Stupid Omnivore Tricks

March 18, 2008

New from Vegan FAQ:

What About Plants? And the Topic of Sea Creatures
For starters, let me just say that the ‘What about plants?!?!’ question strikes me an awful lot like, ‘What about the men?!?!’ whenever somebody brings up a feminist topic. There doesn’t seem to be a genuine interest in the ethical implications of it; it’s just a way to distract the question-asker from their own underlying feelings of guilt and threatened privilege.

Now. Ask yourself: do you honest-to-gods believe that cutting up a head of lettuce and cutting up a live, unanesthetized dog is the same ethically?

If you do, let me just say that you don’t need to be on the internet. You need to be on a video with the caption, ‘This is what drugs did to me.’

Read the rest >>

When I hear “what about the plants” my automatic response is that the questioner is stupid.

If I think they’re really, truly stupid, I will try to be kind and gentle and explain that a) plants probably don’t feel pain, at least not in the way we do, b) animals absolutely do feel pain in a way similar to how we feel it, c) I don’t have to eat animals to survive, d) I do have to eat plants to survive, and e) consuming only plants means I consume fewer plants than if I consumed animals.

If I don’t think they’re stupid, then I get angry. The plant question is just another way of marginalizing veganism. It’s mean. If someone who has some brains says, “What about the plants,” that person is an asshole.

Next up: sea animals.

Some people claim fish, lobsters, clams, et cetera don’t feel pain. Those people are wrong.

Furthermore, if in doubt, doesn’t it make sense to be agnostic on the issue? It’s impossible to prove something doesn’t feel pain. So if you care about reducing or ending pain and suffering in this world, then you’d avoid causing potential pain, not just definite pain.

Next: worms, insects…

My general response to this is, “Why do you care whether or not I’ll eat worms? Do you eat worms?” and then if they keep it up I say, “No, I’m not going to make some special exception for worms and insects. I wouldn’t eat them even if I were a meat-eater; that’s just plain gross. Why the hell would I choose to eat a cockroach when I can eat an apple?”

But more than that, many worms and insects do, in fact, feel pain. And again, even if we weren’t sure, it makes sense to avoid eating them anyway because we don’t have to.

Share/Save/Bookmark

Posted by Elaine Vigneault | Filed Under Philosophy and Guidance, The World, veganism 

« Got Rheumatoid Arthritis? Go Vegan.
Ed Miller, 5 for 5 »

Comments

5 Responses to “Stupid Omnivore Tricks”

  1. Laurin on March 19th, 2008 2:45 pm

    About the bugs/worms issue..

    When people ask about them, do they mean, ‘would you eat them’ or ‘would you kill them’. I never thought eating bugs was at question cause that’s not something anyone does (in America, at least). Cause I know omnivores try to get all sneaky and find every little loophole that they can to try to discredit our veganism. Because obviously if there is ONE THING that we do wrong then the whole issue/benefit of our vegan lifestyle is forfeit!

    I can definitely say that I haven’t killed a bug (on purpose) since I’ve been vegan. Though they still give me the heebie jeebies!

    Laurin’s last blog post..Animal Rights: How Animal Welfarism Undermines the AR Movement

  2. Elaine Vigneault on March 19th, 2008 4:13 pm

    I think you’re right that they mean “do you kill bugs?” And I think you’re right that their intention is to identify something they can label hypocritical and use that to discredit our entire philosophy.

    The ethical response is simply that doing something is better than doing nothing. Even if we’re “hypocritical” by using some animal products or contributing to some animal suffering or death, we’re still lessening our contribution to animal suffering.
    described here:
    http://greengirlsglobal.com/blog/guest-editor-katleen-baum-animal-rights-activists-the-outsiders-of-the-action-world

    Personally, I have used pesticides on occasion in the past and I feel terrible about it. I’ve since stopped that. But you know what? Even when I used pesticides, it doesn’t undo the good I do in other areas of my life. Doing something is always better than doing nothing.

    Moreover, there’s nothing preventing me from abandoning current bad habits in the future. I can become more vegan…

  3. Laurin on March 20th, 2008 11:06 am

    You remind me of Colleen Patrick-Goudreau–her motto is “Don’t do nothing because you can’t do everything! Do something! Anything!”

    And I’m just like, word, yo! That whole mantra actually helps me discredit those ne’er do well discreditors!

    Laurin’s last blog post..Animal Rights: How Animal Welfarism Undermines the AR Movement

  4. Elaine Vigneault on March 20th, 2008 2:09 pm

    That’s a huge compliment, Laurin. Thank you.
    I will strive to be more like her. She has a positivity that is very appealing, but that currently seems unattainable. I will try to be more like her.

  5. Stentor on March 27th, 2008 10:54 am

    The only reason someone could ask “what about the plants?” (as well as the supposedly deep question of whether vegans can swallow after fellatio) is if they have completely failed to listen to the justifications given for not eating animals. If the point of veganism is to avoid hurting things that can feel pain, asking why you eat non-pain-feeling plants is as much of a non-sequitur as “but you still eat salt, you hypocrite!”

Got something to say?