Direct Action Everywhere (DxE): Vegan Advocacy is “Harmful to the Animal Rights Movement”
The Modern Animal Movement Rejects Veganism as a Moral Baseline The modern animal movement, which promotes welfare reform and single-issue campaigns, explicitly and uniformly rejects veganism as a moral baseline. There is not a single one of the large “animal advocacy” groups that promotes veganism as a moral imperative. All of the large groups sideline […]
Animal Abuse: Us and Them
This week, a radio show in Boston aired a recording in which a Municipal Court Judge in Ohio recently sentenced a woman accused of leaving her dog in a filthy house to spend eight hours in a garbage dump. People are commending what the judge did; after all, the defendant did not act “humanely.” She […]
Vegan Elitism: Ronnie Lee on “Ordinary People”
A very typical message we get from many “animal advocates” is that we can’t say that veganism is a moral baseline. That is, we can’t say that veganism is a moral obligation and a moral imperative. We can only promote reducing suffering. People just won’t understand it or be able to process the vegan position. […]
After 30+ Years, Morrissey Goes Vegan But Calls Veganism “Purist”
Morrissey has finally recognized–after three decades of collecting royalties from Meat is Murder–that all animal products are murder. Morrissey made this announcement on the Larry King Show. And he made very sure to reinforce the idea that being vegan is anything but a moral imperative. Indeed, his denigration of veganism sounded like the sort of […]
Vegan Advocacy is the Only Solution
The rich, bloated new welfarist charities tell us we have to promote welfarist “baby steps”–such as cage-free eggs and crate-free pork, and the Whole Foods Animal Welfare Rating system–in order to move things forward. All of these groups reject veganism as a moral baseline. Think about the perversity of their position: they are claiming we […]
Sea Shepherd Weighs In on Cecil the Lion: Insisting on Veganism is “Purism” and “Elitist”
Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd has weighed in on the controversy over Cecil the lion. Watson takes aim at those of us who make the point that there is absolutely no morally significant difference between killing animals for sporting pleasure and killing animals for palate pleasure, and that our objecting to the killing of […]
Adventures in Moral Schizophrenia: Cecil the Lion
If you are upset about the killing of Cecil the Lion and you are not a vegan, then you are suffering from moral schizophrenia. There is no difference between “Cecil” and all of the animals you eat who do not have names but who value their lives as much as the lion valued his. So […]
Once Again, The U.K. “Vegan” Society Trashes Veganism
You will recall last year that The Vegan Society’s “Ambassador,” marathon runner Fiona Oakes, appeared on BBC and ran away from veganism just as quickly as she could, stating that veganism isn’t “for everyone, I’m saying that it’s not probably for very many people.” At their June 27 meeting, The Vegan Society elected yet another […]
Abolitionist Vegan Starter Kit Launched!
We have just launched our abolitionist vegan starter kit: www.HowDoIGoVegan.com. Thanks to our great volunteer team, headed by Sandra Cummings, for a splendid job. This will be an important tool in our efforts to engage in creative, nonviolent vegan advocacy. ********** If you are not vegan, please go vegan. Veganism is about nonviolence. First and […]
Veganism without Animal Rights
An essay that I co-wrote with Anna Charlton, Veganism without Animal Rights,, which was published in The Philosophical Salon of the The European Magazine, can be read here. We hope you enjoy it and that you will find it useful in your efforts to educate others about veganism. ********** If you are not vegan, please […]
Welfare Reform Campaigns, Single-Issue Campaigns, and Animal Exploitation: Perfect Together
Welfare reform campaigns and single-issue campaigns (SICs) necessarily promote animal exploitation. In order to see this clearly and easily, consider that the entire point of these campaigns is to build coalitions that involve animal exploiters. And the only way that can be done is by promoting animal exploitation. Welfare Reform Campaigns These campaigns work by […]
A “Movement” of Relentless Narcissism
The “animal movement” attracts many people who are emotionally sensitive. Indeed, it is this very emotional sensitivity that provides the moral impulse for many people to care about the animal issue in the first place. Unfortunately, there is a machine represented by the large groups that preys on those emotions. So those concerned about animal […]
The Anti-Hunting “Ban” in the UK: A Great Business Opportunity for Animal Welfare Groups
In 2009, I wrote about how the supposed ban on fox hunting was very seriously flawed in a number of ways. After raising a great deal of money, welfarists succeeded in getting a “ban” that prohibited using hounds to hunt foxes but, among other things, allowed hunters to use hounds to follow a scent and […]
Animal Exploitation: Brought to You by “Animal Advocates”
I regularly get newsletters from the Global Animal Partnership (GAP), about which I have written before. The most recent GAP newsletter features an interview with Wayne Langston, VP of Production for Panorama, Grass-fed Meats- a company based in California that sells Organic, 100% Grass-Fed beef, which has a Step 4 happy exploitation designation. (click to […]
“Journeys” Into Speciesism
For some reason that eludes me, some animal advocates believe that because it took them a while to go vegan, the position of the animal rights movement should be that individual “journeys” are just fine. But that is absurd. Imagine someone saying, “It took me a while to stop being a racist so I think […]
The Ringling Circus Elephants: Another “Victory” That Isn’t
According to the animal welfare corporations, the decision to remove elephants from the Ringling Circus in three years represents a victory of monumental proportions. In fact, I received this email (my email program thought it was a “scam”!) from Paul Shapiro of HSUS, who, quoting no less a figure than Nelson Mandela, declared it to […]
Is Veganism Elitist? No. But Nonveganism Is!
A purported objection to veganism I’ve heard about 12 million times: “But veganism is elitist.” What complete nonsense. Elitism involves promoting a perceived superiority of some sort. It involves the idea of according less moral value to the “inferior.” As 2 seconds of thinking make clear, veganism is not elitist in any way. On the […]
Chris Hedges: “All Forms of Life Are Sacred”
I had the very great pleasure to meet and share a (vegan) meal with Chris Hedges and his partner, actor Eunice Wong. Hedges is, with Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn, one of the leading progressive writers and thinkers of our time. Hedges wrote a
The Vegan Society is a “Proud” Partner With Vivisectors
In August 2014, I wrote an essay about the fact that The Vegan Society in the U.K. had become “corporate partners” with a bank that invested in “sustainable” animal agriculture. Now I write about The Vegan Society joining a campaign being led by a group that promotes vivisection. Here is a page from The Vegan […]
Some “Animal Advocates” Never Miss An Opportunity to Exploit Animal Exploitation
Just when I think it can’t get worse, it does. Humane Society International is an arm of The Humane Society of the United States. Andrew Rowan is the Chief International Officer and Chief Scientific Officer of The HSUS, and President and CEO of Humane Society International. HSI has a new campaign: rescuing dogs from South […]