New Definition of Veganism

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.