The Importance of Being Vegan

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“If a man earnestly seeks a righteous life, his first act of abstinence is from animal food.”

- Leo Tolstoy

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Intellectually, most of us agree that inflicting unnecessary harm is unjustified – whether the victims are human or not. Yet somehow, most of the same people who subscribe to this belief are willing to turn a blind eye to such harm when they themselves receive some kind of advantage from it – whether the benefits are in the form of food, possessions, vanity, or amusement.

Sadly, because widespread violence against animals in the form of ‘agriculture’, ‘research’ and even ‘entertainment’, is sanctioned by mainstream society and its legal systems, the majority of people tend to be unwilling to see this brutality for what it is, and to step outside of the pervasive conditioning that makes such atrocities possible.

It’s true that more and more people are beginning to speak out about the many abhorrent abuses that occur within the animal industry, and the movement to ‘improve conditions’ for these animals continues to gain popularity. And yet, each one of the awful practices that animal advocates protest passionately against – intensive confinement, enforced insemination, separation of mother and child, castration, de-horning, tail docking, de-beaking, mulesing, de-toeing, live scalding, force molting – all of these horrific procedures, and many more, exist because an ever-growing number of human consumers continue to create demand for animal products. To an industry that views sentient beings as economic units – money-making machines – it is unavoidable that such violence will be viewed as an acceptable means to the end of delivering products that turn a profit.

In any case, even if every one of the aforementioned practices were abolished, it would still be immoral and inexcusable to use other sentient beings as resources. In today’s world, vegan alternatives are available for every single significant purpose for which we currently use animals*. Increasing numbers of people are embracing veganism as the solution to the problems we experience as individuals and as a society – from our many health crises, to our environmental emergency, to the issue of escalating violence – all of which have us living in some degree of fear for the future.

As this movement for animal emancipation grows in size and strength, a powerful example is being set by the individuals who refuse to take any part in the brutal oppression of innocents that we call ‘the animal industry’. Men and women all over the globe –simply by living as vegans – are demonstrating that there is no moral justification for the harm we inflict on animals.

*NB: Although animal products are used in certain items for which there currently are no consumer alternatives – such as computers and car tires – there are alternatives that could easily be used in their manufacturing.

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Read more: animal rights, animal welfare, veganism

Image: dan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Pego R.

1:12PM PDT on May 20, 2012

Unfortunately, after a brief period of detox from all the pollutants that come from chemically managed CAFO meats, 35% or more of the people on Veg diets have to revert back to omnivorism due to health issues.

Omnivorism is our native diet. I'm glad that many people can become vegetarians, some even vegans, but for the most part, we as a species simply need to live sustainably and humanely with our needs and our world

send a green star

Cheryl M.

6:31AM PDT on May 14, 2012

Being vegan is indeed a choice, and for many reasons many believe it is the best choice. If most go to a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle, those people will most likely be healthier than their omnivorous friends. Less animals will need to be raised in horrible conditions which are being passed on vicariously to their human and animal diners.

Past Member .

11:13AM PDT on May 13, 2012

Thank you for the article. I am already vegetarian and trying to incorporate more vegan meals into my diet until I can go completely vegan.

Nyack C.

12:12AM PDT on Apr 20, 2012

Thanks for the article Angel Flinn- I really appreciate the support as I try to move to a vegan lifestyle.

Diane L.

12:04AM PDT on Apr 20, 2012

I didn't think you'd have done it intentionally, LOL! I've read in the F&S site that there still are a lot of technical issues being dealt with. One I noticed was trying to delete comments from my IN BOX and being thrown right into the "Trash" folder and reading a post that I'd deleted two or three days ago and the numbers showing in the IN BOX actually went UP, not down. It eventually gets worked out, but it's frustrating.

11:22PM PDT on Apr 19, 2012

No Kidding. My PC started hiccuping and flashing to pages I had left. Anyone know how to cure PC hiccups?

1:27AM PDT on Apr 18, 2012

Pego, not sure if you meant it to end up here, but a comment about teflon really doesn't have much to do with being vegan. Could Care.2 have messed up and sent this here instead of to the article about eliminating plastics from one's kitchen? Weird if it did.

12:52AM PDT on Apr 18, 2012

Teflon seems to be on the way out. The EPA is recommending the complete ban of one of it's main componants, since it is carcinogenic and it is impossible to use teflon pans in everyday use in such a way as to avoid it's dangers and now pretty much every American has that stuff in our bloodstream, at least by random testing. Just look at this fairly recent PRO-Teflon article in GH. It kinda comes off like one of those drug commercials, "If your just follow these new instructions each and every single time you or your kids EVER use teflon (with new teflon since your old stuff is already ruined and you can't tell) you will probably be OK and avoid most of those pesky rumored problems.

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/product-reviews/cooking-tools/cookware-reviews/nonstick-cookware-safety-facts

Truth is that cast iron give off some digestible iron and is totally stick-free if handled right. What if you mess it up? No problemo, it can always be fixed easily at home, over and over. You would have to crack it over Iron Man's head to render it unfixable and it is still totally recycleable

http://www.angelfire.com/pro2/panroastingcoffee/howtocurecastiron.html

4:12AM PST on Mar 10, 2012

Cecily, since I noticed that you have now just posted to two very old discussions about being vegan, I took a "peek" at your member profile. Okay, so you "denied veganism" for many years,but you are only 23? So, okay, that tells me a lot. BTW, you say there is NO alternative? Really? I think what I do to the earth and the environment as an omnivore is beneficial in many ways, and certainly far less negative impact than many, if not most vegans who don't raise their own food, don't check out the sources of where it's grown, and do nothing else to "help the planet" than merely not consume animal products.

Cecily P.

10:54AM PST on Mar 9, 2012

So true. I denied veganism for so many years but eventually you see what you're doing to yourself and the earth, and realize there's no alternative!