Should animal rights activists focus on “changing the system” or on changing individuals? I argue that this is a false choice

Recently I’ve seen certain vegan animal rights activists speak rather disparagingly about vegan advocacy efforts. These activists claim that educating individuals to go vegan (which they sometimes describe as “vegan consumerism”) will not lead to animal liberation. Instead, they argue that vegans should stop promoting veganism and instead participate in direct action that focuses on “changing the system” rather than changing individuals.

But is it really true that vegan education won’t lead to the abolition of animal exploitation? I argue that such a claim creates a misleading false choice.

I don’t believe that the promotion of plant-based products and consumerism will lead to the abolition of animal exploitation, but when we educate the public about why they should become ethical vegans, we are not only changing the consumer habits of individuals. In fact, we are changing the system.

Veganism isn’t only about the products you buy, and it isn’t a diet. Rather, it’s an ethical philosophy that opposes all animal exploitation. By educating the public to go vegan for animal rights, we are working to change the way that members of the public think about non-human animals. I would argue that changing public opinion by educating people to become anti-speciesist vegans is the only way we can achieve lasting change towards the abolition of animal exploitation.

As more and more people go vegan, fewer animals will be exploited, and this isn’t only a matter of “supply and demand”. If we can educate a certain percentage of the population (I’m not going to guess the exact number) to become vegans who are against speciesism, we will see organizations and institutions of all kinds—schools, workplaces, governments, businesses, and charities—adopt anti-speciesist policies, as many of the people involved in these institutions will be vegans themselves. And as more and more people go vegan, the practice of exploiting animals will become taboo and will be frowned upon. This will create a social environment in which it will actually be difficult to not be vegan.

In my view, the question of whether animal rights activists should focus on changing the system or changing individuals is a false choice. By changing individuals, we are changing the system. After all, society is made up of individuals!

It seems to me that the claims of these direct-action activists who oppose vegan advocacy (many of whom are members of the group Direct Action Everywhere, or DxE) are rather similar to the claims made by the reduceatarian, plant-based diet, and animal welfare movements. “Most people think veganism is too extreme”, the reduceatarian advocates say, “so let’s just ask people to reduce their consumption of animals instead.” Plant-based diet advocates say, “Nobody cares about animals, so let’s get people to go plant-based for their health instead.” The welfarists say, “We’re not going to achieve a vegan world overnight, so let’s try to make things a little less horrible for the animals who are being exploited.” However, all of these strategies are not only morally problematic, but they have been shown to fail. Now the DxE activists are saying, “Everybody hates vegans, so let’s stop talking about veganism and instead just ask people to march with us in the streets.” Hmmm…

My words may seem harsh, but animal rights is such an important cause that I cannot afford to stay silent when I see my fellow activists turn towards strategies that water down and ignore the abolitionist vegan message.

This is not a criticism of direct action tactics. However, I genuinely believe that if we are going to achieve the abolition of animal exploitation, we MUST focus on vegan anti-speciesist education. This is the most effective way we can truly change the system.

Episode 20: Interview with Sandra Higgins of Eden Farmed Animal Sanctuary (Part Two)

Sophie the lamb with Sandra

This week's show features Part Two of my interview with Sandra Higgins, founder and director of Eden Farmed Animal Sanctuary in Ireland and Go Vegan World. (If you haven't heard Part One yet, you can find it here.)

This interview focuses on Eden Farmed Animal Sanctuary in Ireland. Eden is a vegan sanctuary that provides a home for nonhuman animals who were previously exploited by humans. Eden's residents can live out the rest of their lives in peace, free from exploitation.

In Part Two, we discuss the following topics:

• how Eden, as a vegan sanctuary, differs from non-vegan sanctuaries
• what Sandra has learned from the individuals who live at Eden
• the importance of  sanctuaries in the animal rights movement
• how Eden's residents inspired the Go Vegan World campaign
• ... and more!

After the interview is the song "The Core" by the vegan singer-songwriter Queen V.

