Sharing veganism through Lost Animals-posters and conversations

I have been out doing vegan education with Nikki and Ahimsa - companion dogs. They are really good vegan advocates . They go around with me, and occasionally they stop and say hey to someone; or someone comes and ask if they can pet them. That is always an invitation and an opportunity for a conversation about veganism, which I usually take. They are also around when I put up ‘Lost Animals’-posters about veganism - see http://www.lost-animals.net/

Earlier this week we were at the train station waiting for the train. Ahimsa was approaching a person and the person said that ‘It is okay, she can say hey’. Buddy And Ahimsa were very glad and greeted the person, asked for his attention and cuddle. After a while I led the conversation into a discussion about veganism. I said: ‘I became a vegan in the autumn of 2012.’ He said:’I have been thinking some about that.’ I said: “ I didn’t want to participate in exploiting animals, and I realized that we can live good and healthy lives without exploiting animals. Animals are exploited, harmed and killed for meat, dairy products, eggs, fish, leather, fur, entertainment, etc.; and we have no need for any of these products.”
I asked if I could give him a leaflet about veganism since I didn’t know if I would be close to him on the train or not. He received it, stepped on the train and started reading. It turned out that we were at the same section of the train and the discussion continued on the train. He agreed with everything I said, and he wants to live in that way. He thought that it would be had to change his way of living. I adviced him of the ‘I'm Going Vegan with The BLDO Plan: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=225433647613139

I challenge each and every vegan to everyday participate in vegan education. 
There are more than 1000 billions of animals exploited every year for food, clothes, entertainment, vivisection and other purposes.They are exploited because of someone's palate pleasure, convenience, ignorance or immoral belief that we have the right to exploit other sentient beings in vivisection in the pursuit of prolonging our own lives. Some of the customers that daily participate in the exploitation of animals are people who love animals and that wouldn't want to cause animals suffering. These are people that will change their consumption habits if they meet someone that educates them and give them clarity on this issue. Be courageous, educate others, and stop animals from being exploited. Stand up for injustices in the way that you would like someone to stand up for you if you were the victim of injustices. Reject speciesism, be vegan and educate others daily about veganism.

Take your opportunities to educate others about veganism

I am living in a cabin and will do a lot of planting of food this year. We will sow seeds for a big variety of different vegetables, and plant many potatoes. We are planting using vegan permaculture and in the future I hope to be all self-sustained on my own produce. Here I write more about vegan permaculture and why this is the only sustainable and environment friendly way of growing food. Monocultures used for the food that are sold in the store are destroying our environment, and are thus destructive for human and nonhuman animals on this planet:http://bloganders.blogspot.no/2014/04/vegan-permaculture-vegan-ecological-and.html

Speaking of sowing vegan seeds: We also should sow vegan seeds in the non-vegans we meet, and we will grow a vegan world. We should make nonvegans understand why they are participating in harming and being violent towards animals by consuming animal foods, wearing animals as clothes, using animals for entertainment and all other choices that use animals. And explaining why this violence and suffering is all unnecessary and wrong. We should sow vegan seeds by starting conversations with friends, acquaintances and strangers. Put leaflets in mailboxes, bulletin boards, etc. There are opportunities all the time, e.g. in the food store.

The animals on the photo (see photo in the comment) will be sent to slaughter, transported in a truck and face a violent and completely unnecessary death. Their lives will be deprived from them just because of someone's palate pleasure, convenience or ignorance. Some of the customers that will buy the meat from these sheep are people who love animals and that wouldn't want to cause animals suffering. These are people that will change their consumption habits if they meet someone that educates them and give them clarity on this issue. Be courageous, educate others, and save animals from being exploited.

Yesterday I had this conversation with the cashier in the food store. After some initial talk, I said: I only buy vegetables. The cashier replied. I then said: I have been vegan since 2012. She said that she had been a vegetarian and that her female friend is vegan. I told her that I am a vegan because that I believe it is wrong to inflict unnecessary suffering on animals. She said that many share this idea. I also asked her if she know of why people are vegan. She didn’t. I told her that animals are harmed and killed in the production of dairy products and eggs; just like that they are harmed and killed for meat. I didn’t have that much time to talk, since there was more customers in the line, but we talked while she was registering my food. She said that she would consider trying a vegan diet to see how she was doing. I handed her a flier and said that she could find recipes and other useful information about what we talked about. Don’t miss any opportunity. We always have opportunities if we are standing in a queue line, sitting on a train, saying hello to a person’s dog, etc

Vegan education, planting seeds to grow a vegan world

I am living in a cabin and will do a lot of planting of food this year. I will sow seeds for a big variety of different vegetables, and plant many potatoes. I am planting using vegan permaculture and in the future I hope to be all self-sustained on my own produce. Here I write more about vegan permaculture and why this is the only sustainable and environment friendly way of growing food. Monocultures used for the food that are sold in the store are destroying our environment, and are thus destructive for human and nonhuman animals on this planet: http://bloganders.blogspot.no/2014/04/vegan-permaculture-vegan-ecological-and.html





