I went vegan around late February 2024. This post is about what initially brought me to veganism and the reasons why I am currently vegan, as the rationalization has become more complex than it originally was.
Trajectory
As one could find me doing today, some 11 months ago I was consuming content from articles, research papers and YouTube videos covering various philosophical and religious topics. I naturally came across arguments concerning consciousness. Various related "hot-button" issues arose that greatly influenced the way I view consciousness and our "place" in the universe. After reading about said issues and reaching my current stances on them, I realized that at a base level, I value the individual subjective experience.
I remember thinking about veganism years ago, but it was no more than something I found "interesting" and maybe dietetically useful but not really worth looking further into through an ethical lens. I'm pretty sure I also first came across Ed Winters (Earthling Ed) years ago, but it was likely more of a video with a clickbaity title catching my eye on my YouTube home feed than anything else. Around 11 months ago, I came across another Earthling Ed video. It was one of the outreach videos where he had a table set up and conversed/debated with students on a college or university campus. This time, I was listening to his arguments for veganism with a mind primed to flag terms like "consciousness", "experience", and "individual". Ed spoke about the regular cycles of suffering and mistreatment that nonhuman animals go through as a result of the systems that they are forced into. He spoke about the mass production of meat and dairy being kept alive through the government's subsidization. But what I liked the most was the fact that he always brought it back to the individual. These beings each have their own brains, nervous systems, and subsequent experiences (and the amalgams of such). Because of where I stood with the individual subjective experience, this would seem to be just about enough to make me vegan. However, with the claims Ed made, what I also liked about his approach was his tendency to bring up stats and metrics that pushed many of his claims into the "undeniable" territory. I did the work to look up the claims and studies he referenced, and at this point I was almost converted.
As a result of the uptick in watching Earthling Ed and other personalities like Joey Carbstrong and David Ramms, I came across doctors and dietetics experts who studied healthy plantbased eating. There were many anecdotes about patients' diseases being pushed into remission after following a vegan diet, especially one that emphasized whole foods. I learned about the lack of nutritional necessity in meat, dairy, and eggs. I learned about the essential micronutrient vitamin B12 and how we don't need to eat animals to get it. I learned about protein and its abundance in various plant sources. Acquiring this information highlighted a vital part of my stance on veganism: we don't have to use these nonhuman animals for nutrients, as we can get the nutrients elsewhere. Once this became apparent to me, I went vegan.
Definition
The general go-to definition of veganism as currently stated by the Vegan Society is as follows:
"Veganism is a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of animals, humans and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals."
I generally align with that definition; however, I would probably take out the "for the benefit of animals, humans and the environment" part. First, I'm not a vegan for the benefit of nonhuman animals but out of the recognition that they have their own individual experience. I find it wrong to intentionally trespass on said experience if it is not done out of necessity. Respect--not charity. Second, I genuinely care about how we treat the environment, but I don't find it relevant in defining veganism. I therefore don't think it should be included in the definition. Also, the statement about the dietary application bothers me a bit because I don't think "freegans" are doing anything wrong. They seem to me to be people who condemn the exploitation of nonhuman animals but also care about the profound quantity of waste from the food and clothing industries. I recognize that the precedent is "by extension, promotes", but I personally wouldn't include it when defining veganism.
Conflict
As I have continued to learn about veganism and the way it impacts my everyday life in a non-vegan world, I have questions that I am not able to find satisfying answers to. However, this major question (which has many under its umbrella) is the one that bothers me the most: how far do we go with possibility and practicability? I didn't realize how many everyday items are composed of products that unnecessarily contain products of animal exploitation. However, there are other items that can currently only be developed with certain animal products. One example on which I often ponder is film. One aspect of film is that there is currently no known substitute for the animal-based gelatin used as a binding agent necessary for image capture. I was planning to get into film photography, but I won't right now because of the process that is currently considered essential. I used to intriguingly browse photos shot on film on social media, and I previously loved watching movies shot on film. Now I am conflicted. If I like a photo shot on film or purchase a ticket to see a movie shot on film, then I am supporting that process with my engagement and/or my dollar. Right? More on this concept in another post.
There's only one reason in today's world why I would intentionally switch to the regular consumption of animal products: nutrition. If it were proven that I needed to source essential nutrients from animal products for my health, then I would include the necessary animal products in my diet.
In Short...
To conclude, I am a vegan because I value the individual subjective experience and because of my belief that intentionally, unnecessarily, negatively manipulating one's experience is the basis of moral wrong. If the animals that are forcefully bred into existence have the same wiring in the brain to deploy consciousness that we observe in humans, I don't see how we can justify trespassing on their experience if we don't have to. I'll write about more niche topics related to veganism soon.
I hope this motivates someone to challenge their current stances on the systems they were raised to participate in.
Links
Videos:
Documentaries:
- Earthlings (2005) -- VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED (violence, distress)
- Dominion (2018) -- VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED (violence, distress)
- Eating Our Way to Extinction (2021)
Tags: veganism, individual, experience, animal, human