Episode 43: Why animal rights advocates should focus on vegan education instead of confrontational tactics

Welcome to Episode 43 of Always for Animal Rights!

Today, I am pleased to present my second interview with Elizabeth Collins, the host of New Zealand Vegan Podcast. Elizabeth's vegan advocacy is based on Gary Francione's Abolitionist Approach to Animal Rights. You might recall that Elizabeth was a guest on Episode 22 of the show.

In this interview, we discuss the following topics:

• the importance of nonviolence in vegan advocacy;
• why we think that confrontational tactics (such as disruptions and road blockades) are counterproductive to the animal rights movement;
• how living as vegans and educating others about veganism and animal rights works to shift us towards a vegan world;
• the state of the vegan movement in New Zealand right now; and
  
• a moral conundrum involving vegan cooking classes in NZ.
  

These are very important (yet admittedly controversial) topics. I ask that all listeners think carefully about what we say. If you disagree with us, I am sure that you will be kind and respectful in any responses that you may submit.

This episode of Always for Animal Rights will be broadcast next Wednesday at 4:30 pm. However, you can listen to it online any time!

How to listen to this episode

There are two ways you can listen to this episode.

1. Listen to the episode on CKCU FM's website at https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/553/49928.html.
   
2. Listen to or download the podcast from Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/afar-december-2-2020.
   

You can also find Always for Animal Rights on Facebook and Instagram. If you'd like to receive an e-mail every time there is a new post on the AFAR blog, feel free to enter your e-mail address into the appropriate box in the right-hand sidebar of this site.

Go vegan, stay vegan, and let's remember to stand up and speak up for animal rights today and every day. Thanks for listening to the show!

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 9: Dominika Piasecka speaks about the Vegan Society, and Shaun Hofer discusses animal rights activism in Alberta

Episode 9 of Always for Animal Rights features interviews with two excellent guests!

First up on the show is my interview with Dominika Piasecka. Dominika is the Media and PR Officer for the Vegan Society. Dominika spoke to me about what the Vegan Society does and why vegans don't eat honey. Also, as it is nearly November, Dominika explained what World Vegan Month is all about.

You can find out more about the free app that Dominika mentioned in the interview, called VeGuide, on the Vegan Society's website.

Please remember that bees are sentient beings and they suffer when they are exploited by humans. Honey is completely unnecessary for humans to consume.

To learn more about bees, please visit Be Fair Be Vegan's page titled "Who They Are", and scroll down to the section titled, "Individuals| The Rich Lives of Bees". In addition to the Vegan Society's page about why honey isn't vegan, Go Vegan World's website also offers a brief explanation of what's wrong with eating honey and provides links to other websites with more information.

After speaking with Dominika, I signed up to become a member of the Vegan Society!

After my interview with Dominika, AFAR's new Alberta Correspondent, Shaun Hofer, told me about how the Alberta government is trying to repress animal rights activists. He also described what animal rights activists are doing to expose what's happening to non-human animals in the animal exploitation industries. Additionally, we discussed how Albertan society views veganism. It was a very informative interview.

Shaun mentioned that there was going to be a rally outside Alberta's legislature at the time that this episode was originally broadcast. The rally, which was in protest of Alberta's proposed ag-gag laws, did indeed take place, and you can find the video on DxE Edmonton's Facebook Page.

In our interview, Shaun recommended that listeners watch the documentary Outlook, which is about a hog farm in Alberta. You can watch the documentary for free online here.

I found this image on Facebook:

Thanks to both my guests for being on the show! This week's podcast episode (and all the others I've released so far) is definitely worth a listen.

How to listen to this episode

1. Although this episode was broadcast on air, there are some issues with the version on the radio station's website, so please listen to this week's episode on Archive.org at https://archive.org/details/afaroctober232019.
2. On CKCU's website, the introduction was cut off for this episode, but you can still listen to the rest of the episode on CKCU's website anyway if you'd prefer! I'll investigate this issue and try to make sure it is corrected in time for next week's show :)

You can also find Always for Animal Rights on Facebook!

The next episode of Always for Animal Rights will be broadcast on CKCU 93.1 FM in Ottawa on Wednesday, November 6th, 2019-- and, of course, it will be available to listen to afterwards, as well.

CKCU's Funding Drive is now underway! If you would like to make a donation to support this stellar community radio station, please click here and type "Always for Animal Rights" in the appropriate box. Alternatively, you can call CKCU to donate at (613) 520-3920. If you would like your donation to be acknowledged on the show, I will announce your donation on air (if I hear about your donation in time, that is).

Episode 8: Shaun Hofer advocates for the Animal Bill of Rights, and Jeanette Rowley advocates for the right of vegans to live without exploiting other animals

This week on Always for Animal Rights we had two great interviews!

Calgary-based animal rights activist Shaun Hofer recently underwent a 60-hour hunger strike to advocate for an animal bill of rights called Rose's Law. Actions for Rose's Law took place around the world last week. I interviewed Shaun on October 1st, while he and four fellow activists were part-way through the hunger strike. In our interview, Shaun explained the 5 demands of Rose's Law and told me how the hunger strike was going.


Also on this week's show is my interview with Jeanette Rowley. Jeanette has a PhD in Law and is the founder of the International Vegan Rights Alliance, which is now a part of the Vegan Society in the UK and is known as the International Rights Network. In our interview, she spoke to me about why vegans' rights need to be protected, what vegans can do when they feel their rights aren't being respected, and how she entered the field of vegan rights law.

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/553/45142.html.
2. Download the mP3 file from Archive.org (in the "Download Options" sidebar, do a right-mouse click on "VBR MP3" and click "Save Link As..." or "Save Target As...") at https://archive.org/details/afaroctober92019.

You can find Always for Animal Rights on Facebook, as well!

The next episode of Always for Animal Rights will be broadcast on CKCU 93.1 FM in Ottawa on Wednesday, October 23rd, 2019-- and, of course, it will be available to listen to afterwards, as well.