Speaking of sowing vegan seeds: We also should sow vegan seeds in the non-vegans we meet, and we will grow a vegan world. We should make nonvegans understand why they are participating in harming and being violent towards animals by consuming animal foods, wearing animals as clothes, using animals for entertainment and all other choices that use animals. And explaining why this violence and suffering is all unnecessary and wrong. We should sow vegan seeds by starting conversations with friends, acquaintances and strangers. Put leaflets in mailboxes, bulletin boards, etc. There are opportunities all the time, e.g. in the food store.





The animals on the photo will be sent to slaughter, transported in a truck and face a violent and completely unnecessary death. Their lives will be deprived from them just because of someone's palate pleasure, convenience or ignorance. Some of the customers that will buy the meat from these sheep are people who love animals and that wouldn't want to cause animals suffering. These are people that will change their consumption habits if they meet someone that educates them and give them clarity on this issue. Be courageous, educate others, and save animals from being exploited.


Yesterday I had this conversation with the cashier in the food store. After some initial talk, I said: I only buy vegetables. The cashier replied. I then said: I have been vegan since 2012. She said that she had been a vegetarian and that her female friend is vegan. I told her that I am a vegan because that I believe it is wrong to inflict unnecessary suffering on animals. She said that many share this idea. I also asked her if she know of why people are vegan. She didn’t. I told her that animals are harmed and killed in the production of dairy products and eggs; just like that they are harmed and killed for meat. I didn’t have that much time to talk, since there was more customers in the line, but we talked while she was registering my food. She said that she would consider trying a vegan diet to see how she was doing. I handed her a flier and said that she could find recipes and other useful information about what we talked about.  Don’t miss any opportunity. We always have opportunities if we are standing in a queue line, sitting on a train, saying hello to a person’s dog, etc






More vegan education reports:
Sharing veganism through Lost Animals-posters and conversations
Vegan outreach - sharing about veganism is important and can be easy

Important articles about veganism and Abolitionist veganism:

• Abolitionist veganism - articles, arguments and refutations of objections

Effektivaste sättet att få någon till att sluta utnyttja djur genom att bli vegan?

Vad är det effektivaste sättet för att utbilda andra till att bli veganer?

Här är några punkter, som jag menar är viktiga att tänka på:

1. För det första ska vi så veganska frön när vi pratar med andra människor. Vi ska inte så speciesistiska frön. Om man vill ha ett äppleträd, så sår man frön från äpplen, och inte tomatfrön. Om vi vill att någon ska bli vegan, så sår vi veganska frön och inte ogräs (=speciesism). Speciesism innebär att man förtrycker och diskriminerar andra arter p.g.a. att de är en annan art. En speciesistisk kampanj är t.ex. en kampanj som förespråkar vegetarianism (undvik att förtrycka djur för kött, men det är okej att du förtrycker och använder djur för ägg och mjölk) eller ”Köttfri måndag” (= ät inte kött, men det är okej att du förtrycker djur genom att konsumera ägg, mjölk och andra djurprodukter-måndag). Kampanjer som implicit sänder ett speciesisiskt budskap är t.ex. anti päls-kampanjer. I en speciesistisk värld så förstärker dessa kampanjer den speciesistiska synen att det är en moralisk skillnad mellan att använda sig av päls, jämfört med att använda sig av läder, dun, kött, mejeriprodukter, ägg, osv. Det skapar moraliska förvirring bland människor som inte är veganer. Därför är det också så många som stödjer dessa kampanjer, men som inte förstår att de deltar i samma förtryck genom att konsumera mejeriprodukter, kött och ägg. Se denna länk för vidare läsning, t.ex. om du inte förstår att man kan få den effekten bland ickeveganer genom att förespråka dessa kampanjer. Se också denna länk för att läsa mer om varför förespråkandet av djurskydd istället för djurrätt förstärker speciesism: [not 1].

2. Utbilda människor på ett sätt som de kan relatera till och förstå. När man utbildar andra så är det viktigt att man ser till att mottagaren lyssnar. Ett bra sätt är att visa att veganism är något som vi alla håller med om. Du möter en vän, bekant eller främling och frågar: Anser du att det är fel att utsätta djur för onödigt lidande och död? Denne person svarar: ”Ja, visst”. Du svarar: Vi har inget näringsbehov av animaliska livsmedel och andra behov för djurprodukter. Det lidande och den död som djuren går igenom i produktionen av kött, mejeriprodukter, ägg, läder, dun, etc. är således helt onödig. Nu har du fått en person att tänka på veganism på ett sätt som hon troligen inte har tänkt på förut. Du kan få henne att förstå att hon å ena sidan fördömer djurförtryck, men å andra sidan dagligen deltar i djurförtryck. En jättebra bok för att bli bättre på att utbilda andra om veganism är Eat like you Care [2]

3.Om du pratar med en person och utbildar på ett sätt som denne förstår, så kan det visa sig att personen helt enkelt inte bryr sig om djur. Hon förstår att det är fel, men är inte villig att ändra sig. I så fall kan du gå till nästa person. Det finns många personer som bryr sig om djur. Fokuserar på att utbilda dem. Det är tröttsamt och ett slöseri med viktigt tid och resurser att försöka nå personer som inte bryr sig.

