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Thread: What do you see for the future of veganism??

  1. #1
    hedge
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    Default What do you see for the future of veganism??

    In five hundred years time say (if we haven't nuked the shit out of eachother) where do you see veganism?
    As a vegan, what do you hope for the future?
    Where do you see animals in that future?

  2. #2

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    Default Re: What do you see for the future of veganism??

    I would hope that the entire world would be vegan. I think our numbers grow year on year, so I would hope that more and more people would become vegan. That notwithstanding my pessimistic side thinks that people may be forced to become vegan because they have eaten all the animals and none are left. I've just started reading a book called Make room, Make room (which the movie Soylent green was based on) where most of the population eat soya products because the population has reached massive proportions and meat can only be bought from underground butchers.

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    baffled harpy's Avatar
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    Default Re: What do you see for the future of veganism??

    I would also envisage a future where non-veganism was, if not unheard of, the exception rather than the rule, and I would like to think it might happen sooner than 500 years from now! Obviously it follows that there wouldn't be any animals reared for food, and we would have figured out how to restore habitats for wild species (and still produce enough food for everyone...)

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    Default Re: What do you see for the future of veganism??

    Sadly, I'm one of those pessimistic vegans. I do not believe capitalism and omnivorism will stop until global warming (which is caused by humans and especially capitalism & omnivorism) will have brought about huge ecological disasters and the human population will be considerably reduced to an acceptable level (b/c of deaths from enviro-related disasters). I think all this will happens way before 500 years from now. Of the few humans that will be left, I sincerely hope they will decide to be vegan. I hope they will learn from all the disasters animal-eating has caused. It will be way easier for us to create a vegan society only then.

    Sorry for the pessimism, Hedge, but I've already tried to tell many good friends and family members why they should go vegan. I've shown them Earthlings (ethical film) & Home (enviro-related film); I've shown them books about vegan nutrition and health (e.g. The China Study) and shown them all the kinds of vegan recipes I love, etc and they still don't even wanna become vegetarians. They'll hear what I have to say but they don't wanna listen to it to the point of giving up their "own beloved little personal eating habits." That's when I stopped being optimistic about humans.

    I simply realised that some humans (probably many) just will never really care, they won't listen f***-all and they will just carry on endlessly defending their "own beloved little personal eating habits" until major disasters happen (maybe?). Meanwhile, I'll stay vegan because I refuse to support humans' stupidity in harming animals and the environment just so they can still have the 'comfort' of their "own beloved little personal eating habits" they've known their whole lives...
    "The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for whites or women for men." ~Alice Walker.

  5. #5
    leedsveg
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    Default Re: What do you see for the future of veganism??

    Sadly maggielassie, I think your prognosis is probably spot on.

    Leedsveg

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    Fervent vegan DiaShel's Avatar
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    Default Re: What do you see for the future of veganism??

    I'm a bit more optimistic. I'm sure then at one point there were only a small minority that thought slavery was a bad thing and wondered if the world would ever change but figured that no, too many people would not give up their easier way of living. I know there was a time that equal rights for women was an absurd idea that only the most radical liberals would ever discuss. I think these things happen exponentially, more and more books are out there, more documentaries and movies, more famous people talking about it. We're moving into the stage where people are no longer going to ask "What's vegan?" and that's the first big step. A lot can happen in 500 years.
    "To reduce suffering means to reduce the amount of ignorance, the basic affliction with us." -Thich Nhat Hanh

  7. #7
    maggielassie's Avatar
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    Default Re: What do you see for the future of veganism??

    Leedsveg- Thanks.

    DiaShel- I'm sorry. I would sincerely love to believe what you say but:

    1) Being a feminist myself and studying sociology, I know that women have never reached complete equal rights. There are still many proofs of this in that a "glass ceiling" still exists. And double standards still apply for men and women today. Moreover, women are objectified all over mainstream media as if they were objects and not living, breathing creatures.

    2) Slavery still exists in some parts of the world; and the sexual trafficking in women and children that is currently taking place everywhere around the world is a form of 'modern day' slavery. (Just like what they say: 'We've come a long way, baby!')

    3) There are some non-vegan people, it doesn't matter which book or documentary you show them (e.g. what I said in my above post about people who are close to me), they will never pay full attention. They will never change their lifestyle habits because the whole society protects animal exploitation, their loved ones protect it, everyone they know protects it, millenia-old traditions protect it, and especially the mass media (which is capitalist-driven and extremely powerful today) protects it.

    4) Considering the overpopulation on earth, our planet's environment cannot possibly wait 500 years before global-warming-related disasters happen and a large proportion of the human population (and other species too, unfortunately) gets decimated by the consequences of climate change. Thus it can no longer be realistic to think that in 500 years there will be the same number of us humans. Now, the only part I can be optimistic about is that, when global warming survivors create a new world I hope it will be a vegan world.

    Dia Shel, don't worry. I truly love your optimism, honestly. It is just something I can no longer afford to believe when global warming is so near and I see most humans not doing anything about it...
    "The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for whites or women for men." ~Alice Walker.

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    Fervent vegan DiaShel's Avatar
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    Default Re: What do you see for the future of veganism??

    Perhaps women are not treated as completely equal and there is still some forms of slavery in existence, but it is not even close to being the mainstream way of life it once was. I don't think 100% of people will stop eating meat. I'm just hoping that the ones that do continue to will be talked about in hushed tones as dark sinister people you don't want your children to know are out there.

    As for people who are being educated by given the right information, they aren't going to change because everyone else still does it. That's why it's a gradual process. Those ideas about what is normal need to be changed which is a long process. It takes a certain type of person to go against social norms. I think once enough of these people are vegan and the IDEA is more mainstream then we've got a fighting chance.

    I agree, going the way we are the world isn't going to sustain the population living the way we do. I would much prefer to change our ways to slow the process instead of scientists looking for ways to continue fueling our way of life. It's so sad the way people think. Completely selfish. Just knowing that one person not eating meat/not driving to work/not buying water bottles isn't going to make much of a difference when everyone else is doing these things is enough say "screw it, I'm just going to enjoy life, let someone else clean up our mess"
    "To reduce suffering means to reduce the amount of ignorance, the basic affliction with us." -Thich Nhat Hanh

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    maggielassie's Avatar
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    Default Re: What do you see for the future of veganism??

    Quote DiaShel View Post
    It takes a certain type of person to go against social norms.
    True.

    ... going the way we are the world isn't going to sustain the population living the way we do. I would much prefer to change our ways to slow the process instead of scientists looking for ways to continue fueling our way of life. It's so sad the way people think. Completely selfish. Just knowing that one person not eating meat/not driving to work/not buying water bottles isn't going to make much of a difference when everyone else is doing these things is enough say "screw it, I'm just going to enjoy life, let someone else clean up our mess"
    I agree, this is so awfully annoying and distressing...
    "The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for whites or women for men." ~Alice Walker.

  10. #10
    baffled harpy's Avatar
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    Default Re: What do you see for the future of veganism??

    I still think environment/"food security" anxieties could bring about a more-or-less vegan world in 500 years time (or less). OK, if people don't do it out of concern for animals it may not comply with the "official" ethics of veganism but the net result could still be positive for animals.

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