Is Being Vegan Selfish?
"Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public."
-Cornel West
This post was inspired by a snail. One day, I was sitting outside with my dog, eating a crisp gala apple, and watching this minuscule snail slowly glide across the ground in front of me. And all I could think about was how happy I was, how good it made me feel to be eating this delicious apple, sitting with my rescued plant-based pup, knowing that not even this small, seemingly insignificant snail was in danger so close to me. Knowing that I'm doing so much to protect and prevent harm to all animals and to the planet makes me feel on top of the world; it's like a happiness high. And then I thought, Does this make me selfish? Isn't veganism supposed to be about selflessness, doing what's best for others regardless of how it makes you feel? Doing what's best for the greater good? So, is being vegan selfish, and does it even matter if it is?
Why Are We Vegan?
We go vegan usually in response to learning about animal abuse on farms, slaughterhouses, or other exploitation arenas. Sure, we may have already switched to a plant-based diet for the health benefits or stopped buying certain products for environmental reasons, but to be truly vegan, there must be a connection with animal suffering. From my personal experience, when I was teetering on the edge between carnist and vegan, what pushed me over was this feeling that veganism was my only option to do something about what I'd just witnessed in Earthlings. It was the only way I knew to escape the pain and guilt I was experiencing after watching animals be treated so violently -- animals I always thought I loved -- and it was also the only way I knew to help them. So, in a way, I was acting both selfishly and selflessly.
What Is Selfishness?
Being selfish has a negative connotation; a selfish person only thinks about themself and puts their own needs above all others. But, at its core, being selfish is considering yourself in addition to others. No one person is entirely one or the other -- selfish or selfless -- and often it is frowned upon to put your needs ahead of others. Though our society is individualistic and competitive and cutthroat, as long as we preach selflessness, we can continue on with our selfish deviousness in secret. But it should not be socially criminal to care for your needs or to put them at least on the same level as others.
Admitting Our Own Hypocrisy
Before becoming vegan, I stopped eating "red meat" (except on rare occurrences) about seven or eight years prior. Though I ate "poultry" and "seafood," I never ate animals to which I felt more personally connected, like ducks and rabbits, meaning that I was usually eating chicken and turkey a few times a day and occasionally salmon, shrimp, and a few other aquatic animals. Because I rarely ever saw chickens or turkeys, I felt more comfortable consuming them, even though I didn't eat other kinds of birds.
One of the hardest parts about going vegan is recognizing your own prejudice for what it is and then recovering from the emotional damage that does to your self-worth and self-acceptance. It's quite difficult to admit when you're wrong, and most of us lived many years, sometimes even decades, committing those wrongs several times a day. Yet, despite it all, we are able to keep going, to keep encouraging others to also be vegan, and to accept ourselves with our past mistakes. It takes a certain level of both selflessness and self-assuredness to do the right thing when the entire world is doing the wrong thing.
Does It Matter?
We are vegan for the animals, but we're also vegan because it makes us feel better; it's not an either-or situation. It's ok to be vegan for both selfish and selfless reasons -- our own health and happiness should also be a priority when living an ethical lifestyle.
be conscious, be kind, be vegan
Related posts you may enjoy:
"The Importance of Self-Love in the Vegan Movement"
"The Five Factors of Veganism"
"Am I Really an Animal Lover?"
"7 Ways to Handle Being an Angry Vegan"
"5 Years Vegan: What I've Learned"
"QUIZ: How Much Do You Know About the Food You Eat? (+ free download!)"