Escape to Panama: “Moral” Veganism Makes No Sense

Monday, May 23, 2016

“Moral” Veganism Makes No Sense

Dear Moral Vegans,

First off, just to clarify- I have nothing against Vegans or the Vegan Diet. This is simply about the condemnation that is often used to convey Veganism as somehow “morally and ethically superior”. I’ve been a vegan, I have vegan friends, and this has nothing to do with Veganism, per se.

We clear? Great.

Now, for those who DO moralize and condemn others on the basis of their diet, I know you mean well, but if you’re reading this right now, regardless of your particular dietary choice, you have blood on your hands just the same as meat eaters. Why? You are on the computer which means you are willfully participating in an unsustainable industrial civilization that fundamentally depends on the constant brutal invasion, destabilization, usurpation, and destruction of entire ecosystems to maintain your privileged standard of living. The amount of destruction, suffering, and death this constantly causes to ALL forms of life which is required to maintain your comfortable lifestyle is far more horrific than any meat-eating diet is responsible for.

moral vegan

I’m not saying the Veganism is “bad“, especially if you do it for physiological reasons. If your body just functions better without meat- great. More power to you. I’m specifically just talking about vegans who generalize ALL meat eating as “bad”, regardless of the context (humanely pasture raised vs. industrial slaughterhouse), and only eating plants as “good”, regardless of context (permaculture vs. industrial agriculture), and then go on to demonize meat eaters while still participating in a horrible unsustainable industrial civilization as if they’re somehow morally superior. They’re not.

If you’re like the vast majority of people, you rely on industrial agriculture because you’re not growing your own food in a sustainable permaculture garden, right? Well, industrial agriculture kills MILLIONS of mice, rats, rabbits, gophers, squirrels, birds, as well as fish, frogs, and all the inhabitants of entire ecosystems that are turned in to “dead zones” when the runoff of pesticides and fertilizer meet the water supply. Knowing this, how can any reasonable person only demonize meat-eaters for being “inhumane”?

This is just one aspect of industrial civilization. Think of all the horrible byproducts of industrial civilization: oil spills, fracking, deforestation, pollution, Paris Hilton, strip mining, radioactive disasters, systemic poverty, and the endless wars fought over resources and lies to fuel your privileged, often superfluous, indulgent lifestyle (to name a few). You’re going to contribute to all that, yet criticize meat eaters?

Most “moral vegans” conveniently ignore this fact about their society because living consistently with their “righteous” beliefs means letting go of several things: their brainwashed identification towards government, almost every modern convenience in their lives, their hopes and dreams which depend on the continuation of this all-consuming paradigm, and starting their lives all over in a way that’s truly conscientious of mitigating the suffering of any form of life on the planet.

But they’re just not willing to do that. It’s easier to just shop in a different supermarket aisle and hypocritically shame others on Facebook. When rubber hits the road for moral vegans (bad industrial puns, anyone?), morality is selectively ignored, trading convictions for convenience while cherry-picking an over-generalized non-issue which allows them to feel some semblance of moral righteousness.

It makes no sense.

Just to reiterate- Veganism, per se, works well for a lot of people and is a valid dietary choice. The problem addressed here is the moralizing condemnation double standard based on dietary over-generalizations without deeper context which is unnecessarily dividing people, wasting energy on myopic non-arguments, and distracting people from discussing more important issues. Hopefully this has helped put things in perspective so we can move beyond that boundary. Let’s please stop the dietary demonization and focus on what really matters in the bigger picture. There are way more important issues that need to take priority in the focus of our concern!

Ultimately, the only consistent “moral righteousness” to be found when it comes to your dietary choices is, A.) if your food is produced locally, humanely, and sustainably, and B.) if you’re dedicating your life to constantly healing, self-educating, and contributing back to the world with the energy you consume in order to improve the world by helping to educate and uplift others in evolving beyond the current obsolete destructive paradigm.

That’s basically what it all comes down to.

However, there’s more to the topic which is explored in the video below. Please watch it, as this article is simply an introduction.

Just some food for thought…?

(For further information and a more in-depth analysis, watch the following video I made to illustrate the point. Please thoroughly check the numerous resources listed below the video before trying to critique based on this overview.)