I know, it’s odd to see a vegan blog talking about the incompleteness of veganism. But this site for me goes a bit beyond veganism, and that is for the reasons that we’re going to talk about today.
Is this a vegan blog?
So I consider this mainly a vegan blog, yes. In the sense that I am vegan and most of the stuff we talk about is directly related to veganism. But for me, this site goes beyond that, and I want to talk about that too.
I decided that I wanted to make this blog to share and explore the how behind living a more ethical lifestyle and putting out more good (and less bad) into the world, and that goes past just veganism. As vegans, we talk a lot about going vegan and how it’s such an important and great thing to do, and I guess it is, as far as life choices go. I mean, clearly, having been vegan since 2013, I agree with the philosophy behind it. And going vegan was the first thing I ever did to make a change in my life towards living more compassionately and ethically. It gives me all sorts of warm fuzzies to think about.
The most of my best and the least of my worst
That being said, I don’t want to stop there, and I don’t see why anyone should. I’ve long considered what it means to be a better person, and to me, what it boils down to is putting the most of my best out there that I can (for the world and the people around me), and the least of my worst. You can read more about that idea over on our sister site, The Thoughts that Bind.
But ultimately, once being vegan is an autopilot decision, it no longer represents the most of your best. There are people who feel like being vegan is good enough to get their “good person points” or whatever. And I’m not going to argue that one way or another. But for me, I want to keep getting better and better. I want to be a better person, not for my own personal gain and status as a good person, but to keep putting good out there into the world (or at the very least, cause less harm and suffering). I think that’s a worthy goal to work toward, no matter where you are in life or in your vegan journey.
Our vegan communities
This isn’t a criticism of online or in-person vegan gatherings, but I feel that often vegans, when we get in touch, get too narrow-minded. We want to talk about our veganism, and only that because it can be hard to find others to talk to about it. But we all live in this world, and we could all benefit from making it a better place in other ways too. So many people who rely on veganism for an identity do so because of its philosophical stances of compassion and nonharm, yet we balk at the idea of discussing matters that would further those ideals, because they’re not “about veganism”.
I don’t want to have a website like that. For me, this site is about making changes in order to either put more good or less bad out into the world. Primarily, we’ll discuss the avenue of veganism because that is the main topic, but we’re going to talk about other things too. Because to do otherwise would be to ignore the reasons I (and many others) went vegan in the first place, and it’s important to stay true to that.
Vegan isn’t “enough”
I don’t want to ruffle any feathers by saying this, but clinging to the label of veganism isn’t going to do you much good on its own. A perfect vegan (if there was such a thing–which there’s not) wouldn’t be an inherently perfectly ethical person. Heck, a perfect vegan wouldn’t even necessarily be a good person in the vague way that we categorize good people.
Ethical veganism looks at one problem (our use, abuse and slaughtering of animals) and offers us a way out of the main source of contribution to the problem (our demand for animal products, broadly speaking). It doesn’t address other problems or even all of the ways in which we contribute to that problem indirectly. It can’t. On its own, veganism is flawed and specifically oriented. So veganism isn’t the answer to every problem, and it’s not even a complete answer to the problem it addresses. That’s not even a criticism of veganism, it’s just a fact.
We need to be more cognizant of this when we go about advocating for veganism, as well as trying to inform ideas about how to make a better world. I picked veganism as the main subject for this website because I know a lot more about it than some of the other topics I want to share and explore with you all. I know more about it because I’ve lived it and researched it for years. That makes me much better equipped to talk about it on the regular. But I’m interested in making this world a better place than I left it, wherever I’m able. Or at the very least, curb my negative impact on the world at any point that I can. And that at its base is what both my veganism and this website is about.
Veganism, and beyond
So stick around for the vegan content, for sure. I’ve got lots of ideas and advice for you about how to be (and stay) vegan, and how to enjoy yourself in the process. But I also hope that my readers consider with me that being vegan really isn’t the only part of life to focus on if you’re looking to make this world a better place. I hope that we can learn together, you and me, and everyone else who comes across this blog. Let’s explore how to make this world a better place.