Veganism in not a diet, in any sense of
the word. It includes a plant-based way of eating, sure, but it is
an ethos, a guiding principle to live a compassionate life. Most
vegans would define it as devotion to abstaining from animal products
or using live animals for human purposes. I would like to expand the
definition further to: reduce the suffering of others. This may seem
to be saying the same thing, albeit more simply, but it is subtly
encompassing a wider view. Others, here, is not confined to animals,
or, more appropriately phrased, non-human animals, but to all
animals, humans included. I do not think compassion should be
limited to species other than our own. Famous figures have noted
the link between compassion towards other animals and compassion for
humanity.
“While we ourselves are the living
graves of murdered beasts, how can we expect any ideal conditions on
this earth?” - George Bernard Shaw
“Non-violence leads to the highest
ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all
other living beings, we are still savages.” - Thomas Edison
“It is my view that the vegetarian
manner of living, by its purely physical effect on the human
temperament, would most beneficially influence the lot of mankind.”
- Albert Einstein
“You can judge a man's true character
by the way he treats his fellow animals.” - Paul McCartney
I have a bone to pick on Edison's
thought that evolution has a goal but that is for another time. The
point is a connection between compassion to non-human animals and
humans. We need to reduce suffering for ALL creatures on earth. So,
yes, not eating meat, wearing leather, or going to circuses is
important but so is buying fair-trade cocoa, supporting local
businesses and dismantling inequality in our socio-political systems.
Just as feminism is sometimes mistakenly thought to be about women's
rights only instead of human rights, veganism should be defined as
compassion towards all, not some.
