ARCO's Abolitionists - A Vegan Forum

Hello,

I can't post on advanced animal rights talk, but i still would like to share my experience about vegan education.

Yesterday I participated in one peaceful action, which was organized to draw attention to the practice of killing the deer in a national park by national park service. The excuse for killing: "that kind of deer is not native specie in the area and it is necessary to eradicate the entire population for... environmental reasons". Ridiculous. It is A LOT OF WORK to controll invasive PLANTS (the plants which leave wild life without food and shelter causing their starvation and death) but it is much easier to fight non native animals. So, I guess, the park service wants to compensate its uselessness in plant management by claiming to do the killing of the deer as a work for the environment.

There is a group of people who strongly opposes this horrible action. In order to alert the public they had a walk and demonstration on the grounds, where the deer used to live. I came to the demonstration. I think that people, who participate in such protests, are often potentially more prepared to accept vegan thinking since they have already got a connection with at least one type of animals.

When i come to such demonstrations I usually mention in conversation with the participants and those interested in public that all the animals are individuals, that they all have the same desire to live and avoid pain. The people, who are already involved in activity to save a particular type of animal often have more opened minds. Even though that they are still in the state of "moral schizophrenia": many of them consume meat, almost all of them dairy and eggs, they consider themselves to be animal lovers, and I am pretty sure they really are, they just haven't had a chance to make a broader connection: that cheese, or eggs come as a result of suffering of other types of animals. I try to help them to make that connection.

It is useful to bring that subject up during the demo and it is often taken with a lot of thought. I also bring vegan starter guides with me (I have the guides from IDA: they are called "vegan starter kit", Friednds of Animals also have "VEGAN starter guide") and Peaceful Prairie Sanctuary leaflets about humane animal products, about milk, about eggs. It is much easier way for me to approach others about veganism than just staying in the middle of a square and asking strangers to go vegan by offering them VSKs. Those, who already care about one type of animal understand suffering of other animals more willingly.

Also often during an official demonstration there is a representative from a press. I ask if i can say a few words and they usually are happy to take an interview. Even if they don't include my opinion in their article, I think it is still worth it as the journalist gets to hear that animals are individuals, persons and that they can't be treated according to our needs or politics.

I think, we need to approach as many people as each of us can till we get the critical mass number. Those who already want to save one animal very often are more approachable. Then they will pass it on others.

Hello Green Kolibri,

Great post. And yes, I think your strategy to spot on.

Often though, such 'demonstrations' happen to be Welfarist in nature, and so, I have my own doubts about whether to join in and talk to such people. But you've got a valid point. Some welfarists who actually have a Vegan in them, only they might not have 'made the connection' yet. They'd be more responsive to the Vegan argument.

For example, I went to welfarist symposium a couple of months ago. I spoke about Abolitionism for a short while, but I don't think it attracted anything beyond respectful attention, because the whole event was welfarist out-and-out (most of them were people who said they might consider one vegetarian meal a week, and were positively outraged when the issue of tattoed fish and shark finning came up), and there was really no Abolitionist presence there except me and some literature that I was handing out. And yet, four persons (out of an audience of about 200!!) came to me at the end and said they found my argument persuasive. I thought, how many more could we have got if it had been a rights symposium, rather than a welfare one? But, I had to swallow my own dislike of the welfarist stuff there and work with them.

We've got a welfarist bazaar coming up at my university in one month's time, and I'll probably get some abolitionist stuff there to show to visitors.

Yeah, it can be quite strange with some people involved in Welfarist activities, they often claim to be Abolitionist but refuse to think crtically about their actions and the possible future damage they are causing by promoting reform, they take the attitude that doing demos on fur, foie gras etc is better than doing nothing.

Kolibri, that's a great way to get people thinking - by expanding on their concern for certain animals and asking them to extend it to the others, as well. I think it's great that you go already prepared w/vegan literature. And I completely agree that it's important for journalists to hear our point of view. Of course, it's important since they are individuals like everyone else, but they also have the potential to broadcast information. At some point, even if it's not for that particular article, they'll be addressing animal rights. We need to be sure that they have at least been exposed to "the abolitionist approach," so they have half a chance of getting things straight when the time comes!

Kevin, good work overcoming your frustration with welfarism enough to represent abolitionism. You obviously got people thinking. I guarantee that the four who came up to you afterwards were not the only ones who found your argument persuasive. When I first heard someone arguing for abolition, I thought it was ridiculous, but his words affected me. As long as you gave an accurate presentation, you "did good." Getting positive feedback like you did is extra nice, though!

Hello Kevin, Zero and Panthera,

Kevin,thank you.
It is awesome that you managed to convince 4 out of 200 right away, during one event, plus they were not even vegans (as many of new welfarists are). 4 more to initiate thinking in others.
Good luck with offering abolitionist literature at the "welfaist bazaar". People need to have a chance to be exposed to the ideas. I am sure that among those, who currently support new welfare, there are many, who can see that abolitionist approach is the truthful and the only way to save the animals. BTW, i just recently heard that Veg News Magazine lists Gary Francione’s http://www.abolitionistapproach.com as a winner in their 2008 Bloggy Awards. I stopped subscribing to that magazine, because they were promoting welfare reform, in particular "Californians for Humane Farms", so I learned about the blog winning Award from other people, but i was happy that, those who happened to support reform are not lost forever - they are interested in abolitionist ideas.

Panthera, thank you. Exactly, the reason I like to get a chance to talk to journalists. is to mention one extra time, that the animals are "individuals" and 'persons", that they can't be treated like invasive plants, pests or in any other way according to our benefits, they have their own interests in life, just like we do. The journalists have to hear that.

Zero, yes, it is strange, when people do something harmful like promoting "humane farms", and i strongly oppose doing that. I think It is so much more harmful for the animals when animal advocates tell that the exploitation can be done humanely, then when the industry itself simply advertises its products.
As for anti fur demos, I don't think that exposing fur - is the same as telling people to vote for "humane" treatment or to choose "humanely" produced animal products. When we get at least one type of exploitation exposed (like fur at first), we don't disable thinking, a person gets a better chance to get the connection with other types of cruelty involved in animal use. While "welfare" promotion leaves people with comfortable concience and disabled thinking.
In addition I think that anti fur demos can be easily turned into vegan education events. For example, when we do anti fur demo we often have vegan starter kits among our literature. If someone asks "what's about leather,.. wool, meat,. . dairy," we tell them that it is all the same: cruelty, and give the details. If you use a chance to tell that all, starting from fur, leather, wool, meat, dairy and eggs are parts of one phenomena: cruelty to sentient beings - you do vegan education. From exposure of one obvious type of cruelty (like fur or corrida) to the exposure of other types of cruelty (like using animals for food) we can help people to see the whole picture.