What Vegans Can Learn About Activism from Political Discourse

Jan 11, 2021

"In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way."
-Franklin D. Roosevelt

1. People don't like being told they're wrong

One sure way to further entrench others' beliefs is to tell them that they're wrong. The more you disagree with them, the more they disagree with you, and then you're completely polarized and will probably be unable to find any middle ground. The same goes for showing them pity, ridiculing or mocking them, or talking down to them, as that's often perceived as -- intentionally or not -- a condemnation of their character, not solely of their beliefs.

Instead of arguing and placing blame or making them feel inferior, try to find commonalities and ask questions to shift them closer to your side of the issue. Regardless of how divergent our philosophies may be, we're all human beings and should respect each other.

2. Find a way to make the discussion bipartisan

Arguably, people hate politics -- well, they dislike people with different political views -- even more than veganism. In fact, one of the only times I've ever seen a positive response to animal rights in the news was recently when Fox News somehow allowed a Direct Action Everywhere activist on the air with Maria Bartiromo -- and she conducted a full interview with him, not realizing that he was a fraud, even when he was condemning his own company for climate change and pandemics -- pretending to be the CEO of Smithfield. People were so focused on making fun of her that they didn't remember how angry they'd usually be by some "radical" vegan taking over the airwaves to malign the food system.

While I don't agree with mocking, as that only serves to push people away -- people we should also want to be vegan -- we need to find ways to normalize the discussion of animal rights and veganism and get these issues pushed into the mainstream. So, try bringing up topics about which you know people on the other side of the aisle care, such as human rights or species extinction, to make the discussion more of an us instead of us versus you.

3. Debating is not activism & it's ineffective

Debates are just two sides talking at each other, not with each other. People on each side go back and forth, attempting to justify their own beliefs as well as destroy the opponent's arguments. The only time debating ever could be effective is if there's an audience present, but that's probably not happening in normal circumstances. Instead, as I've said above, find ways to have a discussion -- ask questions, be genuine, be relatable, show empathy -- instead of throwing your ideas into someone else's face.

4. People don't want to believe alternative information

One of the biggest problems with political discourse lately is that people on both sides of the aisle can't even agree on basic facts. When you listen to one talking head, they'll say something is irrefutably true, while another one will say it's undeniably false. In the carnist mainstream, everyone believes that eating animals is normal and healthy, so people take as truth any articles and reports that concur with those beliefs and simply write off any evidence that contradicts them.

There's no incentive to seek out truth when there's so much misinformation floating around on social media (and even on traditional media); everyone stays in their little circle, never reaching out into the scary world outside where their beliefs might be challenged. Because of this, as vegans, it's better to discuss ethics -- something that can't be disputed by citing some bogus op-ed -- instead of battling over what is factual. That doesn't mean we should totally give up the discussion of facts, particularly as they relate to the environment and animal welfare, but we should have lower expectations when it comes to basing our activism around that.

5. You need to escape the echo chamber

Too often, we only seek out voices that align with our own, not wanting to taint the harmony of truth in our minds with dissonant information. But when we do that, we each get stuck in an echo chamber, wherein everyone agrees with us, and contradictors are thrown out to find a different crowd. While there's nothing wrong with listening to and talking with people who agree with you, that also opens up the door to groupthink; when a group of like-minded people only listen to themselves, they fail to see alternative or contradictory viewpoints.

However, potentially even more dangerous, this can result in a mob-like mentality. The more we hear about how right we are and how wrong the other side is, the angrier we become, the more we come to hate them, and the more willing we are to take drastic, sometimes unnecessary, action.

6. The mainstream will continue to ignore animal rights until we take major action

Politically, no one is interested in animal rights, though, generally, conservatives are more heavily entrenched in the world of agriculture (just one reason why rural areas are so heavily republican) and protecting traditional national "values." We can't expect the media -- and certainly not politicians -- to suddenly gain a conscience and begin reporting on the myriad horrors of animal agriculture. It's up to us to make a scene, to pull the spotlight onto the animals; if not, everything will continue to be hidden away, sliding under the radar.

However, even if we're doing what we think is right, there are better and worse ways to make our voices heard. What we saw with the insurrection at the Capitol and the subsequent response from the country was that things went too far and ultimately hurt their cause much more than if they had simply protested peacefully. Even though this event received international media coverage, the response had the opposite effect of their intent, which ultimately sped up the process of officially certifying the results of the presidential election.

So, though it requires a huge action to get attention, those actions must be calculated and enacted as nonviolently and non-destructively as possible to, hopefully, receive a positive response from the general public.

7. Veganism is not partisan

There's no doubt that progressives are (generally) more open to veganism than conservatives, but ethics shouldn't be a partisan issue. Though we could use this to our advantage by attaching (or trying to attach) animal rights to the progressive agenda, this will then ostracize half the country -- people who already feel outspoken and condemned by liberal "elites" -- and make it undeniably partisan, which will lead to more of the issues I've already discussed. We want to appeal to the maximum number of people, and that's not possible when we're turning off half the population just by attaching animal rights to politics.

8. Know what the opposition cares about

If we do really want to bring people together, or at least generate understanding about and respect for the people on each side, we need to know what the other group cares about. Further, we must understand why they care about these issues. By knowing this, we can not only have more compassion for them as human beings -- which is sorely lacking in politics and is somewhat lacking in animal rights activism -- but craft a better argument for why our philosophy could benefit them.

9. Everyone's a hypocrite

Let me repeat: Everyone is a hypocrite, at least in some ways. We are generally more lenient on those with whom we share beliefs and about whom we care, and we are generally more strict with others. That's just one of the many flaws of human nature. Sometimes hypocrisy is harmless, but we need to learn to try admitting to our own hypocrisy when confronted by it. We should call others out when they are hypocritical and accept when we are called out on it, as well.

By being transparent with the fact that we aren't perfect people, that sometimes we have contradictory beliefs through which we're trying to work and find a resolution, we become more reliable and trustworthy sources of information, even if those on the other side don't necessarily agree with our perspective.

But let me add this: There are certain people so hellbent on hatred and delegitimizing you that they will seek to make you into a hypocrite (and a villain in other ways) regardless of the truth. For instance, protesting is always acceptable, but when those protests turn violent and/or destructive, while that's still morally wrong, we also need to look at why it happened, who instigated it, and what the cause being protested is. Seemingly similar situations are not always absolutely comparable; there are varying shades of gray when it comes to levels of hypocrisy.

10. Violence is unacceptable

To be clear, there's a difference between social justice activism that elevates to violence and destruction because lives are being lost daily and the establishment is intentionally turning a blind eye (or even condoning it) and people going out to protest because they've been tricked into believing their rights are being infringed upon, resulting in mob justice against non-guilty parties.

However, we cannot accept violence and destruction in the name of doing what's right, as that will only ever turn other people away from our cause; it should only be used as a last resort. No matter how good it feels to see people pay, to physically express our anger, it's very unlikely to change public opinion in a positive manner.

Even though I completely disagree with why protestors were in Washington, D.C. before the Capitol building was breached, I respected their right to be there, and now whatever point they were trying to make by showing up there that day has been completely drowned out because of the hundreds of people who went way too far. They hurt their own cause because of this action, and we need to learn, as animal rights activists, that even though we believe what we're doing is right, we can't allow the public to perceive us the same way, especially because billions of lives are being taken every day. We have to be smarter, better, to truly make a difference.

be conscious, be kind, be vegan