Does veganism view humans as greater than more than human beings? If so, what is the justification? If not, why is the focus on human diet?
If not, why is the focus on human diet?
there is no such focus, vegans go to great lengths to distance themselves from vegetarians and the like exactly because veganism is not just a diet
There is no focus on humans eating animals? Surely you have not made yourself clear
It’s not just about food. There’s all the other ways in which humans exploit animals: labor, test subjects, zoo exhibits, raw materials (leather, down) etc. Also all of the resource usage, labor, abysmal land use, and pollution that goes into maintaining these practices.
Humans are the only animals that speak human languages and can therefore a) have exploitative social relations between humans and non-humans explained to them in terms they may understand and b) be persuaded to adjust their relationship to other animals.
Human diet is not the primary problem, the industrialized slavery and murder of animals and the ignorance of/apathy to non-human suffering (not to mention the human suffering that is also a necessary consequence of that industry) that sustains that diet is.
Alas, I still haven’t managed to convince sharks to go vegan
Killing and hurting animals is bad for humans.
No. Killing and hurting animals is not bad for humans. Rather, killing and hurting animals with improper methods and ethics will invariably encourage harmful outcomes. These outcomes will not manifest with even distribution across humanity, other animals, and other life forms. It’s sad you are so disconnected from reality that you are so confident making infantile statements that are easily dismissed. You may as well start a religion that condemns the climate itself instead of addressing the causes and dangers of climate change.
And while I’m here I’ll just add … stop separating humanity from the rest of the biosphere so casually. Are you so arrogant to believe other life forms are blameless or even without ethics? Vegans treat “animals” the same way Mormons treat Indigenous Peoples as “Lamanites” that are simultaneously purer than but still lessor than and in need of “salvation.” You use other life forms as tokens just as all colonial religions do.
No. Killing and hurting animals is not bad for humans
This is an assertion.
Evidence suggests the opposite. Communities with slaughterhouses experience higher rates of depression, alcoholism, overdoses, domestic violence, violent crime, murder, self-harm, suicide, and other forms of mental/emotional/social distress. People who abuse pets are universally reviled because pets aren’t just toys or property, they’re family. We empathize with anything that has a face or voice, sometimes even things without faces or voices, and killing and hurting makes us feel bad.
I’m even speaking from experience! Killing feels bad. I don’t want to do it, and I don’t want to force anyone else to do it.
Are you so arrogant to believe other life forms are blameless or even without ethics?
I am not motivated by ethics. I am motivated by our species-being. We, as a species and society, would be happier and healthier if we stopped the slaughter. People who kill for a living are hurt by it, and the trauma becomes dangerous to themselves and others.
Even humans with diminished/lacking capacity for empathy are harmed by killing and hurting animals. It still trains the brain to make it easier to hurt and kill, there’s a reason animal abuse is highly correlated with interpersonal, human-to-human violence.
Carnivores don’t feel empathy the way humans do. They literally don’t feel anything when they kill, besides satisfaction. It’s just food for them. Lions can eat gazelle and it doesn’t make them want to hurt or kill their families, or engage in self harm, or kill themselves. Their species-being is to be hunters and killers, that’s literally what they are. Ethics don’t even enter the equation.
Does veganism view humans as greater than animals?
Veganism does not view humans as morally superior to animals.
Why is the focus on human diet and behavior?
We focus on communicating with humans because we share the same language, which gives us a chance to persuade them.
That said, we don’t ignore the suffering that other animals can cause. But strategically, our main focus is on humans. Once all humans become vegans, we can better explore peaceful ways to address harm caused by other animals.
The focus on human diets is because we can choose not to eat animal products. Pretty simple actually.