4. Säg att en person bryr sig, men säger att hon inte tror att hon klarar av att bli vegan. Föreslå henne att börja med veganska frukostar, eller att börja med att äta veganskt en dag i veckan. Föreslå delsteg för henne i målet att bli vegan. Förklara att det enda rätta är att bli vegan på en gång och sluta att delta i att utnyttja djur. Men om man inte tror att man klarar av detta, så är det bättre att bli vegan i steg än att inte bli vegan överhuvudtaget. Följ sedan upp och uppmuntra personen till att ta flera steg mot att bli vegan. Här kan du läsa mer om detta [3].

5. Ta alla möjligheter till att utbilda andra om veganism. Skapa möjligheter. Gör dig nåbar. Hitta människor som bryr sig om djur. Ha veganska informationsbord på gator och torg, dela ut abolitionistiskt veganska flygblad. Prata med människor om veganism när du säger ’hej’ till deras hundar. Var inte rädd. Tänk på djuren och stå upp för dem likt du skulle velat att någon stod upp för dig om du var offer för dagliga och fruktansvärda orättvisor.

Fotnoter:

1. Se en samling av artiklar om vad vi ska argumentera för och inte argumentera för: http://bloganders.blogspot.no/2014/03/svar-pa-ursakter-for-djurskydd.html

2. Lär dig att utbilda andra personer om veganism på ett effektivt sätt: www.eatlikeyoucarebook.com

3. Bli vegan i steg: http://bloganders.blogspot.no/2014/03/stegvis-plan-for-att-bli-vegan-frukost.html

Why does many people abuse humans, dogs, cats and other animals?

Why are many persons cruel to human and other non-human animals?
I often try to think that what made a person become so destroyed that he/she feels it is justified to inflict so much violence against another sentient being; and lacks the capacity to feel empathy and love when it comes to the suffering of another individual.

I also think that if this person would have been taught love and compassion from childhood, instead of violence and apathy towards other individuals suffering that this person would have been completely different.

If we hurt another being, we hurt ourselves. In order to kill someone, we have to violate this individual's love and wants, we have to crush hopes, destroy a family and friend relationships; We have to sacrifice part of our inner love and compassion; we have to say to ourselves that 'I don't care' in order to take someone's purpose and life. And this has destroyed us, destroyed our society. The reason why people inflict violence and suffering upon others is the lack of empathy and love to others. If we instead would reinforce love and empathy at each meal by living a vegan lifestyle, instead of destroying parts of our love and empathy at each meal by hurting and killing someone for 'convenience' or taste, we would surely attain world peace. As long as we sow violence and wars by our eating choices, our society and culture will be absorbed in violence and wars.

So the problem is that our society destroys a person so much. The society inflicts violence upon a person, it teaches a person to practise violence, and the person loses more of his/her innate love and compassion. We will never reverse this destructive force and a persons lack of empathy, by feeling and practising violence and hate --- in our actions, speech and thoughts. If we feel violence in our heart, it will also effect our actions, and it will make us less efficient in our vegan advoacy. To show compassion, love and nonviolence in active vegan education of those we meet is the only thing that can make a people experience a revolution of their heart and go vegan.
That another one has abused an animal, doesn't justify a violent revenge action.

So when a person is hating and destryoing for other individuals, I don't feel hate. I feel a deep sorrow for the individual that has been hurt, and I also feel sorry for the individual that has been destroyed by the choices that our society to a large extent has enforced upon that individual. Of course we are all responsible for our choices.... But I know that the person would have been totally different if we had lived in a completely vegan society with no discrimination at all - not against humans and not against nonhuman animals.

We have all been destroyed to a large extent, and more than 99% of the population still is regularly making non-vegan choices, hurting and killing animals on a regular basis. Our non-vegan friends are condemning dog abusers, but are abusing animals themselves: http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/a-note-about-michael-vick/
I also recommend this wonderful essay on nonviolence: http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/a-comment-on-violence/

Are vegans justified to use violence to liberate animals?

