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.