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I’ll preface this by saying I’m neither a vegetarian nor a vegan. The meme about vegans being this way exists for a reason. Mostly this is due to people who e
by matthewmacleod 3y ago
I’ll preface this by saying I’m neither a vegetarian nor a vegan.
The meme about vegans being this way exists for a reason.
Mostly this is due to people who eat meat being unwilling to be faced with the actual impact of their choices, and in turn hamming up the existence of this attitude.
I'll grant that maybe 50% of vegans aren't raving lunatics. But the ones who aren't raving lunatics need to distance themselves from the raving ones.
No they don’t; you need to learn not to apply broad brush strokes to a large community. It’s a you problem.
I’m sorry you have an asshole relative. But the overwhelming majority of vegans don’t give a shit about you or your choices - certainly on a personal level.
- AlexandrB 3y ago> Mostly this is due to people who eat meat being unwilling to be faced with the actual impact of their choices, and in turn hamming up the existence of this attitude. The double standard between "pets" and "livestock" is especially illuminating in this regard. I know many people that will say eating a dog is unconscionable... right before ordering another helping of bacon.
- kcplate 3y ago> you need to learn not to apply broad brush strokes to a large community. It’s a you problem. Ridiculous, it’s not their problem, it’s a vegan community problem. Let’s not pretend that it’s not a well earned reputation. The noise those zealots create within the community is so unusual and loud that you simply do not find that type of holier than thou condemnation behavior from literally any other diet’s adherents. I have had people bark at me from a sidewalk for enjoying a steak but I have never had someone bark at me from a sidewalk for enjoying a salad. I have seen people on HN send comment after comment on the evils of eating meat, but have yet to see anyone claim that eating vegetables is an evil act. If you don’t like the reputation, start policing your own.
- matthewmacleod 3y agoI don’t know how to explain to you that individuals aren’t responsible for the actions of others.
- kcplate 3y agoThat is completely understood, but you also must realize (if you are being honest) that if you belong to a group that has developed a negative public reputation for itself because of some of its members negative behavior that the negative public reputation will bleed over to you by association. Conversely you can be a truly awful person within a group with a good public reputation and that good group reputation will apply to you too, even if you don’t deserve it.
- mandmandam 3y agoI'm not even vegetarian, much less a vegan. But it's not honest to draw a false equivalence between salad and meat. > Let’s not pretend that it’s not a well earned reputation. It's not. Judging a group by their loudest and most obnoxious members is lazy and intellectually dishonest; even if it happens all the time. Most vegans I know are placid and kind. I'd have to say that meat eaters are far more obnoxious about vegans than vice versa. Same as the people I know who complain about the 'stoner lifestyle' and think that this justifies prohibition. They're far more irritating to me than the average cannabis enthusiast, most of whom you wouldn't know from looking at them, and most of whom don't make cannabis their personality. Deep down, us meat eaters know that we're eating an animal that had feelings like ours (or we're ignorant). And, we know that the Western diet is contributing to deforestation and a burning planet (again, or we're willfully ignorant). Attacking vegans is like attacking a cyclist for believing in climate change, because a few cyclists had the audacity to suggest we use the car less or fund public transport. Popular - but lame.