Revisiting Moral Superiority Again

As I continue in a world that wants to reject veganism because they think I’m being somehow conceited in how I present it, I recognize a quandary ahead. People who “preach” against smoking might come off as suffering from a superiority complex, but it doesn’t mean they’re wrong about smoking. On the other hand, just being vegan doesn’t make someone a good person or solve all the problems in his or her life.

So I have to back up a little and take another look. I think I’m a better person now, as a vegan, than I used to be before I became vegan. I don’t think I was a bad or malicious person before going vegan, but I was uninformed and unaware, and I did hurt animals. I have hurt people as well in all kinds of avoidable and unavoidable ways. And just being vegan doesn’t mean I won’t ever hurt anyone again. But I hope I’m becoming more aware and more thoughtful in many areas of my life and I hope that leads me to be a better person in many ways.

But I can’t set a vegan and a regular every day meat-eating American next to each other and with no further information declare the vegan a better person. I can pretty much say the vegan is most likely far better to animals, and I would hope that someone with a dedication to veganism is good to the environment in many ways. But in the land of hypothetical it’s possible to have a vegan (in terms of diet, buying habits, and lifestyle) who really isn’t very good to people.

To clarify here, most vegans I know are very caring people, which is what lead them to become vegan in the first place. Most of the vegans I know care deeply about other people as well as animals. Most volunteer in all kinds of ways and are the first to help another person, whether it’s dashing in to help them pick up dropped groceries or donating to help disaster victims rebuild. So I do think that most vegans care deeply about the world and about others. But in theory it’s possible to have a mean spirited vegan and a very compassionate omnivore who just isn’t educated on animal issues.

So, do I think everyone who eats animals is a bad person? No. Do I think I’m better than they are? I can’t say. If you compare me to a serial killer, then yes. Compare me to Mother Theresa, I’m going to say no. In between lie all kinds of gradations that would be impossible to sort out. But I think that the difference between Joe Bloe as he is now, caring and working and helping, but still eating animals and animal products, and the Joe Bloe that might be, a vegan Joe Bloe who still helps his community as before… I think that going vegan makes someone a better version of themselves.

I say that with full recognition that there are many things I still can and probably should do to make me a better version of myself. Is it ok for me to talk about veganism even while I know I’m not perfect, even admitting I could be better. My take is yes, it’s still valid to talk about veganism. Our treatment of animals, and the large scale use of animals in agriculture, is such a huge area that it affects everything from how we treat each other, to global warming, to ethical debates, to the very nature of empathy. I’ll work on becoming a little more polite, but let’s all of us work on the animal issues too.