Here are some more photos of Eden's residents, courtesy of Agatha Kisiel Photography...

Angel in a Go Vegan World advertisement

Fairy

Fairy in one of Go Vegan World's advertisements

Jenny

Maria with Genevieve behind her

Yoshoda

How to listen to this episode

There are two ways you can hear this episode.

1. Listen to the podcast on CKCU FM's website at https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/553/47484.html. Currently, the radio show hosts at CKCU 93.1 FM are not physically going to the station because of the coronavirus, so I was not able to broadcast this episode on the radio this week, but I did upload it to the website as a podcast.
2. Listen to or download the podcast from Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/afarmarch252020.

You can also find Always for Animal Rights on Facebook and Instagram.

Until next time!

Episode 19: The sociologist Roger Yates discusses rights-based animal rights and the importance of grassroots vegan activism

This week on Always for Animal Rights, I am pleased to present Part One of my interview with the animal rights advocate and sociologist Dr. Roger Yates.

Roger currently runs a blog called On Human Relations with Other Sentient Beings, and he is a co-founder and organizer of the Vegan Information Project in Ireland. His 2005 PhD dissertation, which you can read here, focused on the social construction of speciesism. He was also a Press Officer for the Animal Liberation Front in the 1980's.

Some of Vegan Information Project's banners, discussed on the show

In Part One of this interview, Roger told me about what he calls "rights-based animal rights", and he highlighted why our messaging needs to convey the idea of rights rather than welfare. He also spoke about what we can learn from the unique model of grassroots vegan advocacy that is currently being used in Ireland.

The article about Tom Regan and the rights-based approach, which I mentioned in the interview, can be found here.

It's a great interview, and I hope you'll take a listen! Stay tuned for Part Two in the near future.

How to listen to this episode

Currently, CKCU 93.1 FM's radio show hosts are not physically going to the station because of the coronavirus situation, so I wasn't able to broadcast this episode on air this week.

However, you can still listen to this episode on Archive.org (or download the MP3 or WAV file) at https://archive.org/details/afarmarch182020

(Update: This episode has also been published as a podcast on CKCU's website at https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/553/47483.html.)

If you would like to receive an e-mail every time there is a new post on this blog, you can subscribe by typing your e-mail address in the appropriate box in the right-hand sidebar. You can also find Always for Animal Rights on Facebook and Instagram!

The next episode of Always for Animal Rights will come out soon. I will try to keep producing episodes on a regular basis-- perhaps even more often than when I was broadcasting the show on-air. I am not sure when CKCU will be open again, but I very much look forward to the day when it is and I can broadcast my show live again!

I would like to thank my listeners (you!) for your continued encouragement and moral support. :)

Episode 18: Ronnie Lee on the importance of vegan education

This week on Always for Animal Rights, we heard Part Two of my interview with Ronnie Lee, founder of the Animal Liberation Front. (To listen to Part One of the interview, please check out Episode 16.)

In this episode, Ronnie outlines his strategy for what animal rights movement needs to do to work to end the oppression of nonhuman animals. This discussion especially focuses on the importance of local vegan education groups. Ronnie, who is the founder and an organizer of Wyre Forest Vegans, emphasizes the serious need for vegans to become activists and organizers. The success of the animal rights movement depends, to a significant extent, upon vegans educating the public to go vegan for animal rights.

After that, Ronnie explains how the current environmental crisis is caused by speciesism, and he answers my question about what he finds most rewarding about being an animal rights activist.

It's an interesting interview. I hope you'll listen to this week's show!

At the end of the show is the song "For the Innocent" by xTRUE NATUREx.

How to listen to this episode

There are two ways to listen to the episode.

1. Listen to the episode on CKCU's website at https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/553/47282.html.
2. Listen online or download the MP3 from Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/afarmarch42020.

You can also find Always for Animal Rights on Facebook and Instagram!

The next episode of Always for Animal Rights will be broadcast on CKCU 93.1 FM in Ottawa on Wednesday, March 18th, 2019-- and, of course, it will be available to listen to afterwards, as well.