VEGANISM IS NOT CRUELTY-FREE
“Boycott Cruelty; Go Vegan.”
“Stop Harming the Innocent; Go Vegan.”
“Vegan Starter Guide to Cruelty-Free Living.”
VEGANISM IS NOT CRUELTY-FREE
“Boycott Cruelty; Go Vegan.”
“Stop Harming the Innocent; Go Vegan.”
“Vegan Starter Guide to Cruelty-Free Living.”
If you are a follower of the animal rights movement, then you have likely seen veganism advertised this way—as a tool for people who don’t want to hurt animals to stop paying for animals to be hurt. Sensible enough, right? After all, isn’t that why many of us went vegan in the first place? Well, as intuitively appealing as that sales pitch is, the “cruelty-free” meme is neither accurate nor helpful to nonhuman animals. It is, if anything, actively harmful to the animal rights movement—and, by extension, to the animals themselves.
In order to explain why, we first have to face the bitter truth: Veganism is not cruelty-free. For example, veganism doesn’t protect the countless mice, snakes, rabbits, etc., that are intentionally poisoned so humans can harvest grains, fruits, vegetables, and other crops. And it doesn’t save the frogs, fish, and other aquatic animals who die in pesticide runoff.
Veganism doesn’t improve the conditions of exploited human farm laborers. Veganism doesn’t stop the exploitation and destruction of the environment (i.e. the home and food-source of innumerable nonhuman persons) for the sake of oil, precious metals, etc. that non-vegans and vegans use. Veganism doesn’t even stop living animals from being tortured and killed due to many reasons including massive government subsidies.
So long as we live in this highly exploitative culture, just about any dollar we spend will in one way or another pay for cruelty. It is crucial for vegans to acknowledge this because vegan or not, we all contribute to a culture that harms humans and nonhumans alike. However, we are all capable of taking steps to reduce that contribution (at least those of us with economic privilege). The fundamental problem with the “cruelty-free” meme, then, is that it allows vegans to feel morally pure under the belief that simply eliminating, minimizing, or even just reducing one’s personal participation in systemic violence is enough. Veganism is a necessary practice, but not sufficient. Those with the capacity to live vegan have the duty to do so. The path towards building a more inclusive, less oppressive future begins with veganism, but it doesn’t end there.
As vegans, we bear the privilege and burden of recognizing nonhuman personhood. We recognize that there are billions of individuals being victimized by our culture that most of our peers fail to acknowledge. With such recognition comes duty– not a duty to step back from the problem, but a duty to step in; to be, in every way we can and everywhere we go, living reminders to those around us that right now, we are in the midst of an atrocity. That is where veganism comes in.
Living vegan is, first and foremost, a political statement of opposition to speciesism and human-supremacism. It is a public stance against the assumed and broadly unquestioned “right” of humans to de-home, commodify, exploit, and kill our nonhuman kin. It is the most basic action a person can take to show others what it truly means to care about nonhuman animals– to see them for who, rather than just what, they are.
As vegans, we bear the privilege and burden of recognizing nonhuman personhood. We recognize that there are billions of individuals being victimized by our culture that most of our peers fail to acknowledge. With such recognition comes duty– not a duty to step back from the problem, but a duty to step in; to be, in every way we can and everywhere we go, living reminders to those around us that right now, we are in the midst of an atrocity. That is where veganism comes in.
Living vegan is, first and foremost, a political statement of opposition to speciesism and human-supremacism. It is a public stance against the assumed and broadly unquestioned “right” of humans to de-home, commodify, exploit, and kill our nonhuman kin. It is the most basic action a person can take to show others what it truly means to care about nonhuman animals– to see them for who, rather than just what, they are.
Vegans, it’s time to step up.
Don’t just be vegan; tell people why.
Don’t just speak softly; speak loudly and confidently.
Don’t just boycott non-vegan goods; refuse to join non-vegan meals.
Don’t just opt out of our culture’s violent norms; actively disrupt them.
Join us.
Vegans, it’s time to step up.
Don’t just be vegan; tell people why.
Don’t just speak softly; speak loudly and confidently.
Don’t just boycott non-vegan goods; refuse to join non-vegan meals.
Don’t just opt out of our culture’s violent norms; actively disrupt them.
Join us.