Myth # 34 : " But you vegans aren ’ t perfect ."
Myth # 34 : " But you vegans aren ’ t perfect ."
( also heard as " But you kill bugs when you drive " or " But you use medicine that was tested on animals " or " But you have a leather sofa " or " But you step on ants " etc etc etc )
My dear Friends , veganism is not about being perfect ; it is about striving to consciously live in a way that consistently & earnestly intends to inflict no harm on other sentient animals , that gives a consistently sincere effort to fulfill this intention , and that thereby indeed inflicts very little such harm … That vegans are not perfect in their attempts to live a cruelty-free life in no way makes their attempt to do so incorrect or unworthy . To the contrary , Western economies are literally filled with products that rely on animal cruelty , precisely because so many meat & dairy consumers continue to financially support the same . Indeed , the law of supply & demand mandates that the more people call for an end to cruelty-laden products , the more cruelty-free alternatives will be developed & provided .
As such , just because a vegan might occasionally fail in their mission to not use animal products – or just because a vegan might occasionally unintentionally kill another sentient being , does not mean that the Caring Life that we vegans try to lead is less worthy or noble … Indeed , it is far better to try to live cruelty-free and fail every now & then , than to be a non-vegan and not try at all !
Current status of this Myth : Annulled Justification it provides for eating animals : NONE
“ People sometimes look at me as a vegan and say that since I stepped on a snail or because the vegetables I ate resulted in the harvest-death of a mouse somewhere that somehow I am a hypocrite … In actuality , nothing could be further from the truth . Indeed , the difference between you and the vegan standing next to you is that while you are both going to step on a bug at some point in the future , the vegan has decided to dedicate their lives in the meantime to doing as little harm to others as possible …
So in no way whatsoever does the animal the vegan might accidentally kill in the future relieve you of your responsibility for the cow or the pig or the chicken or the lamb you are paying a stranger to murder today .
And when you think about it , falling 1 % short of an ‘ unattainable ’ goal is actually pretty good – especially when you ’ re standing next to someone who isn ’ t even trying .”
~ inspired by Shelly Williams
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