vegan/vegetarian

madefromrealvegans:

She’s gonna hate me for this, but I’m referencing my roommate again.

She’s a wonderful lady. We drink wine and have lovely conversations about morality and the philosophical implications of….things. We have most recently finished railing against people who are not strong enough to stick to their convictions.

I’m not just talking about vegans who label themselves “flexitarians” around people they don’t want to upset with their opinions. I’m talking about omnivores who love to eat meat, but will make a laundry list of excuses for why they won’t stop. “I’d be a vegan, but I like cheese too much.” “Oh, I’d kill myself if I couldn’t eat chicken nuggets for lunch.” “My doctor says I need the protein I get from steak to survive.”

This is for the omnis: stop that. Knock it off. Seriously. I loathe people who make excuses for their behavior. Conveniently passing your poor choices off on your environment, your adolescence, the way you were raised, TV, video games, your genes or saying “well, that’s just the way I’ve always done things” is lame. If you want to keep on eating meat because you like the way it tastes, then just fucking say so. You love cheese? Alright then! Own that! Love the feel of silk? Rock on! Good for you! If you want to continue to satiate your cravings even after having examined your choices, and you deem it acceptable to yourself to make certain choices knowing that they cause misery to others, then I’m cool with that. If you’re aware, and you persist, then fine.

But if you blindly go on and make excuses for the active choices that you make every day, then you suck. To borrow another phrase (because other, more educated Socrates than I have made much more intelligent observances about the world) “the unexamined life is not worth living.” Doing something because it’s the way it’s always been done is a stupid fucking reason to do something. Take two minutes, look at the reason that you’re doing something (omni, vegan or otherwise) and decide why you’re doing it. If you’re cool with the reasons, then I’m cool with you. If you know why you’re making a particular choice, then that choice is a valid one.

And people who are vegans to impress other people really suck.

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