from technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com to vegan@lemmy.world on 25 Apr 14:56
https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/67766025
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There is a huge hole in the collective center of the left, and I am proposing that veganism should be at the epicenter of leftist thinking. If speciesism and animal slaughter are just, than maybe racism and war can also be rationalized. Meat consumption speaks to the fragility of humanitarian commitment. On leftist platforms I can write about the horrors of carpet-bombing civilians with a rather reassuring assumption that readers do not pilot war planes or manufacture explosives. But if I write about the obscene murder of 125 million pigs annually in the industrial machine of animal-genocide-for-profit I will summon the discomfort of otherwise thoughtful people casually living lives with bacon in their guts. Meat consumption is a secret topic tucked in a closet, hidden from our collective scrutiny.
Veganism quietly attaches to a complex web of tangential issues – militarism, climate, socialism, capitalism, media, consumerism, community and religion all interface with veganism. Veganism should not be seen as a mere diet (although it might be nothing more for a few individuals), but rather functions as a gauge of ones consciously chosen place on a moral continuum. People who call themselves leftists often shy away from the issue of veganism, but, as fascism swallows up culture and strives to turn us into either monsters or zombies, we ought to be aware of our personal (universal) propensity for mindless cruelty. Both fascism and meat eating are founded on mass oblivion. The act of consuming tortured flesh may well be the most fundamental ritual of societal complicity. Very few of us have never indulged in this violent act. We are all adjuncts to capitalism, to exploitation, to mass surrender, to the abandonment of moral principles via the blood ritual that compels us to sign a defacto vow of silence.
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#vegan
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I agree with the reasoning, that with “vegan ethics”
asat the basis, easier to argue for other basic (human) rights and non-violence. If anyone deserves to live free of harm, then there’s less debate for racism, etc. You are right that non-veganism is hypocritical of leftists. I do comment on comrades’ lack of integrity. The same applies regarding queer-friendliness.But how are you drawing the conclusion, that veganism should be at the epicenter? How would that be achieved? Isn’t it also hypocritical for vegans to not be activists for a broader spectrum of left political topics? Veganism definitely does attach to many topics, but it would be a bad center for them. How would a critique of media or militarism be stronger from a vegan-centric position?
In veganism, our perspective is from a position of power (to abuse animals), which we’re individually not boycotting. We are arguing that other people should voluntarily join us, or we’re trying to make veganism more accessible. However, many other super important left topics are from quite the opposite perspective: we are the oppressed, trying to take down the oppressors. We can’t just “argue with other oppressors”. We can’t just sit down with a cup of warm oat milk and say “oppression is immoral, please stop”. We need to get up and actively fight it, and I haven’t seen “vegan-centric approaches” that would be advantageous here.
It’s one struggle, one fight. Joining forces across the left spectrum is one of the most powerful things we can do, and I’d love to see us fighting jointly. It’s also what out adversaries fear the most! The FBI killed MLK and Black Panther Party leaders after they and their peers brought together distinct groups. But it seems uninformed to consider veganism as the epicenter. The epicenter should be a framework to understand, organize and lead the struggle. I’d rather have strong core values from which veganism concludes, than a center from which other struggles are merely touched upon but not actually addressed.
Hope to see a constructive discussion 😀