Do most vegans stop eating animals to end cruelty?

Hog

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I have been joking for at least a decade, "That pig gave his all so I could enjoy eating my bacon?" I also said, "that bird suffered like crazy so I could eat him."

The average guy walking down the street does not know that animals suffer. How could he know? He has not been in too many barns or on too many farms. I also do not believe that farmers are bad people. So I ask myself, "Do most vegans stop eating to end suffering." I have never met another vegan in my life.

So I start thinking, "I am some crazy a$$hole who does not want some pig to suffer." I really do not want to make a pig suffer. They are incredible creatures. Then I get frustrated with myself and say "It is just a pig. Who cares about a pig?" Then I wonder what psychological damage I am doing to my family by feeding them vegan foods.




Pig.jpg
 
There are some vegans who will tell you that unless this is motive
numero uno - the prime directive - crowding out all others
(and by extension proving what a kind, compassionate and moral
person you are - although that's not said ;) )

...then you aren't a real vegan.

To me that's total horse crap. You also don't have to "choose 1 motive"
to stop eating animals (although you can) - you can do it for any reason
or any of the primary ones (animal welfare, health, environment) that convinces
you. Being a "health vegan" or "environmental vegan" or "animal rights vegan" are
just divisions that some people use to judge others and massage their ego. It's
possible to do it for just one, two or all three.

I personally went vegan when I learned that not only did I not need animal
products to get nutrients I was concerned about without them (a health
reason), but also because of the unnecessary cruelty I was informed about (animals and starving humans).
After, I learned of environmental effects. But honestly, I had to be
assured that I would be healthier eating a vegan diet than eating the
omnivore diet I was at that time.

Donald Watson defined Veganism, and he defined it in terms of ACTION, NOT
MOTIVE. That action being - get your nutrients from the plant kingdom, and
leave all animal products out (of your diet). Encouragement (though not
requirement) to also avoid other animal exploitation where unnecessary is
included, but not as part of the first and primary rule, which is action related :)
 
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In real life, I would never wear a shirt that says, "Proud Vegan."

I cook for my family. My wife is going on the vegan ride because eating vegan is healthier. I do not think veganism would fly in my household if it was not for the health benefits. Eating vegan also saves lots of money. I will not eat junk food. I also do not want to eat animals. It is very hard to find an affordable restaurant that serves healthy vegan food. This means that I save tons of money just by not eating out.

It would be nice if someone in real life said, "Pigs have feelings too. We should not treat them like s#!+. I am vegan too."

Bacon would probably cost $500 a pound if we took care of pigs in a humane and ethical fashion. The pig would need a nice shelter, a huge area to roam and explore, lots of nutritious food, and veterinary care. He would also need other pigs to hang out with.

Figuring out a way to humanely slaughter the pig would be another challenge. We have yet to figure out a humane way to execute a human much less a pig. I donate blood all the time. My veins are difficult to reach. In addition, I donated blood so many times that scar tissue has built up in my veins. They have this magical computer that figures out whether to extract plasma, platelets, and or red blood cells. Thus, I can go every week. But, you need an experienced person to get the blood from me. Everything must be done perfectly otherwise it can hurt like crazy for a long time.

Please keep in mind that giving whole blood is much easier than giving parts of the blood because you are not hooked up to a fancy machine that pumps fluid back into you. I am a little autistic. Thus, I interpret pain differently than most people. My tolerance to pain is very high.

We have inexperienced prison guards giving prisoners intravenous poisons to kill them. The prisoners might have messed up veins from drug use. The guard does not know how to insert the needle. The poison goes in the muscle. It never reaches the brain fast enough. So we have numerous botched executions. The prisoner feels like he is burning alive while he is dying.

I am sorry for rambling on. Still, I feel very alone in my efforts to be vegan. I feel especially isolated because I do not know any animal rights vegans in real life.
 
I give blood every six weeks. Don't give me too much credit tho. The Blood bank calls me 4 weeks after my last appt and leaves a voice mail, it says, "we put you down for a donation in two weeks, call us back if you can't make it". It is just easier to go. Plus I don't have any good excuses. Oh, and they give me cookies. And I'm borderline anemic, so I get my iron tested for free every time I go. Plus every couple of gallons they give me a gift.

Anyway, noticed the people undergoing plasmapheresis. they had TVs! and blankets*. I thought they were special VIPs, so I asked my nurse if I could to that. She told me that I have the most common blood type and they were always having shortages. Let the other people who have weird blood types do that. We want your whole blood.

Anyway, I must have good veins. In the last 30 or 40 years of giving blood, I have never had an issue.

* The blankets are because they take your blood out and it goes into a machine that filters out the blood cells and returns them to your body. The machine is refrigerated so the stuff coming back into your body is cold. The TVs are because this process is much slower than giving whole blood. Hours instead of minutes.
 
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Lou gave an excellent description of donating blood. I wish I said that.
 
Lou gave an excellent description of donating blood. I wish I said that.
 
I give blood every six weeks. Don't give me too much credit tho. The Blood bank calls me 4 weeks after my last appt and leaves a voice mail, it says, "we put you down for a donation in two weeks, call us back if you can't make it". It is just easier to go. Plus I don't have any good excuses. Oh, and they give me cookies. And I'm borderline anemic, so I get my iron tested for free every time I go. Plus every couple of gallons they give me a gift.

Anyway, noticed the people undergoing plasmapheresis. they had TVs! and blankets*. I thought they were special VIPs, so I asked my nurse if I could to that. She told me that I have the most common blood type and they were always having shortages. Let the other people who have weird blood types do that. We want your whole blood.

Anyway, I must have good veins. In the last 30 or 40 years of giving blood, I have never had an issue.

* The blankets are because they take your blood out and it goes into a machine that filters out the blood cells and returns them to your body. The machine is refrigerated so the stuff coming back into your body is cold. The TVs are because this process is much slower than giving whole blood. Hours instead of minutes.


I'm one of those rare blood types. I've done that double platelet donation before. It's very weird when they put cold blood back into your body.
 
I'm sorry you're feeling isolated. My son is the cloest thing i have to a companion in veganism, but he's not vegan, he's flexitarian. Plus, everytime i bring up being vegan, he reminds me what happened last time i went vegan. I have always been very anemic, and i did not take my surgeries into consideration, and i ended up very sick.
The whole reason i sought out a forum like this one was so i could connect and talk with others that have some of the same values i do.
This forum is a god-send to me.
 
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Im super lucky as a Californian. Los Angeles is one of the easiest places in the world to go vegan, and I even ran into animal rights icon Moby with a strange frequency for someone not stalking him. We just went the same places.

In LA I had an ethical animal rights vegetarian roommate and an ethical vegan close friend. In my town in Northern California I know at least 20 animal rights vegans, and getting involved with DXE increased those contacts.

Even if you don't feel up to doing protests or rescue, there is a Phoenix chapter of DXE where you could meet people.


I envy that you have a vegan partner. Try to look on the bright side. Two of my friends have vegan partners. I would love to have another vegan to share my life with in that way. That's usually the number one complaint of long term vegans - horror stories of dating omnis or ceasing to be attracted to meat eaters emotionally. One person I know says her veganism lead to her divorce.

Imagine you're involved with a casual racist then suddenly take up social justice advocacy with your new friends fighting for DACA rights. Ain't nobody got time for that racist anymore, you know what I mean.