Sunday, September 18, 2016

what every vegan should know about burnout (resource list included)

 

Activism burnout

Which rather makes it sound like I have all the answers, but clearly I don't, otherwise I would've been able to avoid burnout myself. At least, I'm wondering if I've reached burnout given the tone of some of my previous posts (we-animals-deserve-to-rot-in-hell in particular), and my more-than-usual cynical mood of late.

For example, while I like the oft-used quote about slaughterhouses being made of glass walls, I don't think it's actually true, and in general think it's less a lack of awareness than an agreement that other animals are ours to use as we see fit mentality that's at play. Sadly, as long as animal use is profitable or pleasurable or both, a vegan world seems a long way off to me. On the other hand, I realize my the-human-species-as-a-whole-is-insufferable conclusion isn't really effective, and isn't going to help. And while the people-who-consume-animals-are-bad labeling syndrome may be tempting; it too is not strategic, and not likely to increase the number of vegans.

But, back to burnout. Is this a condition that every vegan can expect to face at some point? Given that I'm eight years into the vegan journey, should I be surprised or happy that at least it didn't happen sooner? Is it in part what can make a vegan become ex-vegan? (Thankfully, I don't anticipate that happening with THIS particular vegan at any time.) And is burnout the same as compassion fatigue? Are the two terms interchangeable? Nope, apparently not. Here's a helpful article outlining the difference between compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma and burnout.

In my own case, there's also a degree of caregiver fatigue thrown in, which makes me wonder if vegans acting as caregivers for elderly parents are even more at risk for burnout. It's a bit of a double whammy methinks, and given that most vegans and most caregivers are female, you could have fatigue coming at you from all sides. Actually, forget about double whammy. If you're female and part of the sandwich generation looking after kids and parents, AND participating in the labour force, you're likely looking at at least a triple or quadruple whammy, eek!

At any rate, since I don't have the answers that the post title implied I might have, I thought I'd look around and share what I find. Especially since if the statistics on recidivism are correct (I've yet to be convinced they are, but that's a topic for another post), and if some form of burnout precedes recidivism, then nearly most of us will face this battle at one point or another.

As with many other problems, prevention is always better than solving, but given the continual assault on the beings of our concern and the huge scale of what we're up against, I would say that it might be a big battle to prevent or overcome this too-common occurrence. Luckily, there ARE also many resources that can help, whew, so I've compiled a short-ish list (a long one can be overwhelming in itself if you're already stressed) and for convenience sake divided it into books, websites, PDF material, and articles. Take from them what you can, as other animals need us to be strong, resilient and healthy. As do other vegans!

It takes guts

BOOKS:

WEBSITES:

PDF MATERIAL:

ARTICLES:

MY OWN FAVOURITE QUICK PICK-ME-UPPERS:

So there you go. That should be enough to keep all of us busy(ier) for a while, snort. Let's take nasty burnout, turn it inside out and nip it in the bud. Let's Keep Calm, Keep Vegan, and Keep Going. (Which is also my new motto and blog byline, woot!) 

Comments

Hi Friend,
Thank you for all the interesting links. This is the first time hearing the term, compassion fatigue. Since I don't feel all that motivated to read about it, I guess that I might have it. I can't even say that it came over gradually, but rather was an instant kind of knowing that hit me a couple of days ago.Let's hope it passes on the way it came, silently but deadly.
Take care,
Anne

Hello Anne, so sorry to hear that you might be struggling with compassion fatigue or some degree of burnout. Completely understand the lack of motivation, but maybe sometime in the future when you're feeling rejuvenated you could find out more about it to help cope. It really is something that a lot of vegans experience at some point, so being prepared can be useful.

But yes, let's hope it passes quickly!

{{{And big hugs to you my friend.}}}

Thanks Friend,
I am doing fine, but had to step away from Facebook for a few days, reading a few posts, but replying to few and avoiding the worst of the other species use and exploitation.
I will get back to it soon, because I feel compelled to do so and because I hope that my advocacy and activism can make a difference.
Take care.
Anne

Yeah, I can see how taking a break from Facebook could be useful. And Twitter is just as heartbreaking in showing all these horrible ways humans use and abuse -- I even find myself trying not to look at all of the images scrolling by. Both of those mediums are probably a blessing AND a curse.

