ARCO's Abolitionists - A Vegan Forum

Thanks Mountainvegan! I hadn't thought of that one. I view vegans, whether they are activists or not, as broadcasting stations regardless of their awareness of being one; none of us live in complete isolation. Yes, some have more outreach than others and it can be intentional or unintentional communication of veganism. So when I see members of our local welfarist group (Georgia Animal Rights and Protection) calling for a demo against KFC until they use controlled atmospheric killing (as well as other welfarist single issue campaigns), and many of them are vegan - I question this schizoid behaviour. To me - our thinking, personal behaviour, committments, moral baseline and its interpersonal and/or public presentation must be in alignment. This inconsistency has had me questioning how valid it is to refer to themselves as "vegan". "Schizoid welfarist vegan" is perhaps another option, at least in my own thinking.

I agree, Faunus. Welfare advocacy is the public manifestation of personal “happy” meat consumption. Abolition advocacy is the public manifestation of personal veganism. It really is that simple.

mountainvegan wrote:I agree, Faunus. Welfare advocacy is the public manifestation of personal “happy” meat consumption. Abolition advocacy is the public manifestation of personal veganism. It really is that simple.

Bingo! (Or spot on as the British say). I intuitively knew this but didn't have it intellectually articulated in my brain when I joined PeTA for a year, and then made the mistake of joining GARP about the same time. I then learned what a dreadful mistake I made shortly after sending PeTA money, and then saw that GARP was merely the southern voice of Ingrid et al. (I never participated in any GARP/PeTA event, and had my own "go vegan" stall here in Atlanta as a solo activist). Later I read what James Crump suggested (Francione' s Introduction, etc.) and poured over http://www.abolitionistapproach.com All of my deepest feelings about what the true ethical treatment of nonhuman animals included was clarified, and terms such as "speciesism" made perfect sense. What a sigh of relief that I wasn't the only one that felt that way.

When I attempted to communicate about Gary L. Francione and the abolitionsit approach on the GARP web site and the "animal rights Georgia" Google forum that they have, GARP quickly censored me. I received e-mails telling me my posts were unacceptable, too. Yet having met GARP members, there are definitely potential abolitionists there - while GARP whines about minimal participation in their demos. If I had the time and know-how, I'd begin my own vegan-abolitionist group just as animalfriendly did in Boston.

Faunus wrote: If I had the time and know-how, I'd begin my own vegan-abolitionist group just as animalfriendly did in Boston.

Interesting. I'll bet you already have the know-how, Faunus. You seem to connect to people very naturally, making acquaintances and then friendships where, I know, I would not even have said hello. And then you actually keep in touch with people, too, from other continents! There's a veritable Faunus-net out there, isn't there? Anyway, I think you'd be great at forming a vegan abolitionist group. For nitty-gritty logistical stuff I'm sure you could get advice from animalfriendly, if necessary.

Perhaps time is the limiting factor, then?

Thanks Panthera! You are always so supportive and encouraging. Time is the biggie (hey isn't it for most people?), but there are also a lot of other considerations about starting a group myself. By nature I am not a leader or a follower, and I'd even venture to say that I am an introvert with the personality of an extrovert in social situations. But I generally shy away from social events because they bore me to no end. This is not to say that I haven't entertained the idea of starting a vegan-abolitionist group including activism just to have more people resources. I'll bet if the time were there, I'd find myself doing it without a second thought - although I might regret it later . But I do play with the idea still.

I've been having some really meaningful hook-ups with people I've introducted veganism too that were perfect strangers. I've been lucky with giving out my home e-mail address to around 14 people to be of support to, and with no abuse. They have indeed needed that support and a lot of questions answered. With group activism, there generally is never any follow-up with the people you reach out to, hence no way to gage whether or not you are being successful. If I put my ass out there I want to create relationships (or create the space where relationships can occur) - and the major hook-up point will be vegan consciousness. That's what I am doing with numerous one-on-one relationships now. I strongly feel that new comers need questions answered and encouragement, not just leaflets put in their face, and I usually provide them with web sites that can further enlighten them. (At times I'm like the "Dear Abby" of veganism here in Atlanta). It works for me and for them.

So rather than just tabling or info stalls, I'm waiting for that vastly different creative idea to emerge to bring people together for education/enlightenment. I admit that I'm having problems trying to express exactly what I want - because I am not clear myself what I want specifically. But it would have to be a people situation in which vegans meet with potential vegans (interested/curious) and they mutually look forward to the occasion of being with eachother with the purpose of education and expressing their concerns in a supportive environment. I'm brainstorming here, and I never discussed this before with anyone. Writing this is helping me to make abstract concepts become a bit more concrete.

Faunus wrote:I've been having some really meaningful hook-ups with people I've introducted veganism too that were perfect strangers. I've been lucky with giving out my home e-mail address to around 14 people to be of support to, and with no abuse. They have indeed needed that support and a lot of questions answered.

14? wow. You're such an inspiration to me, Faunus!

Maybe you could form a support group, instead of an outreach group.