Vegan Elitism?

[VGnizm]

Today i will inquire further into a topic that might be provocative to some but out of an intellectual and social motivation it is a necessity. In addition to that i happen to be in the midst of all this since i have become Vegan on a personal, social, professional and ideological level. 'Know thyself' as per the saying!

It would not have occurred to me that there would be such an issue as Vegan Elitism until i queried Google for it. As i have previously mentioned what attracted me to Veganism most was the genuine kindness of the Vegan people that i encountered. My professional activity that i am involved in did not impose on me to become vegan or vegetarian since the purpose was to find sustainable food solutions and not an ideological reason. The purpose was, and remains, environmental and humanitarian above other considerations. Veganism became a personal choice because i saw in it the spirit of sacrifice and love for life in general.

But being inquisitive i did turn my attention to the issues of Social and Intellectual elitism and since the economics of Veganism practiced in the Western World place it in a socio-economic environment that can easily be considered elitist it is important for me to inquire further into this matter. The contradiction is that Vegetarianism, in the general view, is an Ideology that is practiced in the less favored 3rd world. The largest population being in India . And what is also interesting is that querying Google for the term ' vegetarian elitism ' brings up results mostly for Vegan elitism. So it seems the issue is directly related to Veganism and not Vegetarianism, knowing that the latter is older and practiced by a much larger population. Very curious situation.

Since I have not had the chance to examine this in all of it's details yet and since it will require more time i will open this subject and return to share whatever results i will find. In the meantime i invite all who can share to do so because it is a very sensitive issue and because it directly impacts our community and it's future.

[VGnizm]

Since on the French forum the same topic was ambiguous i would like to clarify that the spirit of the question is to know if there exists an attitude among a large enough number of those who practice Veganism of being better than others and the negative implications that this could have for the popularity of the cause?

[DarlBundren]

I think we touched upon this briefly in the other thread. The reasons why good-doers are often frowned upon are manifold. I think that the same can be said about the reasons why some vegans consider themselves to be saints. To a certain extent, that's inevitable. You spend a lot of time researching a topic, you know that what you are doing is good and you think that other people should do it as well.
What's important to stress, however, is that veganism is just one of the many things we can do in order to be good people (A very important thing, admittedly). You can be vegan and be an asshole, as you can be a meat-eater and be a loving, sensible individual. From a pragmatic perspective, being reasonable and down-to-earth is probably the best strategy though, and that is how we should strive to be.

[VGnizm]

I agree but would like to share a personal experience and attitude as well.

First i would like to mention that when personally presenting to some Brasseries in Paris our product as a complimentary solution to add to their menu it is shocking to say that 25 % of the places visited were extremely hostile based on me talking about non-meat options. I was not even campaigning! I was simply offering them information and sampling of our food solution that can easily complement their menu so as to service would be VeGe customers!

I will say the verbal and attitude hostility level was about 7/10. One person told his wife ' He is one of those non-meat guys ' and she asking me 'where on earth did you come from '. That was in return for having walked in and asked politely to speak to the person in charge and having said ' hello i would like to leave with you a sample and presentation of our new product !!!'

That hostility will remain undefined because there is no meat-eaters label. So it is not an issue. But if a Vegan does half as much it becomes a community issue. Further i will be honest to say that i do not consider i am being good or bad not-eating meat. I consider it a natural obligation to not induce suffering for my personal pleasure if i know and i can. Besides feeling the need to compensate for the years of indulging in cruelty rich foods. There is a saying that ' at some point one has to apologize for having had to apologize. ' That type of reasoning.

I am just curious to see how common this thinking is within our community and if it is very common then perhaps i will try to campaign for remedies. I believe the net loss on the individual and community level of this type of attitude would be very high and for little reason. People can think what they like, in any case they always will , but it would be important to make them aware of not spreading this type of image for the sake of their noble goal and loving community.

Kind of trying to see if there is a Vegans Hooligans problem That is why i would really appreciate serious and sincere participation from everyone.

[DarlBundren]

Thanks for sharing your experience. It's crazy what cognitive dissonance does to people.

I think that there are some vegan hooligans out there and, as in other aspects of our culture, it is usually the most idiotic fringe minority that gets the most headlines. However, I am not sure if that is the reason why you were met with such hostility. I think it has more to do with people feeling threatened.

[brimstoneSalad]

Since on the French forum the same topic was ambiguous i would like to clarify that the spirit of the question is to know if there exists an attitude among a large enough number of those who practice Veganism of being better than others and the negative implications that this could have for the popularity of the cause?

I don't think it's predominant, I think most vegans are ordinary people who feel personal duty to abstain from causing more animal suffering where possible.

There are those people who seem to have gone vegan just to rub it in people's faces. I don't think they last long, and they aren't serious ethical vegans. There's some validity to what's called "virtue signaling" but it's often an unfair accusation. The problem is that some people are very vocal with negative attitudes and judgement.

Yes, it's wrong to contribute to animal suffering. But judging a person as all bad for one bad action doesn't usually help matters. No matter how important that action is.
I wouldn't even say a rapist is a bad person; it could be a person who made a serious mistake and did a very bad thing, but may pay for it and try to make up for it and educate others in the future too. Of course, it's also possible the person will go right back to it once out of jail. It's usually best not to view anybody as irredeemable, though, if we want to reach them.

[VGnizm]

- I wish to share below a Google translate for a reply from the French forum regarding the same as I posted here.

"
Elitism Vegane?
Message from SwompyTime »12 Apr 2017, 17:44
Hello,

I must admit that it is this subject that pushed me to register on the forum.

Veganism is perceived as an elitist (or at least communitarian) approach for anyone with an outward look ... unlike vegetarians, for example. And for the simple reason that the vegan sports a much more restrictive lifestyle and for moral reasons, moral reasons of which it seems to be the appanage.

It is more the "moral" side which gives the elitism, we must see in it a phenomenon "smurf with spectacle", a separation between the society of good company and the beings of weak qualities. While vegetarians are more often perceived as people with only health-related concerns of greater importance.
And it is for this reason that the vegetarian is very well accepted by society, unlike the vegan who seems to emerge from a pompous procession led by aristocrats of ivory towers (I speak of course in terms of prejudices and 'Images)"