Krissa said...

Sorry to be so late in getting to this! It's a really great post! i guess I actually never thought about it before, but I'm not sure what burnout really means. Maybe exhaustion, but you keep going? I'll have to look into your links soon. I hope it doesn't mean giving up and just going back to old ways. I really doubt that, but I never gave thought to it before. I do think it must mean exhaustion.

Which brings me to why I'm so behind....this summer has kicked the living hell out of me. Benni requires nearly round-the-clock care at this point because of the nasty weather and I am just beaten down. He is the most absolutely wonderful dog though and I won't let him down, but it has taken all my time. He does ok when we come in and I get him cooled off, mostly sleeps and gets his massages, etc. He's not suffering to a point that it's cruelty, but he's obviously sad that he can't walk much and he absolutely doesn't like this weather. Every once in a while when we get out and it's cool enough, he go-go-goes again and I just hope with all my heart that he gets some more time when he's ok like that before his "time" comes. They didn't think he would make it more than a couple months so I'm very impressed with his strength, but yeah, caregiver exhaustion is a real thing. I can't believe I've gotten down to 100lbs again (due to the weather) and he's up to about 45 and I carry him around for hours (not in a row) a day! He's definitely worth it, but I'm sick myself now..anyway, this is a really great post and I need to look over it a bit more just to learn. Glad to see you've had time to post again! And I hope things calm down for you more and more. Hm, now I'm thinking the term emotional overload...I feel that a lot sometimes, but it doesn't change anything about what I do or think. So I think I'm getting a better idea of what burnout is.

have gone vegan said in reply to Krissa...

Hey Krissa, figures eh, I write a post about burnout and don't include any definitions, snort.

From the last link in the Article section, burnout is generally defined as "...the physical and emotional exhaustion that workers can experience when they have low job satisfaction and feel powerless and overwhelmed at work." While compassion fatigue "...refers to the profound emotional and physical erosion that takes place when helpers are unable to refuel and regenerate..."

https://www.tendacademy.ca/what-is-compassion-fatigue/

Activist burnout (as defined by the folks in the link you mentioned in the comment below) "broadly encompasses all personally negative mental, emotional, physical, and behavioural changes caused by one’s activism, that in result hinder the effectiveness of that activist." This just expands the definition of burnout as it specifically relates to activists.

https://helpactivists.org/activist-burnout/

So sorry to hear that you're having a tough time with Benni and the weather! It's cooled off down here and you can really tell that Fall has come, so I hope you'll be able to say the same soon. And please take care of yourself! For all of us. :)

{{{hugs to you as well!}}}

Krissa said in reply to have gone vegan...

Your post was great! I personally didn't think that at my age I shouldn't have a clear definition of what burnout is since it's such a "thing" in the modern world. I mean, I've been hearing about that for decades and in relation to all kinds of things. But thank you for the definitions because now I know I don't have it. I have absolutely severe exhaustion, but not burnout by definition. Partly most likely because I am so limited in what I actually do activism-wise. I mean, now that I have Benni I can't even go to a demo-march because his health does not allow him to be left alone as long as that would take. But before I start rambling, thanks for the definitions and I think this is a post that is very, very helpful. At least I can be on the lookout and prepared for when my exhaustion might turn into burnout. (We humans sure make things complicated, don't we? snort!).

Hugs back at ya! I'm glad your weather is better! Stupid summer.

have gone vegan said in reply to Krissa...

I'm lucky in that my day job has a high enough compassion satisfaction component as I enjoy interacting with the residents, and they make up for most of the management crap that goes on and the other less fun parts of work. Caregiver fatigue is definitely a factor though, and I need to make sure I refuel often enough, which I'm actively paying more attention to these days.

So like you I've come to the conclusion that I don't actually have burnout, but it was useful to do the research (and given that I had the energy and actually enjoyed doing the research and writing was probably a big clue, snort, that burnout isn't a problem yet) and I hoped that sharing might be of help. No point wasting all that time and effort, eh? ;)

Krissa said...

