*please note i deeply value and respect the vegan movement. i am just critical of how humorously it precipitates in online spaces, particularly this one. :)

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[–] Sasha@lemmy.blahaj.zone 56 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (2 children)

I'm a vegan, and fuck those people.

I've got a medical condition that meant I had to take it fairly slowly just it be sure my body wasn't going to literally fall apart when I went vegan, luckily I'm doing well (in a few ways I'm actually much better off now, though I'm still scared of falling apart). Medical conditions are valid as hell for not going vegan, I wasn't aware of how an eating disorder could prevent it but I've read a fair bit online now, so thankyou for sharing.

One of the scariest moments of my life was when my friends and I were publically assaulted by a pair of very large vegan men who didn't like that we weren't vegan. I was vego at the time but sure as hell wasn't going to tell them, people who act like that are an absolute disgrace and make me ashamed to be vegan. Veganism to me comes from a deep sense of empathy, if you can't feel empathy for other people then you're not a vegan as far as I'm concerned.

[–] Omega_Man@lemmy.world 29 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I'm just imaging gangs of large vegan men attacking delis. Where the hell do you live? Lol

[–] Sasha@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 4 months ago

Haha it was nothing like that, they just sort of came out of nowhere. My city is normally pretty safe, I've literally never had another encounter like that in my life.

[–] w_l_l_w@lemmy.world 7 points 4 months ago (2 children)

If you're hurting anyone, outside of combat sports or self defense, you're not vegan. Those men might have been plant based but certainly not vegan

[–] 5C5C5C@programming.dev 11 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

This has to be the stupidest take on the term "plant based" I've ever heard. I swear, "plant based" is just the "No true Scotsman" of vegans.. anything that a non-meat-consumer does that a vegan doesn't like makes them plant based instead of vegan. It's so asinine and intellectually dishonest.

Vegan people can be assholes too. Assholes will inevitably exist in any demographic that gets sufficiently large. I have known people who identify as vegans who insist that it's preferable for humans to die than for non-human animals to die.

[–] w_l_l_w@lemmy.world 9 points 4 months ago (1 children)

It's not that complicated... Plant based = diet Veganism = philosophy

Can't really blame you for not knowing as they do get used interchangeably in the media.

But you can't just self identify as a person that follows a certain philosophy without actually following it. Vegans avoid cruelty towards animals and humans are animals.

[–] 5C5C5C@programming.dev 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

And what if someone is convinced that acts of cruelty towards some humans is the most effective way to reduce cruelty towards a large number of animals? They might think that you're not vegan because you're allowing more cruelty towards animals to exist than they are. I have encountered self-identifying vegans who genuinely think this way.

[–] w_l_l_w@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

I don't think you can stop cruelty through cruelty. Veganism is about acknowledging every individual and abstaining from exploitation and cruelty towards them. It's not some sort of utilitarian philosophy where it's ok sacrifice a small number of individuals for the good of a larger group.

[–] spujb@lemmy.cafe 5 points 4 months ago

this take is being criticized for no true scottsman-ing but it kinda makes a lot of sense, like ‘oh no i hate seeing living creatures harmed let me go punch this guy’??? it seems like maybe those dudes were just looking for an excuse to whack people and if not veganism they would have found some other ideology to abuse