What about people that just simply don't care for animals? how realistic is a vegan world?

[Maria163]

Someone I knew was once asked why they never wanted to go vegan, and the answer was simply
"I don't care for them. I went to a slaughterhouse and wasn't really phased. I usually just thank the animal for the food I ate and be on my way. It's just the circle of life, really."

What then?

What do you say then? If they just don't care, what can you say? Can animals ever realistically be freed? What about people that use animals for religious practices? Is it wrong to ask them to care? It just makes me doubt whether my ethics really matter; Is it all just in my head?

I already can't go vegan while living under my parents roof because they don't accept it, but now i'm even doubting it in general; what would be the point? If things still wont change and the same vegan brand company sells animal products; what would be the point? If doing the right thing for a cause that may never be solved, whats the point? I might never even get to save just one. I just don't know.

 

[ski]

you can't argue with someone that doesn't care but you can not care for the animals and still go vegan me, for example, I don't feel anything for the animals why? I am sort of screwed up, to begin with but i know that logically veganism is the right thing to do as for you my parents are the type to think protein comes from just meat in my eyes idiots cannot take on new information and reevaluate views if I was you buy your own food and just do that if you want to be vegan you will be vegan if you sort of want to vegan you really are just paying lip service hope this helps

ps people will do what they want just surround yourself with like-minded people that are on your wavelength nothing worse than feeling like the alien in the room

 

[hopeful]

I can see why you might think "what's the point," but there IS a big point. Even one person cutting out animal products saves the lives of many animals a year. Also, not everyone feels uncaring about animals, and maybe your removal of animal products from your diet might inspire someone to cut them out too, or maybe reduce them.

This is not "all in your head." I hope one day, the use of animal products will be a thing of the past, but until then, individuals' actions do make a difference. Your ethics matter.

 

[Lou]

but now i'm even doubting it in general; what would be the point? If things still wont change and the same vegan brand company sells animal products; what would be the point? If doing the right thing for a cause that may never be solved, whats the point? I might never even get to save just one. I just don't know.

I've heard that a lot. I've even sort of formulate a "stock" answer. Now I wish I had written it down, well, here it is

I know there is always a danger in using analogies and hypotheticals but here is the one I like.

You have time traveled to the 14th century to do some research for your history department.
on your way to the market, you see a bunch of people running
You ask your neighbor, "What's going on?".
"They have caught an adulterer. We are going to the main square to stone her to death!"

Now, what do you do? Most people in the 14th century would just join in. But that doesn't make their actions right or moral. We know better now. Even if you don't join in. The adulterer is still going to get stoned. Your actions won't make a difference.

But chances are, you won't join in. Stoning just isn't within your repertoire. It isn't congruent with your set of values.

Is killing and eating animals that different?

It's this kind of mindset that keeps me vegan.

One of my favorite vegan authors put it like this.

"Simply by virtue of the fact that what we know that we can survive – and actually THRIVE – on a plant-based diet and have no nutritional requirements for the flesh or fluids of animals — that we have no need to kill animals for our own survival, means that we need to take a hard look at our excuses for killing over 10 billion animals in this country alone every year."

"I say that I believe the real reason we kill and eat animals is simply because we can, and that’s just not good enough. Just because we can doesn’t mean we should. Just because we once did doesn’t mean we always have to. Once we know better, I think we have the obligation and responsibility to do things better?"
- Colleen Patrick Goudreau
https://www.colleenpatrickgoudreau.com/just-because-we-can-do-something-doesnt-mean-we-should/

 

[Emma JC]

The animals are certainly a key reason to be vegan and there are many other reasons also.

Environmental reasons are numerous and if you aren't aware of them then you can google and find them.

Health is one of the big reasons that many adopt a plant-based diet as there are no other lifestyle food choices that halt and/or reverse heart disease, type II diabetes etc. Watching "What the Health" and recommending it to others is one way to accomplish saving the animals without it being the main topic. Everyone has different motivations and morals and rationales, it would be a boring world if we were all the same.

There are many threads on this forum about going vegan while living at home so search them out and try to share your desire to eat more whole foods that are plant-based as a good healthy choice and also contribute to the family by finding good recipes and even making them for your family.