Just wanted to say that even though I haven't had a chance to check all the links, this one in particular is really great and would be very helpful to lots of Esther Approved folks, I'm sure! Thanks for sharing all of them, but if anyone is reading comments and doesn't have time to check all the links at the moment, this one is a good one to bookmark!

https://helpactivists.org/

have gone vegan said in reply to Krissa...

Yeah, I probably included too many links, and likely when someone is actually dealing with burnout or compassion fatigue, even a shorter list can be too much.

So the one I would recommend comes from the same website as you mentioned, but provides a bit more information right off the bat, including:

1)what is activist burnout
2)why do activists experience burnout
3)what are the symptoms of activist burnout, and
4)what can activists do to avoid or overcome burnout

https://helpactivists.org/activist-burnout/

Hope that helps!

Krissa said in reply to have gone vegan...

Oh, I don't think it's too many at all! If I didn't have Benni and had more time, it's good to have plenty to choose from! I appreciate your time you took to find out the extra info for me! Especially pointing out this one above specifically.

Keep calm, keep Esther Approved (I swear to god I can't even NOT write that instead of 'vegan' anymore!!!! snort!) and keep going! I'm with ya!

have gone vegan said in reply to Krissa...

No problem.
Maybe the motto should be, Keep Calm, Keep Cool, Keep Going? ;)

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Sunday, July 24, 2016

quick vegan pop quiz

 Look at the image below, and then answer the question that follows.

Alliwanttodoissmash-lg

Is this meme:

a) racist
b) sexist
c) not appropriate for the vegan movement
d) all of the above
e) none of the above

Think carefully now.

You answered correctly (as I knew you would!), if you said: e) none of the above.

The scary part though is that this meme received a lot of negative feedback with different vegans chiming in that it was, in fact, sexist, or racist (because there's no such thing as white privilege), or not appropriate (why can't we just focus on the animals?) for the vegan movement. Wow, is all I can say. Okay, I CAN say more, snort.

Patriarchy is very much alive, despite the claim by some that equality between the sexes has already been achieved (right, what planet are they living on?), and despite the insistence by the men's rights movement that men are the real victims now, and even a minority, thanks to uppity man-hating feminists. (Did you see the eye roll?)

Others took great offence to the second line, because white privilege, apparently, is complete bullshit. And a figment of the imagination. Astonishingly, even some people of colour deny the existence of white privilege, adding that they enjoy more privilege than that of some of their white friends. But I think what can contribute to this confusion is a) not being clear enough on what white privilege actually means, and b) getting it mixed up with class privilege. For example, you can be white but not feel privileged because you grew up poor. An article that explains this really well is one titled Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person. A link in that article doesn't work (at least, it didn't for me), so here's a look back at a previous post of mine that does link to Peggy McIntosh's piece, as well as a few others. Oh, and at a follow-up post as well. 

The not-appropriate-for-the-vegan-movement line ties in to the All Lives Matter debacle. Now, to give vegans proponents of this slogan the benefit of the doubt, of course all lives matter in a general sense, and the whole thrust of veganism is respecting all sentient beings. But the problem with countering the Black Lives Matter slogan with the All Lives one is that, among other things, you're negating the real issue of racism. It is, if you're aware of the importance of intersectionality, offensive. And here it can get a bit dicey. Because while all types of oppression are similar (the root being power imbalance), you can't casually compare sexism, racism, speciesism and/or other isms as if they're all the same. There ARE nuances, different experiences, and one of the easiest ways to conceptualize this is with the following image that I first saw on veganelder's blog, who by the way, is doing a lot of thinking and writing about these not-always-easy-to-fully-comprehend issues.

Defining oppression

No, we're at a point where vegans need to better understand how these different but similar oppressions interact and reflect a fundamental power imbalance, and listen more closely to those with direct experience of those oppressions. Otherwise, tackling single isms isn't going to get any being very far.

Comments

Krissa said...

