About six months ago, I decided to be vegan. Veganism is not exactly an easy thing to discuss. Or if you want to drop titles altogether, animal rights, as an issue, is not easy to discuss.The point of this is clarification, and frankly, an attempt to be bold.

I try not to step on other people’s toes because I don’t see the point in being rude.

However, there are some things I want to say after months of hearing the same questions and responses along with predictable behavioral reactions from non-vegan/vegetarian individuals.

Perhaps it will save us all some time and misunderstandings.

First of all, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) does not represent animal rights – they are just the loudest (and most ridiculous) advocates. So please don’t start talking to me about how much you hate PETA, or some idiotic campaign they tried years ago as if it embodies my experience as an activist.

Imagine, though, if you will, the perspective of someone like that and you might see why they behave so desperately, with so much hostility and self-righteousness.

They know that each and every single day thousands upon thousands of animals are not only dying, but suffering horribly.

Can you even conceive of having to stand in one spot for five years? Or having to share a living space with 50-100 other people with no sunlight at all?

So when you say, “I couldn’t do it. I love cheese,” it is profoundly, disgustingly offensive. If nothing else, simply because it’s an excuse coming from comfortable people living comfortable lives.

So you’ve met some angry vegans? Big deal. Of course they’re angry. Maybe it’s a strictly personal decision from your perspective and they should stay out of your business, but for them it is not enough to stay quiet while the unrelenting cruelty continues in our self-deluding society.

If a group of your friends planned to shoot a bunch of people on campus or at a theatre, would you find it sufficient to simply say, “I’m not going to be part of this?”

Or if you find someone abusing an animal, is it enough to not join in? I would hope the answer is no.

I’m not saying that I think it is helpful to be rude, argumentative, or to blow up testing facilities.

I am just trying to open up the communication a bit because it seems like the misunderstandings are vast and it causes unnecessary relationship issues.

On my end, I try to remember that it has taken me about 25 years to take any kind of action on these issues. I remember that growing up with meat-loving family and/or being with someone who regularly consumes animal products makes it more difficult to make changes.

I try to remember how much I used to love steak, cheese, fried eggs, and desserts like cr_me brulee.

I try to remember all the ways I have lied to myself, and that I cannot possibly be perfectly “humane.” (“Cruelty-free” is actually a term that I hate quite a lot.)

If you meet someone who is more militant, more hostile, maybe you should remind them of things like that instead of shrugging them off.

And maybe next time you talk to me you shouldn’t go on and on about how much you love cheese omelets.

Or that you need meat “to survive” moments after using your iPhone to look up movie showtimes.

I decided to be vegan because I don’t agree with the grossly unethical practices of the meat and dairy industry.

In this society, we vote with our dollars. The easiest way for us to protest the actions of those industries is to simply stop purchasing their “products.”

Saying that it makes no difference is a cop-out. Wal-Mart has gradually increased the amount of organic products available for purchase over the past few years – do you think they did that out of good will?

No, they do what they do because of consumer demand.

It’s not about attachment. Despite the cutesy sayings and propaganda, animals are not really our “friends.” And that’s fine.

You shouldn’t have to make something useful to you in order for its life to be valid in its own right. If I needed to eat an animal to survive, then I would, but I really doubt it comes to that for most people I interact with on a regular basis.

Do you have a roof over your head? Can you buy groceries frequently enough to eat whole meals? Do you have some steady income? Can you regularly do things just for fun or pleasure?

OK, you’re not surviving. You’re living.

It’s not about trying to deny that humans are animals, and thus part of a natural process that requires death, or in the very least the use of other living things.

If anything, the natural processes of life and death should reinforce the value of it being known and respected.

It’s about giving a damn about something outside of myself, not because it makes me slimmer or saves me money, but because the suffering of creatures – human or otherwise – should not be ignored just because you can’t see it or because they can’t tell you.

Editor’s note: Jamie Santos-Prowse is a graduate of ETSU.

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