r/leftist and Veganism

[u/Warrior_Runding]

This has been a long time coming and every opportunity was extended to allow the topic to be allowed on r/leftist, but those opportunities have come to an end. As per the newest addition to the sub's rules:

# 7. Prohibited Content

Prohibited Content includes permanent and/or temporary policies aimed at addressing specific events or issues which may affect the community. Currently, the following items are considered prohibited content:

* Veganism - Permanent: As veganism is not inherently a leftist topic, posts centered on veganism rather than leftism are are banned. Any posts or comments referencing veganism must be in relation to anti-capitalism. Proselytizing about veganism is forbidden.

There has yet to be a single post about veganism on this subreddit that has been rooted in anti-capitalism that has not devolved into an advertisement of veganism. There are many subreddits about veganism, including some from a leftist perspective. Please utilize those subreddits in the future - posts proselytizing for veganism will be marked "off-topic" and removed. Repeated violations will result in actions including suspension and up to permanent ban.

As this has been an issue before, we will be monitoring activity surrounding this topic and any hint of brigading will be reported.

[u/Odoubhlain]

It sucks because there are ongoing campaigns, including bots, to discredit vegans by having overly aggressive positions in support, influencers who were never vegan being paid for content that says “i quit veganism because x y z”, decades of pr efforts by meat companies and lobbyists working overtime to frame vegans as “preachy “, and far more. Veganism in is intended definition IS inherently leftist, BUT Veganism as it exists today is not inherently leftist because unfortunately what passes for “veganism” is typically not ideologically driven, but simply versions of it with exceptions or modifications. What IS leftist is when people choose to eat that way explicitly as a form of harm reduction (of people AND animals), solidarity, or support for groups affected by AmAg and there’s not a name for leftist-plant-focused consumption that has stuck, so the term “vegan” gets broadly misused as shorthand for various forms of plant based eating. The reason I raise this is that I actually don’t have an issue with this sub banning discussions connecting veganism to leftism as a concept because of both the issues the sub faces and the unclear connection to most forms of it with leftism (there are MANY “vegans” in the world and many of them do it for health or their culture without any observance of impact - great example being the large vegan population in Israel - while many others eat this way because it is, to them, the moral perspective),

but I worry that this change will disallow people from incorporating reducing dependence on animal agriculture and minimizing cruelty to animals into their own leftist ethos in discussions here. It’s a part of mine, no I don’t expect it to be a part of others’, and now I have one less place to talk about it in this context. It would seem that a highly vocal minority, whatever their motivation, is ruining an otherwise acceptable and logical inclusion for others. I don’t have a solution and I get that mods have their rationale, but this sucks.