Veganism and the Politically Correct Activist

From time to time something will catch my eye (usually on social media) that really grinds my gears. I want to make sure I note that I'm usually not upset over the fact that others have a different opinion than mine. I'm usually just upset over the fact that people are arguing over (usually political) topics on social media.

Sometimes these arguments can really affect me in a negative way. They really do bring me down.

In this case I got the lovely opportunity of witnessing an argument on Twitter about veganism, vegetarianism, and omnivores.

Personally, I am vegetarian. I have been for a year and a half now. I'm going to make the transition to veganism as soon as my time and finances allow it.

That being said, I do not judge those that still continue to eat meat etc. It is absolutely their choice what they do with their own bodies/morals/etc. In fact, all of my family and most of my friends still eat meat. It doesn't bother me in the slightest. I pay it no mind.

This argument on Twitter started when someone tweeted a cartoon about the hypocrisy of people who say they are against murder, yet eat meat. Of course, this started a huge sh*t storm. The vegans were mentioning the fact that cows are raped in order to ensure that they produce milk and veal. The meat eaters came back with "You can't possibly compare milking a cow to rape!!!"

This is the problem...

The reason vegans compare the production of milk to rape is because cows must be artificially inseminated constantly in order to continue making milk, not to mention babies.

When I explained this on Twitter to one of my friends who eats meat, she took back what she said about rape not being an accurate label for it. She explained that she simply didn't know that cows had to be pregnant and/or postpartum in order to produce milk.

I find that arguments over things like this (especially on social media) are usually started because a lot of people simply aren't educated over the topic at hand. This is not to say that they are uneducated. I'm simply saying they misunderstood something about the topic that naturally leads to arguments.

 This is why I get so sad sometimes over these arguments. On one hand, I simply want the fighting to end. I've never liked when people argued or fought. It's always made me unhappy and nervous. On the other hand, I truly want to educate the people that don't understand veganism and its foundation. My purpose for wanting to educate is not to turn people into vegans. This is a very important part of my personal belief. I don't want to convert anyone. Absolutely not. I simply don't want meat eaters to think poorly of me because I choose not to eat animal products. Hopefully education would enlighten other as to why some people choose not to eat animals, and arguing like this would stop.

The world would be such a happier place if we would just learn to tolerate each other a little better.

To meat eaters, vegetarians, and vegans alike, I hope you'll take this post to heart. Stop the fighting. Despite what we eat, we're all still the same: human.

Warmest wishes,

BKL