is a stereotype perpetuated from outside perspectives looking in. Inexperience vs experience.

In real life, there is constant disagreement and debate among vegans, so definitely not a monolith. With today's food options (at least in western countries), there's nothing puritanical or self-punishing about living a vegan lifestyle - to the point that "junkfood vegan" is a badge of pride from some. At the end of the day we're just regular people, like everyone else. All we've done is decided that other animals should have basic universal rights, and then we try to live in accord with that.

It's not perfection, it's a moral baseline.

And it's worth striving for that baseline, because reducetarianism doesn't work.