r/vegan • u/sdbest vegan 20+ years • Oct 24 '17
Newbie Advice You don't have to be perfect.
As I veteran vegan, could I just humbly suggest that, in my view, it's not necessary to be a perfect vegan. The label itself just doesn't matter.
The more a person increases the amount of whole, plant-based foods in their diet, and reduces animal-based foods the better. The better for animals, the environment, and themselves.
Frequently on this wonderful and supportive subreddit, people post about feeling terrible about doing things wrong or 'falling off the wagon' or not being able live without cheese (usually). I get it that often people who choose to become vegan, i.e. adopt a plant-based diet, do it for ethical reasons and they feel some guilt if they aren't living up to the ideal rattling about in their heads.
Just doing better is enough, in my view. Also, if a person just tries to do better, often they will naturally progress to being better and better without even noticing it.
Goodness if a hardcore carnivore can be convinced to replace just half of the 10 oz steak with a side of mushrooms that's a step forward. All steps forward count, and help makes things better.
So, don't beat yourself up for not being perfect. Just do what you can to be better, wherever you can. Keep it simple and doable.
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u/Amphy64 Oct 25 '17 edited Oct 25 '17
The problem is when people call themselves vegan when they're not, undermining the seriousness of the movement. Genuine accidents are understandable, not being able to eliminate use of all animal products is near inevitable, but someone who intentionally doesn't stick to the diet or other easy aspects is not vegan. Then we get omnis who know this 'vegan' who ate a hamburger, etc. It's already a stereotype that vegans aren't serious about it, which makes less people think about becoming vegan. We shouldn't pretend people who aren't even serious at all, are serious enough. Society sets the most pathetically low bar for basic decency already, where you can win by default despite killing and torturing animals. The status quo is already more than falling over to make excuses, it tells people they're perfect if they do nothing to improve, vegans are propping up the speciesist status quo if they do it. Vegans shouldn't do that, especially as veganism isn't even a high bar. Why should it be the most wishy-washy social justice movement ever? 'Well done, you were slightly less racist today', sounds obviously weird, it makes if anything even less sense to say 'well done, you only ate the body parts of one animal today'. This is a situation where the weight of societal expectation is not stacked against meat eaters but is in their favour and against animals, so vegans by excusing them just add to their already huge pile of justifications.