|
|
WHAT?! It's true! I don't want to be vegan. WHY? I wish it didn't exist. I wish I didn't have to be vegan. WHAT DO YOU MEAN? Well veganism was a philosophy (see more on it's history HERE) created in order to protect and defend animals. The victims of humanity. But imagine living in a world where that didn't have to exist... Where humans lived alongside animals, and they were here with us, not for us. A world where humans respected and cared for ALL living beings, and where animals lived freely from harm, abuse, slavery and oppression. It's a real shame we have to invent an ethical movement in order to simply stop people hurting animals - the animals we all claim to 'love' so much. I SEE. SO YOU DON'T REGRET IT? God no. I love being vegan. It's the best decision I ever made. How could you not love saving animals? I wish I'd have done it sooner. WHY DIDN'T YOU? I was conditioned, brainwashed and ignorant. Back then, I never once thought of the victims and I never once thought of their journey. I had my eyes closed and my fingers in my ears. I only ever thought about myself. I thought an animal's life was like a Disney movie. DISNEY? Yeah. I'd convinced myself all the animals were happy, being taken care of and were looked after (before they were needlessly murdered in a slaughterhouse). I was naive. If I accidentally came across footage of animals being harmed online, I'd look away and quickly close the window down. After all, I 'loved' animals - I didn't want to see them suffer or be hurt. I WAS AN ANIMAL LOVER. I'd also come up with ridiculous statements to try and justify these things like, "Well that doesn't happen in this country", "I only eat 'grass fed' beef so this doesn't happen" or "That person should be locked up for doing that!" - all whilst being the one paying them to do it. I also didn't have anyone to show me the way, or to introduce me to this much kinder, compassionate lifestyle. No one made me think, or question my own morals and my actions, which were totally out of line yet I couldn't see that. WAS IT DOWN TO SOMEONE ELSE THEN? No, it was down to me solely but when you've eaten and exploited animals since childhood, it's extremely difficult to see any other way of living. We take our animals, our food, cosmetics, clothes, entertainment... we take it all for granted. They're ALL at the expense of animals. Beautiful, conscious, breathing, innocent animals that simply want to live their lives, which we so thoughtlessly and needlessly take away from them. SO WHY DON'T YOU WANT TO BE VEGAN? Because I don't want to feel anger or resentment towards people I care about. People I love are exactly where I was and are still paying for animals to be harmed, every single day, without ever being held accountable. It's hard seeing wonderful, loving, good-natured people unwittingly and unknowingly (or perhaps sometimes knowingly) causing harm to animals. Not to mention slowly damaging their health along the way. I don't want to witness my friends consuming animal products. Products that cause cancer, heart disease, strokes, osteoporosis, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer's and Dementia. I don't want to see supposed 'animal-lovers' posting pictures of their non-vegan meals - which as we all know, consists of a young animal that had experienced torture, mutilation and death before it got to their plate. An animal that had, without any doubt whatsoever, died afraid and alone. It's hard seeing friends and family sharing an 'ice cream' or a cooked 'breakfast' made with a female animal's stolen breast milk or a female bird's stolen, unfertilised ovum. YOU MEAN EGGS? Eggs are the result of a hen's reproductive cycle. These are secretions that have come from a tortured mother, just to satisfy your 'taste buds'. It's difficult seeing vets, climate activists, GP's, scientists and conservationists 'fight the good fight' whilst STILL murdering animals and eating them. Doing everything they can to fight pollution, stopping plastic and planting trees and seeds for pollinators - all whilst funding the leading cause of climate change - animal agriculture. These people are (quite literally) attempting to put out a fire with cups of petrol. I don't want to hold them accountable - it's not down to me. I want them to wake up and realise. To understand, themselves, the harm they're causing, and still continue to cause, three times a day, every day. I don't want to be arguing with friends and family, bickering with people on the internet, losing followers and supporters of my work - all because they don't see animal abuse the way I do. But I can't not act on it. I have no choice. My heart is with the victims. What would YOU do? ME? Yes. What would you do if you saw animals being abused? Or the elderly? Or women? Or minorities? Or those with disabilities? Would you sit back and say nothing just to avoid conflict? Or would you put yourself in the position of the victim (in this case, the animals) and would you jump in to defend them? Would YOU be their voice? I DUNNO What if it were your pet then? Or your child? Would you stay quiet then? Or would you be angry? Would you be frustrated and upset?
Would you want to do whatever you could to stop this from happening? To make people see? To get them where you are? To bring down the oppressors and the abusers who are causing this suffering? BUT IT'S NOT MY PETS. OR MY KIDS. But morally they're the same. The animals being killed all have, or have had, mothers. Mothers who yearn to spend their first few hours, not to mention the rest of their lives, with their newborn babies but who never get to. Surely you can empathise with other mothers, aside from your own? Babies (they're all young) are out there now being beaten, butchered and are waiting in line for their time to be killed. SO YOU DON'T WANT TO BE VEGAN? I don't want to have to see chickens, ducks, pigs, cows, lambs, goats, fish, whales, sharks, foxes, gorillas, rhinos, dogs, cats, parrots, elephants, eagles, wolves, polar bears, badgers, etc. be hunted, slaughtered and killed by humans - all for greed, money and entertainment. I don't want to have to check every packet, every box, every ingredient, to make sure it doesn't contain dead body parts or growth fluids from dead animals. I don't want to have to 'make a scene' in restaurants or cafes simply because there are no cruelty-free alternatives available. I don't want the stares, to feel judged or to be looked down on for having compassion and for simply wanting to defend animals. I don't want to have to stop buying my favourite toiletries, aftershaves and luxuries because they've been cruelly and needlessly tested on animals in laboratories. I don't want to have to witness horrific and scarring animal abuse videos, or the endless footage of humans being needlessly cruel to animals, all in the name of entertainment - but I owe it to the victims to see it. If we don't see these things and put ourselves in the position of the victims, how can we ever raise awareness and hope to change things for them? How can we ever stop it if we always look away? How can we ever save them? Ignorance is very much NOT bliss. Not for the animals. I don't want to have to do any of these things. But I do. Because to care and show empathy is a CHOICE. It's my choice and I can either make the moral one or the immoral one. If I do truly LOVE animals, then I have to show it. I have to show them. I want to make sure I live my life causing the least amount of harm, where possible and practicable. SO YOU WANT TO BE VEGAN? Yes. Then I guess I do.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorHello! Lee Brace here! Award-winning comedian, writer, photographer and vegan. CategoriesContact me at [email protected]
|