 Ten Arguments Against Veganism That Are Really Grasping at Straws I originally wrote this a number of years ago but recently updated it because, well, I think it’s a quality piece but also because I wanted to give a little shout-out to my friend Benny Malone’s new book, How to Argue with Vegans. (He did not ask me to do this, I just felt like it and who’s stopping me?) I have not read HtAwV yet as my book queue is VERY long at the moment but I know I know Benny has a sharp, agile brain and an impressive understanding of logical fallacies, so I expect it to be very good. (You can learn more at the lively discussion group for the book.) Shall we commence? In no particular order… Ten Arguments Against Veganism That Are Really Grasping at Straws 1. “Plants Feel Pain.” You know that one YouTube video that defensive meat-eaters post as incontrovertible proof that plants feel pain? The one where it proves simply that plants respond to stimuli in order to maximize favorable conditions and decrease unfavorable conditions just as any living organism would? (I’m not going to link to it and give it any views, but trust me, it’s janky and if you really want to see it, you can find it.) The opinion that plants are sentient does not merit equal consideration with the demonstrable fact that animal species feel pain as they possess brains, central nervous systems, pain receptors and a demonstrable fight-or-flight response, not plants, and stating so creates an unbridgeable false equivalency that we are somehow expected to accept carte blanche. People are allowed to have their opinions about fairy tales - hey, I believe that the tooth fairy could beat one of Santa’s elves in a cage match - but does that make it a fact? No. . . . 2. “I’m [Insert Ethnicity] and Eating Meat is Part of My Culture.” Oh, my! Their ancestors were meat-eaters?! Well, what do you know: So were mine. In fact, so were pretty much all of our ancestors with rare exceptions. How exotic and rare! The great thing about evolution is, you know, a capacity to adapt, change and grow. Do these folks maintain other oppressive views and practices today of their ancestors and justify them? Why are the ones they enjoy (like eating meat) acceptable, but others, like discriminating against those of different races or genders, not acceptable? As someone whose ancestors were discriminated against and largely wiped out due to their heritage, I find ethnic pride to be both creepy and faulty ground for justifying cruelty to others. . . . 3. “It’s Okay Because I Give Thanks.” If you want to know how patently absurd it is to think that we can erase a senseless act of violence by “giving thanks,” I wonder how you’d think of it in different scenarios. “That arsonist set fire to my house but before he did, he gave thanks, so I guess I don’t really have anything to complain about.” “At first I was pretty bummed out I was robbed at gunpoint but the thanks I was given by the robber made all that unpleasantness disappear.” I could go on and on. This reminds me of that old thought experiment that asks if a tree falls in a forest but there’s no one to hear it, does it still make a sound? Here we have the quasi-spiritual meat-eater’s equivalent: If an animal’s life is taken but thanks was given, did the animal still have his or her life cruelly taken? Allow me to meditate on that for a moment...Yes. . . . 4. “I Grew Up Eating Meat.” Similar to justifying one’s current habits based on their ethnic background, saying that you grew up eating animals should be a no-brainer as almost all of us did but instead people repeat this inanity as though it is something that confers onto them a unique meat-eater-for-life status. I grew up eating meat and look at me now, terrorizing you with my vegan propaganda. Weirdly enough, so did Donald Watson, the man who coined the word and co-founded the first freaking Vegan Society. My point? Ancestry is not destiny, thank goodness, and neither is personal history. I grew up on the standard American diet of the 1970s, which meant bologna sandwiches, Kraft singles and Hostess cupcakes; contrary to common assumptions, those who grow up to be vegan were not necessarily raised by hippie parents who prepared us for our future vegan lives with miso soup, mung beans and kale. We all started somewhere and most of us started somewhere similar, I’m guessing. . . . 5. “Vegans Are Big Meanies So I’m Going to Eat More Meat.” They had a roommate once who was vegan and, whoa, she was such a pill! Or their cousin was vegan and so controlling. Or once they worked with a vegan and he was so judgmental. Or they just had a negative experience with a vegan on Facebook when they shared that bacon eating contest. These interactions might have led them to announce with great flourish that they are going to go off and eat a big steak because that’ll show those mean vegans. This is akin to telling an anti-domestic violence activist that they are going to beat their partner because they have a bad impression of him or her. It’s sad for the ones they harm but at the end of the day, their actions are solely their responsibility. Trying to pin the responsibility of your actions on someone else is admitting that they are not in control of their own decisions. . . . 6. “Perfect Veganism is Impossible So Please Stop Being a Hypocrite.” I have to break some bad news to you. Are you ready? Okay. We live in an imperfect world. A wildly messed up world, in fact. Vegans are actually trying to fix this. Vegans aren’t saying, “Be like us. We’re perfect.” We’re saying that despite this very flawed world, we are still going to try to reduce harm and keep it from, you know, getting worse. Yes, there is evidence of animal exploitation all around us, in everything from bicycle tires to asphalt. Does the fact that vegans cannot be perfect point to hypocrisy or simply the pervasiveness of animal agribusiness and their profiting off of every last bit extracted from an animal’s corpse? I’m thinking it’s the latter. Any guess who is actually trying to change the status quo of cruelty to animals, though? That would be the vegans. . . . 7. “Hey, it’s My Personal Choice.” Saying that eating animals is their “personal choice” while not acknowledging the senseless violence against those with no personal choices to exercise for themselves – and endure everyday horrors like forcible impregnations, stolen babies, mutilations, and a short, misery-laden lifetime of confinement – is the ultimate in myopia. It shows what a poor grasp they have on the practice of extending empathy to others and it’s not a good look. . . . 8. “Veganism Won’t Fix All the World’s Problems So Shut Up.” Again, just because something isn’t everrrrrrything, do we need to throw it out the window? Can you name one change we could all adopt that would have a positive, wide-ranging effect on world hunger, water scarcity, water pollution, land use, climate change, worker exploitation and the well-being of billions of sentient lives in one fell swoop? This is by no means an exhaustive list, either. Going vegan is the best bang for your buck in terms of a ripple effect of creating positive, meaningful and lasting change. No, veganism alone won’t rid the world of oppression but it’s a lot better than acting like we are powerless to inflict less violence upon others and the planet. . . . 9. “ I only eat humane meat, dairy and eggs.” 1. Vegans don’t believe that such items can be humanely acquired so we are already at an impasse. 2. Anyone who has researched the industries with an open mind and using honest sources would also not believe this. 3. You really don’t exclusively eat these products, either, unless you don’t ever dine out at places that don’t meet your exacting standards. 4. How is it that a niche market that actually serves a very small percentage of the market somehow also reflects the purchasing habits 99% of defensive meat-eaters? 5. Welcome to the mystical fantasyland that is Magical Thinking, where free-range unicorns knowingly (and painlessly) sacrifice themselves for our plates. It looks like you have your passport ready! 6. Did you remember to give thanks? . . . 10. “Vegans Eat Fake Food.” Hello, we eat vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes, nuts, seeds and spices. The animals people eat have heads, bones, feathers, appendages, gills, organs and more removed; they have been artificially (and forcibly) impregnated, they’ve been mutilated, castrated, and selectively bred and manipulated for production. Please don’t try to pull this card on us unless you are prepared to hear about how “natural” the things you eat are. . . .
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