This is a great post and the more thought I put into it, the more tricky it actually is. I think because of fence-sitters, things get sticky sometimes simply because our species IS so focused on (sometimes subconsciously) and entrenched in ideas/behaviors/characteristics that a fence-sitter about being Esther Approved (vegan) could actually be subtly or not so subtly influenced by things like tying it all together. It seems like tying it all together 'should' only be for 'advanced' minds. I mean, even the term vegan, which we've written about before...that already just as a simple word can turn someone off, fence-sitter or not. The sad fact is that because of the nature of our species, even well-intentioned ideas - facts - can hurt the movement to include our fellow beings as "one of us".

I still think that organized religion is to blame for most of these things, but that's a whole other mess and another one that is too inflammatory to be super helpful to us Friends of Esther. :) (I almost can't even write the word vegan anymore after loving and becoming used to Esther Approved). I guess I can't really speak for the other Friends of Esther who had strong reactions against the meme, but I do think that fence-sitters (I doubt anyone not on the fence would bother to even take notice) can get in a mental jam over putting all of that together. Sigh. We're quite a piece of work, humanity, aren't we? But thank goodness that there are enough of us to at least give a voice to and a chance for better things to come for all!

Glad to see you got a chance to post again! I hope your weather has cooled down. It's still been a tough summer here. :( I so hate summer. Snort!

have gone vegan said in reply to Krissa...

Sadly, quite a piece of work indeed. But, it's all we've got to work with, eh? ;)

Yeah, I like the term Esther-approved as well, but sometimes I wonder if we shouldn't adopt a term like anti-oppressionist or something. And that word would also make it more clear that being vegan isn't just about other animals, but also involves tackling racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, and isms we may not be as well aware of. That might also make the root of all these interrelated isms more evident -- the power imbalance that makes it possible for one group (whatever group) to take advantage of another.

Because just as I feel that one can be vegan without being Christian, but that it's more hypocritical to call yourself Christian if you aren't vegan, I think it's suspect to call yourself vegan if you're acting in ways that are racist or sexist or otherwise supporting the status quo that allows oppression of all kinds to flourish.

Speaking of flourish, this particular summer is making me wilt like you wouldn't believe, snort. And my only consolation is that if I can make it through this one, other summers should be a breeze, ha ha.

Krissa said...

Speaking of summer, last year when Spike started doing so bad in the heat and I looked it up, I guess it was an El Nino year and that meant this summer would be worse. Not sure if I'm remembering that correctly.

The best guess I can come up with about why "combining" all these forms of oppression is even difficult within the Esther Approved community is that many of us see it as "us versus them" as a whole. It would take a lot of thought to make the connection between it all, but human beings have been given the ultimate privilege by virtue of nothing other than out species and our species as a whole so absolutely does not deserve or respect or even recognize this privilege...maybe it's just sort of a "blah" feeling about what our fellow groups within our species go through. Wow - that made sense in my head until I tried to write it out. But there also are those of us who actually feel more like we belong in a group of another species. For example, I feel like I have way more in common with dogs, cats, birds than I do with my species as a whole, not friends like you and family...but with very few exceptions, I know I'm more like the dog tied outside the store that I see and communicate with than with the shoppers, cashiers, etc. But...that dog, will never ever have the same privilege that I do based on my species and so by that alone, regardless of how I feel...I still have it better in life than the ones I feel closest to. Maybe that's a good analogy to help folks understand the other paradoxes. I guess that to combine it all and put it in that context is too much for many of our fellow humans.

And once again I go on a ramble! You'd be surprised how much sense things make in my head and then when I'm writing I realize, I don't think I'm communicating this well at all!!! This was a very thought-provoking post. I'm wondering if there will be a good way to maybe one day get the point across. It will take another Esther to do it though, I bet! :) Or one of her "approved" ones. ;)

have gone vegan said in reply to Krissa...

Yes, I believe it was El Nino which will likely be followed by La Nina. But whether caused by El Nino, La Nina, or Le Human (ha ha), I can't wait for it to stop. Can't remember the last summer where we've had so many 30C+ days -- already about 30 I believe. Unreal.

As for making sense, I tend to be the exact opposite. Thoughts are usually ajumble in my head, and only when writing them out do they become more clear. At least, to me. ;)

veganelder said...

