A lot of leftists are marxist-leninist, anti-sexist, LGBT+ and anti-racist. BUT, they’ll tell you the dumbest right-wing arguments to justify eating animals. I get that people aren’t ideal, but when you are the urban middle class of the West, there’s no excuse to not be vegan. Absolutely, no, excuse, to, murder, animals. Historical materialism lets me ok people from poor/oppressed backgrounds being carnist. I would never denounce a carnist in Gaza, but the Westerners have no any excuses to abuse animals.
I get that some people just have no will, I know people can be addicted. But at least DON’T BE A JERK to vegans. Some “leftists” post propaganda about veganism like YT videos that are literally funded by oil corporations. Some “leftists” are so toxic I’d rather have a conservative as my roommate than them.
The “leftists” lie all the time. Meat, dairy, eggs and honey are luxury products available mosty to those in the imperial core. The poor countries like India, Nigeria, Uganda and North Korea eat diets closest to veganism BECAUSE plant foods are the cheapest foods, not carnist subsidized McFood.
Dealing with leftists, especially online, is draining to me. How can I be productive as a leftist and not go insane? How can I cooperate with carnists to achieve the revolution? I see no easy solution here
You kind of just need to chill out. You can’t control how people eat, and the more aggressive you are about demanding it, the less they’ll listen anyway. You are experiencing acute upset by something that is probably not going to significantly change in your lifetime. I’m not saying that it isn’t worth doing anything, but I am saying that you should try to find a way to compartmentalize your feelings. This will make things easier on you, and it will make you more approachable as a vegan. When someone wants to argue with you about it, respond with why you are vegan, rather than why they/everyone should be vegan.
I’ve been vegan for 24 years, and I’ve seen a lot of people go through a “vegan phase”. A common characteristic I’ve noted among those who didn’t last was anger. It isn’t a sustainable emotion.
Anyway, I’m sorry if this offends you or someone else reading this, but it’s the best advice I can give on how to reconcile your veganism with the world around you.
The leftists in my IRL circle are often vegetarian/vegan or trying to be. Some are carnists, but zero do the anti vegan thing. I’ve had anti vegans come and go. The end up having wrecker sort of personalities. Like what sort of “leftist” would make anti-veganism part of their praxis.
In regards to dealing with them, I’d win the battles when it was easy, but avoid a massive struggle, as our energy is limited. If you’re getting in an online battle, don’t stress the individuals who debate-bro every point. Just make your point and go, and block the debate bro types. If you meet an anti-vegan leftist IRL, hold back and conserve your energy, as they’ll likely get outed as a wrecker sooner or later.
I am a hexabear user.
I see a post in the empoc community that I have an opinion on; I am white, I do not comment, my comrades deserve to express their opinions in peace.
I see a post in the in the anti-cishet-action community that I have an opinion on; I am straight, I do not comment, my comrades deserve to express their opinions in peace.
I see a post in the neurodiverse community that I have an opinion on; I am neurotypical, I do not comment, my comrades deserve to express their opinions in peace.
I see a post in the vegan community that I have an opinion on; I am a carnist, >>TARGET LOCKED<<
As long as non-vegan leftists aren’t anti-vegan, I really am not too bothered by their existence, at least relatively speaking. I find the fact that anyone, regardless of political ideology, consumes animal products to be an unpleasant fact to acknowledge. Still, I think it ultimately all comes down to ignorance versus malice. When a non-vegan leftist just hasn’t adequately considered veganism, it’s much less bothersome to me than, like I said, when they’re actively against veganism. Of all the viewpoints you could change people’s views on, veganism might be the hardest because it requires a drastic move to a different way of living. To follow through with their newly acquired view that animal liberation is crucial comes with a hefty amount of changing their actions, and that can definitely make it hard to convince someone to change, especially if it’s radically different from the lifestyle they’re accustomed to (i.e. convincing a vegetarian who only consumes dairy every now and then to go vegan is much easier than convincing someone who eats ham and cheese omelets every morning for breakfast on top of meat in every other meal to go vegan).
It’s also worth noting that people take the criticism of animal product consumption very personally. If a vegan says “Eating meat is ethically wrong,” an omnivore who’s never met that vegan in their life might feel personally offended because they don’t want to feel ethically wrong as an individual. When I criticize carnism, it’s a critique of how it’s been engrained in so many of our brains, and it would be better to take that mentality out of our brains, as a society, as much as possible.
If carnists admit that you are right about your view that consuming animal products is wrong. In that case, they’ll feel inclined to disagree because if they agreed with such a viewpoint, they’d either have to A) live with being a hypocrite (which is considered very shameful for a lot of people) or B) actively make lifestyle changes to veganism that they would find “too inconvenient” for them.
The poor countries like India, Nigeria, Uganda and North Korea eat diets closest to veganism BECAUSE plant foods are the cheapest foods, not carnist subsidized McFood.
This is nonsense. Yes, global South countries do eat less meat compared to first world but they aren’t vegan or vegetarian. Wasn’t there some statistic about 75% Indians not being vegetarian.
The reality is people get really defensive when you mention meat consumption. I do not think I can make someone not eat meat by arguing with them. Its too much of a ‘treat’ for people. To an extent, similar to religion, people get really defensive about that too.
Also its not just online, people irl also just as defensive.