Emma JC

 

[Forest Nymph]

Vegetarian world is more realistic than vegan world. Taxes on meat can be imposed, and factory farms can be shut down - just these two acts would make animal flesh so expensive most people could not afford it unless they are hunters themselves, and those who could afford would see it as a luxury rather than necessity - except of course the richest of the rich, which we can't do anything about unless we change our entire economic system.

Also in certain ecosystems where it's bitterly cold or underdeveloped veganism is much less realistic than vegetarianism.

Human ethics and morals do change in societies over time, in 18th century France children were piled into orphanages where they were sold for money, and in England children went to prison, while in the US they worked in factories. We think of all of these things as hideously cruel and appalling now, and someday it may be true of animals.

 

[Nekodaiden]

Someone I knew was once asked why they never wanted to go vegan, and the answer was simply
"I don't care for them. I went to a slaughterhouse and wasn't really phased. I usually just thank the animal for the food I ate and be on my way. It's just the circle of life, really."

What then?

What do you say then? If they just don't care, what can you say? Can animals ever realistically be freed? What about people that use animals for religious practices? Is it wrong to ask them to care? It just makes me doubt whether my ethics really matter; Is it all just in my head?

I already can't go vegan while living under my parents roof because they don't accept it, but now i'm even doubting it in general; what would be the point? If things still wont change and the same vegan brand company sells animal products; what would be the point? If doing the right thing for a cause that may never be solved, whats the point? I might never even get to save just one. I just don't know.

You do not need to go Vegan "for the animals". You can do it for your health, for the environment, for the animals or all three.

I didn't go Vegan because I had a bleeding heart for the animals and animal by-products I ate. I did it because I became convinced that humans are not natural omnivores, and certainly not carnivores. This realization and decision came after watching a video by Gary Yourofsky, but it really didn't start there. I have watched numerous people die early deaths (including my spouse) do to their horrendous dietary habits. To this day, I have friends who are on numerous medications (which they pay a handsome sum for) due to their horrendous dietary habits.

Since becoming Vegan, I learned more about how animals are treated, how animal agriculture impacts the environment and decided it was not only unhealthy but immoral and destructive.

The animal rights focus Vegans wouldn't have reached me as a practicing omnivore. They would neither have converted me nor kept me Vegan - I consider my conversion a progression of understanding that came through the very painful experience of watching loved ones suffer and die, doing lots of reading on health, and culminating in a speech by an influential man that convinced me to try it. So far I've stayed because I've experienced the benefits (particularly of eating whole food, despite some other bad habits (smoking/drinking)) and my experience has solidified the conclusion I originally came to - man is not designed to eat animals or their by products.

 

[ski]

You do not need to go Vegan "for the animals". You can do it for your health, for the environment, for the animals or all three.

I didn't go Vegan because I had a bleeding heart for the animals and animal by-products I ate. I did it because I became convinced that humans are not natural omnivores, and certainly not carnivores. This realization and decision came after watching a video by Gary Yourofsky, but it really didn't start there. I have watched numerous people die early deaths (including my spouse) do to their horrendous dietary habits. To this day, I have friends who are on numerous medications (which they pay a handsome sum for) due to their horrendous dietary habits.

Since becoming Vegan, I learned more about how animals are treated, how animal agriculture impacts the environment and decided it was not only unhealthy but immoral and destructive.

The animal rights focus Vegans wouldn't have reached me as a practicing omnivore. They would neither have converted me nor kept me Vegan - I consider my conversion a progression of understanding that came through the very painful experience of watching loved ones suffer and die, doing lots of reading on health, and culminating in a speech by an influential man that convinced me to try it. So far I've stayed because I've experienced the benefits (particularly of eating whole food, despite some other bad habits (smoking/drinking)) and my experience has solidified the conclusion I originally came to - man is not designed to eat animals or their by products.

lets be honest if the guy went to a slaughter house they dont show you them slicing the pigs throat or the pig pinned to the floor for months at a time

 

[veganDreama]

I went vegan because I loved my guide dog and the pet rescue rats I shared my home with.

Some people say they love animals and carry on eating them. That's not right either.

Just stop eating animals yourself and that will cut animal suffering down. It's easy to despair but their is a point of going vegan even if not everyone does it.

 

[Wolfram Volpi]

I agree with Nekodaiden.

If they are persuaded by science and health, consider introducing them to whole-food plant-based diet.