Thank you for writing this. (and thanks for linking to my blog)

One of the most profound things I've learned in the past couple of years is how often trying to do a "good" thing in one instance ends up contributing to a bad thing somewhere else. Let's say I live vegan...I eat plants...but...I buy some of those plants from a store and that store acquires the plants they sell from a corporation that runs "farms" that exploits their workers.

Whee...I'm doing "good" by not harming animals...but I'm adding to the profits of those who engage in harmful practices toward humans. Hmmm...I didn't mean to do that.

(the Food Empowerment folks recognize this and work to promote veganism as well as trying to interrupt bad behaviors in those who furnish food for vegans. http://www.foodispower.org/)

And...maybe that farm also does things that harm rivers and streams which in turn poisons wild animals. See what I mean? It's all connected and just picking out one aspect of it in which to "do good" also means I may, inadvertently, contribute to doing harm somewhere else. It makes my head hurt.

But...ya gotta start somewhere...right? Of course...but...if I think I can stop with just that one thing and be a "good person"...whoops...it doesn't seem to work that way. I wish to hell it did...then I could live vegan and sit on the couch and feel good about myself.

It seems to me we are seduced into playing this game where we can maybe pick which victims of harm we want to help...but...in those efforts to help we perpetuate or engage in unintended harm to other victims. That's ridiculous.

I'm wanting to figure out the game and do what I can to interrupt it instead of playing pick the victim(s). I'll live vegan...but I don't want to live as a vegan who does harm while trying to help. It's up to me to do the hard work of trying to grasp the bigger picture.

That's a pain in the ass...and...I didn't create this stuff but I have an obligation to try to stop it. I suspect maybe we all have that obligation.

One ray of hope I console myself with is that we humans created these systems of harm...and that means if we made them...we can unmake them. Maybe not soon...or easily...but it can be done.

have gone vegan said in reply to veganelder...

You're welcome! I actually left a comment on your blog a few weeks ago, but either it got lost, or didn't pass the moderation test? Anyway, will try again soon... :)

Indeed, we have to start somewhere. And a part of me is glad that I didn't realize at the outset that this business of trying to do less harm was a bit more complicated than not just consuming other animals. It would have been too overwhelming, I think.

A pain in the ass indeed, and a regret about this post is that in rereading it, it kinda sounds like I have most of the answers and know what I'm doing, which is really not the case. I'm learning (and making mistakes) as I go along. Got a copy of the MOGO book I referenced in the previous post, so hopefully that will help as well.

In the meantime, we have to keep on trying! And keep improving.

veganelder said in reply to have gone vegan...

My bad...your response here prompted me to go look in the "spam" section of comments (I'm really bad about not doing that) and voila...your comment had ended up there (hell if I know why). My apologies...your excellent comment is now published. Thanks for the reminder.

have gone vegan said in reply to veganelder...

Oh good, glad you found it, and that it wasn't a case of, "was it something I said?", snort. Will have a peek this weekend, as I've actually forgotten what I did say, ha ha.

Hi Friend,
One of the first books I read after becoming vegan is DR Will Tuttle's, The World Peace Diet. It is here that I learned about connectedness of our actions and their impact on the world at large. He says that until we stop taking in the violence that is inherent in ingesting the flesh and secretions of other animal species, humans will know no peace on this planet. We will continue to create other species abuse and extinction. war, poverty, injustice in all its forms, starvation, and planet and human health degradation.
Enlightenment is possible but not guaranteed, only when we stop paying for the death inherent in consuming other living, sentient beings.
Patriarchy is a construct of our herding culture which developed some 10 thousand years ago in Iraq. In order to continue subjugating and manipulating female non human animals for profit, profiteers needed to subjugate the feminine Sophia, thus giving rise to the modern day patriarchy.
Yes everything is connected. When we advocate for the emancipation of all species trapped in our various death for profit industries, we must recognize and advocate for the end to all forms of oppression.
Take care,
Anne

Hi Anne, FINALLY read Will's book myself earlier this summer. So many books to read, although that's not a bad problem to have. ;)

Yeah, I don't think violence will be going away anytime soon, but if we can chop away at the roots of oppression then hopefully we'll make some progress. At least clear the path for future generations...

