An online space for the vegans of Lemmy.
Rules and miscellaneous:
ITT: A bunch of non-vegans complaining that content posted to a vegan community makes them uncomfortable.
Also ITT: A bunch of people who haven't been convinced to go vegan asserting how to convince people to go vegan. Not them, but other people of course.
For the second group, I always like to ask "Why should I use your argument to convince people when it didn't convince you?"
Seriously, non vegans need to shut the feck up unless they're willing to make the effort to stop hurting animals. Otherwise I'm not interested in their opinions.
I, on the other hand, went vegan so that I can be justified in not watching those videos 
And now instead I get to watch this cute video of a cow that's friends with a dog, without having to repress awkward questions about why animal cruelty is only socially condemned for certain animals and not others.
Not vegan, but I can definitely agree factory farms are vastly underregulated
I've seen the video i have worked on farms it doesnt bother me terribly
The videos made me want stricter regulation, it didn't make me want to go vegan or cut down on meat.
But there are other reasons to be a little more conservative with meat in my diet.
I feel like that sign is a bit alienating, which is unfortunate because it perpetuates the idea that vegans are holier than thou. As a person that (i think) understands the basic reasoning behind veganism (intentional non-participation in animal exploitation and cruelty?) i wish that more people would consider it. Hey, maybe that should be a sign
People have been saying that for decades. It doesn't work. I never understood the concept of "protests shouldn't make me feel uncomfortable or inconvenience me." That kind of undercuts the purpose of a protest and trying to spread a message. If you make it so it's easy to ignore, it doesn't work. Without fail there's always the "ugh, someone who tries to make me feel bad about torturing and killing animals is simply not going to convince me to do otherwise." It's such a shitty excuse.
This is something that I often think about in connection with veganism.
I can sit down and watch a video about how vegetables are produced. It might be boring, but I could watch it.
Most carnists, on the other hand, can't sit and watch how hamburger, sausage, cheese, etc. is produced. For them to enjoy that food, they have to ignore all the suffering behind it.
A lot of cruelty under capitalism is publicly permitted because people don't see how the metaphorical sausage is made.
To be fair, I feel like there's a lot of videos that would traumatize you if you watched them, not just ones related to meat. Sure there's traumatizing videos you should watch, but actively seeking that stuff out seems like no way to live.
Ok, but it's about something people actively and blindly participate and fund. Not just folks watching traumatizing videos for fun.
Everyone is like "Yeah I know it's bad." But they still actively refuse to acknowledge just how bad it really is.
I've seen those videos, a lot of them. I still choose to eat meat. I totally disagree with the implication that anyone who eats meat is being willfully ignorant of evidence that would convert them.
I didn't even watch the videos. I just saw a video of someone's pet cow who was curled up in a little girl's lap getting a scratch after having been snuck into the porch by the kid, and that was enough. One day the light just goes on.
I'm pretty sure the vast majority of adult meat eaters have seen multiple videos and still continue to eat meat. Very few have actionable ability to directly stop the suffering so they then stop caring. One person cutting down on red meat will never be enough until there's enough lab grown meat and/or delicious FakeMeat alternatives to satiate western society at large. We still a long ways away from that.
Until then, vote for people who want to cut down on brutal industrial practices.
It is very actionable to vote with their wallet and mouth and not eat meat. The "can't save them all, so why bother"-argument is really sad. I don't think most people would apply that logic, if they saw a child in distress, because so many children die every day of preventable causes. Every sentient being matter.
One person cutting down on red meat will never be enough
You could use that argument to invalidate voting or any boycott. "Why should I vote? My one vote won't change anything." The truth is, you aren't one person. There are many vegans.
But even one person can do quite a bit. I've influenced my friends to eat less meat. When we go out to eat, if they want to include me, we'll go to s vegan-friendly restaurant.