There are more important things to worry about
I did get one “they’re right!” response, but most other responses sounded like this: @AbVegan I would say that veganism is something that is easy and worry free. This response is particularly interesting to me because it’s not as if the person is saying “I don’t care.” In my run-ins with this response, the person seems to be subliminally acknowledging that yes, there is a problem with what we do to nonhumans—they just believe its importance is outweighed by other issues. @AbVegan that it’s probably being said by someone who doesn’t understand the full impact of meat eating..environmental, health, ethics…etc @AbVegan I’m thinking: So what do you do to advance human rights? Nothing? @AbVegan That argument is illogical for several reasons but mainly because one can be concerned about several things at once.#vegan @AbVegan would they tell the same thing to someone advocating women’s rights?Oh children are more important why are you defending women? #bs @AbVegan And yet people find time & energy to worry about A LOT of stuff that’s much less important! Like Black Friday deals. @AbVegan Being vegan doesn’t inherently take more time or effort. We’re not asking you to be an advocate. Just change what you consume. @AbVegan what’s more important than protecting the defenseless and vulnerable ones in society? Justice delivered on any level is virtuous. @AbVegan Does that imply I’m not capable of “worrying” about other things because I deem diet (and its impact) important? @AbVegan I Ask what they’re doing abt all those important things bec. that argument is often put forth by ppl not doing jack abt anything My Thoughts If this is the case, the saying doesn’t really make much sense. It’s also disrespectful to tell someone their values are unimportant. However, you shouldn’t forbid yourself from thinking critically about this very important issue. The billions of animals we use every year are nothing more than property in our concept of law and the way we view them as subjects of rights. No matter how much “welfare” we attempt to infuse into their situation, their will always be at the mercy of our desire for their slavery, their bodies, and their imprisonment. This is a problem of consumption. Animals suffer not because of faulty legislature. They suffer because we are consumers of them. The first, most important thing you can do to address this unjust reality begins with yourself. Go vegan.
A few days ago, I asked my twitter (@abvegan) friends their thoughts on the saying “There are more important things to worry about” in regards to the initiative to go vegan.
As an example, If I were a part of a treasury committee and someone wanted to spend the surplus budget on changing “that awful shade of blue in the hallway,” I might say “there are more important things to worry about, we need a new roof.”.
This makes sense. If we spend money on the paint, the roof could collapse. The roof comes first. In this case, you have to make
eliminations. You have a finite resource on which to spend doing one or a few things.
Yet in the scope of veganism, we’re not talking about a finite resource, but a position. Assuming there actually are “more important
things to worry about,” how does my decision to buy vegan groceries prevent me in any way from doing those more important things?
I don’t really think the motivation behind this phrase is an economical analysis of lifestyle changes. I believe sincerely this serves as a forced-to-do excuse for not giving up one’s preferred foods. After all, I never see these friends saying “there are more important things to worry about” when analyzing one charity over another.
I mean, should I tell someone raising money for the homeless that juvenile cystic fibrosis is a more important thing to worry about? Why, when it comes to veganism, are we suddenly triaging our efforts? I believe this has more to do with securing our temptations than being efficient.
I realize one objection to my analysis is that time and money are such finite resources. I accept that some extra time and maybe extra money can be spent in the transition to veganism. However, there is a lot of myth in the idea veganism is more expensive or demands more time.
Take it from me, I live in Omaha, Nebraska—the beef capital of the nation. I keep a tight budget and an even tighter schedule and have remained a happy vegan since March of 2007. Others, even longer.
That being said, if you are a nonvegan who is optimistic albeit stressed about the prospect of becoming a vegan, I deeply sympathize with you. You are probably like I was before 2007. Nonveganism was my way of life. It was deeply integrated into who I was. Most of us are simply raised to be this way.
