On living a lie...
First check out this: Vegans Are Living a Lie
Most of the things on this list are not necessarily made with animal products, and the ones that are can be easily avoided or substituted out. Look at instrument strings. It is true that instrument strings are traditionally made using animal guts, but what humans have traditionally done versus what we currently do is really what is at the heart of the argument for veganism. Humans may have traditionally eaten meat, dairy and eggs (depending on your definition of ‘tradition’), but as our world has changed it has become our choice to no longer ingest or use products constructed through the infliction of harm to an animal (which includes environmental damage since that harms everything). Instrument strings can be made using metal and nylon; small string instruments can be strung using animal hair which is collected at no negative cost to an animal. Just because something is traditionally done a certain way does not mean it is not subject to change.
The point I’m hoping to make here is two-fold; the first being that anything pointed out on that list is either easily substituted or unnecessary to our lifestyle. Don’t let outside interests tell you that there is only one way. Don’t let them tell you that there is only one cheap way. I have worked now for two branches of government responsible for manufacturing all kinds of incredible and obscure things, so I know first hand that the only thing which would limit me in living a vegan lifestyle is my own closed mind and unwillingness to make changes.
My second point is that “pointing out the hypocrisy” of vegans does not make you clever; it makes you an argumentative asshole that gets off on aggravating other people. Furthermore it seems that the assumption you are making about vegans is that they are all uninformed or unintelligent - which is the furthest thing from the truth. Living a vegan/vegetarian lifestyle is a choice, often the most informed decision a person will ever make, and one which requires constant thought and adaptability for the rest of your life. Yet this piece seems to think that our care with picking out our diet doesn’t extend to the rest of our lives as well. That stores like Karmavore apparently only cater to the food side of things despite that fact that they clearly sell other animal-free products.
What I’m trying to say is this: vegans are ahead of you. So thanks for the heads-up, but we have been dealing with animal-based materials ever since we made the decision that contemporary methods of collecting those materials were not something we could endorse through the act of consumption. Problems spotted, and commenced being fixed long before you decided to take a cheap shot at us.
As a final point, vegans try to be respectful… which is far more than I can say for you. What this article clearly is, is you trying to justify your meat-eating by slandering others. This makes me want to ask: what are you getting out of it? I mean other then the false satisfaction that you are somehow better then us, or the lessened guilt surrounding your continued patronage of the factory farm system. This article was not about pointing out possible gaps in the vegan lifestyle and making constructive suggestions, it was about having something to lord over us. It was an attempt to brick off all your other exits so that you seem to have a reason for choosing your current path.
If you want to try debating veganism again when you have built up enough self-respect to take responsibility for your decisions I would be happy to. I would also be happy to suggest cruelty-free alternatives for any of the items in your picture, or from anywhere else you can think of. This response is not an attack on your lifestyle, just simply a note that you may find people more receptive to your arguments if you come to the table with something more constructive than trying to slap people into following what you have decided is the only possible path.
Most of the things on this list are not necessarily made with animal products, and the ones that are can be easily avoided or substituted out. Look at instrument strings. It is true that instrument strings are traditionally made using animal guts, but what humans have traditionally done versus what we currently do is really what is at the heart of the argument for veganism. Humans may have traditionally eaten meat, dairy and eggs (depending on your definition of ‘tradition’), but as our world has changed it has become our choice to no longer ingest or use products constructed through the infliction of harm to an animal (which includes environmental damage since that harms everything). Instrument strings can be made using metal and nylon; small string instruments can be strung using animal hair which is collected at no negative cost to an animal. Just because something is traditionally done a certain way does not mean it is not subject to change.
The point I’m hoping to make here is two-fold; the first being that anything pointed out on that list is either easily substituted or unnecessary to our lifestyle. Don’t let outside interests tell you that there is only one way. Don’t let them tell you that there is only one cheap way. I have worked now for two branches of government responsible for manufacturing all kinds of incredible and obscure things, so I know first hand that the only thing which would limit me in living a vegan lifestyle is my own closed mind and unwillingness to make changes.
My second point is that “pointing out the hypocrisy” of vegans does not make you clever; it makes you an argumentative asshole that gets off on aggravating other people. Furthermore it seems that the assumption you are making about vegans is that they are all uninformed or unintelligent - which is the furthest thing from the truth. Living a vegan/vegetarian lifestyle is a choice, often the most informed decision a person will ever make, and one which requires constant thought and adaptability for the rest of your life. Yet this piece seems to think that our care with picking out our diet doesn’t extend to the rest of our lives as well. That stores like Karmavore apparently only cater to the food side of things despite that fact that they clearly sell other animal-free products.
What I’m trying to say is this: vegans are ahead of you. So thanks for the heads-up, but we have been dealing with animal-based materials ever since we made the decision that contemporary methods of collecting those materials were not something we could endorse through the act of consumption. Problems spotted, and commenced being fixed long before you decided to take a cheap shot at us.
As a final point, vegans try to be respectful… which is far more than I can say for you. What this article clearly is, is you trying to justify your meat-eating by slandering others. This makes me want to ask: what are you getting out of it? I mean other then the false satisfaction that you are somehow better then us, or the lessened guilt surrounding your continued patronage of the factory farm system. This article was not about pointing out possible gaps in the vegan lifestyle and making constructive suggestions, it was about having something to lord over us. It was an attempt to brick off all your other exits so that you seem to have a reason for choosing your current path.
If you want to try debating veganism again when you have built up enough self-respect to take responsibility for your decisions I would be happy to. I would also be happy to suggest cruelty-free alternatives for any of the items in your picture, or from anywhere else you can think of. This response is not an attack on your lifestyle, just simply a note that you may find people more receptive to your arguments if you come to the table with something more constructive than trying to slap people into following what you have decided is the only possible path.