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Tuesday, December 15, 2015

so I'm thinking of calling myself a 'New Abolitionist', snort

 Cuz you know, it's classy, clever and cool to attach the word "new" to a term to make it a pejorative. Um, no, it's actually old and tired, but hey, small things amuse me. All kidding aside though, I DO struggle with what to call myself. I'm abolitionist, but have no problem supporting reform measures that reduce suffering. And for that I may have earned the openly mocked "new welfarist" label by some, but tough. 

So why am I bringing this up now? The beginnings of this post has been sitting untouched in my drafts folder since February of 2012, and I suppose I just wanted to finally get it off my chest. And because this time of year tends to make me a little Grinchy before the spirit of the season eventually manages to infiltrate my system, I thought I'd deal with it so I can hopefully move on to a more positive state of mind. And clean up the coal before the new year begins. ;)  

I've been vegan for a fairly long time now (8 years next summer is pretty long, no?), but did you know that I almost gave up on being vegan practically right after adopting the label? As soon as I decided to go vegan I looked up the concept online so I could join the group of loving, joyous, peaceful and supportive folk that vegans obviously were. [Okay, I'll give you a minute here to guffaw at my naïveté.] You can imagine my shock then when I discovered that the animal rights movement was more divisive than any other movement I'd thus far encountered, and in comparison made being a feminist look like a walk in the park.

One of my first online searches landed me in a forum (it may have been Examiner) where I soon noticed this one person being even more obnoxious than the rest. What also annoyed me was that unlike everyone else who just went by their first name, this individual kept including their educational and work credentials every time they said something. Who is this jerk, I thought, and why are they so damn status-conscious? Sorry, but that kind of crap doesn't impress me, and I hoped they would just go away already. Oops, as I learned soon enough, this was the leader (leader!) of an influential branch of the movement, and I was almost ready to throw in the towel. Because if this jackass (or, to be more fair, person with jackassy ways) was supposed to be someone to admire and learn from, well, the movement could count me out. 

I was genuinely bummed for a while, but then figured that there had to be other vegans whose philosophy and approach more closely resembled my own, and of course, there were. Veganism is about compassion and other animals more than the petty (and sometimes not-so-petty) differences between vegans, and it wasn't long before I found my own kind of people so to speak.

That first person who rudely awakened me to the reality of the vegan movement never did go away, and I encountered them again years later in a completely fruitless one-on-one online discussion that cemented my dislike of this person even more. It also made me question their professional skills because surely a lawyer would know that parroting the same stock phrases over and over does not an argument make? Zero listening skills, debatable debating skills, complete arrogance, and the most linear black-and-white thinking I've ever seen. Not exactly a recipe for inspiring change methinks.

That opinion hasn't changed. And while I'm sure that this individual started out with the best of intentions and still truly believes that their approach and strategy is the best one where other animals are concerned, we have to call a spade a spade. Or in this case, a bully. Not a label I use too often, but from my own personal and work experience, I tend to recognize bullying behaviours almost instantly.

Okay, at this point you're probably thinking that I'm not being nice right now either, and you're likely right, but I also believe that vegans have a responsibility not only for our message, but for our messengers as well. And allowing even one of those messengers to be controlling, to delete comments that even slightly deviate from their own opinion, to ban group or forum members outright for not strictly toeing their philosophical line, and to deny any legitimacy to other approaches is well, unacceptable. What's worse is that this kind of behaviour would be rightly recognized as abusive were it to happen in a personal relationship, so why do we condone it when it happens in a political movement?

It's not right, and we shouldn't.

These days I tend to describe myself as abolitionist in theory and ideals, and pragmatic in approach. In short, a pragmatic abolitionist. Call me new welfarist if you will, but I define myself as an abolitionist because I want to see the abolition of animal use. I just don't see it happening as quickly as certain absolutist abolitionists do, and definitely not by just chanting the world is vegan if you want it over and over. It will, in my opinion (and those of others), require many strategies (both abolitionist AND reform), many approaches, and the inclusion of people who aren't even vegan.

Until that time, we need to be nicer to each other, and to those we are trying to reach. We need to lead by example (myself included), both online and out in the real world that we're trying to change. Because if compassion for others isn't shown, why the hell should non-vegans think compassionately about other species?

In sum, I can't really call myself a new or old anything if I don't at least try to live up to the ideals of what veganism really means. So I pledge, right now, to become a better person in the new year, and to try and become the kind of vegan I admire. Anyone with me? :)

Comments

Debra Roppolo said...

Always makes me smile how often you and I are on the same page. I have a blog post-in-progress (that I'm hoping to sell for a wider audience, actually) and the subject is precisely the divisive tactics and philosophy you're speaking of...possibly from the very same individual. I love your phrase "pragmatic abolitionist." May I use it with attribution?

have gone vegan said in reply to Debra Roppolo...

Oh, I'm excited about your upcoming post! And getting it out to a wider audience would be fantastic.

Absolutely, use the phrase. I believe some folk make the distinction between 'abolitionists and pragmatists' (pragmatists being the favoured term over welfarists), but I think that pragmatic abolitionist is more accurate. And pithy. ;)

Looking forward to your post.

Hi Friend,
I am always with you. I have no tolerance of bullies, people who know it all, people who pontificate, who think to highly of themselves and love too much the sound of their own voices and words. There are plenty of these people in all segments of society, in associations, in movements and so on.I abhor invective and diatribe and exit from any conversations and idea swapping in which it is the menu du jour. There is a better, kinder way to get our message across.

I try not to use any of the labels swirling around the vegan movement. I will say that the only solution is dissolution and that I will never sacrifice one for the whole.

Great post. Thank you and take care.
Anne

Hi Anne, yep, better and kinder is what we should strive for. And yeah, sometimes I feel labels just get in the way. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), they're also easy and convenient shortcuts in trying to describe our philosophies and strategies.

Maybe, instead of saying 'vegan' or 'abolitionist' or whatever, we should focus on what we're actually trying to do, and perhaps saying something like "I try not to use other animals" (I'd avoid saying "I try not to hurt other animals" as most people genuinely believe they're doing exactly that) would be more effective. Or at least, not bring along the baggage that existing labels already do -- weird, I just had a case of deja vu where I thought I'd typed these words before, snort.

Krissa said...

Thanks for sharing this. It really is so important that the vegans with the most high profile platforms and loudest voices not turn ANYONE (vegan or non) off in such a serious way. They of course have every right to voice their opinions and ideas, but they also have a responsibility toward the other living beings that, supposedly, they are vegan because of. There are so many times that I purposely ignore something because I don't want it to get more attention, for example, the most recent I can think of: there was some blogger (don't remember her name) who got a huge amount of attention in the US online news because she came out with a "how my vegan diet almost killed me" crap. It was crazy because she was eating less calories than some anorexics, and I don't know any vegans who do that, but nevertheless she got a lot of attention for it so I wanted not to get her more with even a comment, etc. ... I'm sure there are some vegans who truly do feel as though their heart is in the right place and they so desperately want all animals to stop suffering that they don't even tolerate measures to alleviate suffering...which is not vegan at all. They are then taking away each individuals rights and individuality. Humanity causes unimaginable suffering for every other living species on the planet and I desperately want that to stop, but if I can help even one while others don't get help, you better believe I'll help the one I can. And if there's anything that can make the suffering of anyone less than what it is even if things don't become perfect, that is the right thing to do. It's not going to happen overnight that humanity straightens up our act, if we ever do, but every single being suffering due to our actions is an individual and deserves help of any kind in any way we can give it. And I don't think I'm wrong about that, but I know plenty of others who don't agree.

Great post! Glad you had time to finally write this one. :)

have gone vegan said in reply to Krissa...

Hi Krissa, no, I don't think you're wrong about that either. It is our duty, I believe, to help a suffering individual AND to try and change the system at the same time. So saying that we won't help the individual until we overthrow that system is short-sighted.

veganelder said...

Shucks HGV...I already admire you because you seem like a pretty good vegan person to me. Happy New Year! :-)

have gone vegan said in reply to veganelder...

Aw, thanks, veganelder. And happy 2016 to you! :)

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