I wrote 3 paragraphs on the rescue-campaigns above (+ the quote I included). Here are some more thoughts.
I am quite new to nonviolence. Before the end of this autumn I did justify violence, e.g. I justified many wars. Sometime after becoming vegan I also changed my position about nonviolence. So I will do my best to apply this principle according to my current understanding.
Read this post first: http://bloganders.blogspot.no/2013/05/illegal-rescue-actions-of-animals.html
Also read this article: On Militant Direct Action
Our goal should be to abolish all animal exploitation. We want to do our best to abolish the violence in the world against human and nonhuman animals. I think the principle of self-defense only applies in situations where someone tragically has to use violence, either the attacker or the person defending himself/herself. It is not ‘morally justified’, but it is morally excusable [See footnote 1]. I.e. there is no way at all to solve the conflict without any violence being involved. This applies to very, very few situations and can’t be used to e.g. justify starting a war. It is not justified to use violence as a way to reach nonviolence (e.g. wars). Neither, I would say, can it be used to justify killing an innocent animal for survival. It could be used if a human or nonhuman animal is attacking you in the purpose of killing you.

The rescue-campaigns don’t accomplish the abolition of slavery and violence towards either human or nonhuman animals and they don’t help in our goal of reaching the abolition of all animal slavery. As I will show below they increase the overall violence in the world. The rescued animals get replaced by other animals, since the rescue-campaigns haven’t educated people about why animal exploitation is wrong. There will always be someone filling the huge demand for animal products.

This paragraph is painting a general picture. It doesn’t apply to every individual. Non-vegans don’t understand animal rescue-campaigns. They see it as destroying someone’s property and violence against the farmers. They see it as animal advocate are abusing the farmers that are exploiting animals. The farmers that are exploiting animals themselves get more angry and violent, and are also using this to attack and belittle vegans in their campaigns trying to perpetuate and normalize the eating of animal products. Some violence may be included in revenge-actions either by them themselves or someone else getting angry of what they regard as the mistreatment and abuse of farmers. Non-vegans, who can’t understand the rescue campaigns and see it as something bad, get another argument in their way of becoming a vegan.

If most of the world was vegan, and we had the possibility to enforce laws that would make it possible to rescue all the farmed animals and put them on animal shelters, and to prohibit, enforce and educate of why domestication is morally wrong to everyone, and to end all domestication, then I believe open rescue would be beneficial (which then would be able to accomplish the abolition of all animal slavery). Now, however, it doesn’t end the violence of animals in the world and it doesn’t lead us any closer to the end of abolishing all animal slavery.
If we instead want to do something beneficial towards ending the violence and animal slavery in the world, we can engage ourselves in vegan education and we can rescue animals legally from animal shelters. There is an incredible need for this; and it can involve all vegans, as well as many non-vegans; and at the same time, it has a huge educational value if it is combined and advocated for in combination with vegan education, and is done in a context that also non-vegans can understand.

Everyone being involved in vegan education and doing it effectively – both presenting coherent and relevant arguments and presenting them with love, compassion and without being judgmental, know that it works and that people are going vegan and that many people starting to think much more clearly, and that many seeds are planted that eventually are leading to people going vegan.
"The history of humankind is a history of violence. If violence worked we would be living in an utopia right now. We are not. The world is more violent than it has every been."
What do you all think?

----End of post.

Footnote 1:
 'Excusable' or justifiable.
I make the distinction like this example:
"I explore these ideas in this podcast: http://bit.ly/JA5VU Although I do not think that it is morally justifiable to feed cats animal products, it is also not morally justifiable to kill cats, who are here as "pets" only because *we* created and promoted and facilitated that horrible institution. I argue that it may be morally excusable if we have exhausted all options. That does *not* make it right; but it recognizes that this is a plausible solution in a no-win situation that is inherently speciesist and for which humans, and not have cats, bear the ultimate moral responsibility." [Quote: Gary Francione]

My reply to another post:

I agree with this thoughtful quote: "As you know, I am opposed to all violence on moral grounds. (See, e.g., A Comment on Violence and More on Violence and Animal Rights) I accept the concept of Ahimsa.
Violence against institutional exploiters is not only immoral but it is incoherent—it makes no sense. The institutional exploiters are not “the enemy.” We are the ones who demand animal products. If we stopped consuming animal products, institutional users would shift their capital elsewhere. We are the ones who continue to believe the myth that vivisection will make us live longer and better lives and, as a result, we continue to support it, if only by not demanding of our politicians that they ensure that the alternatives that Penman mentions are used and that others are developed."
http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/on-vivisection-and-violence/#.UaJM3Jxc18E

----
In any case wishing the death of a person is not the same as self-defense, it is being violent with words and thoughts.
And animal exploitation will never end by hurting or killing those exploiting animals [which also is morally wrong], which right now is about 99% of the population. Using violence will only increase the violence. The exploitation of animals won't decrease since the demand remains. The animal exploitation will only end by vegan education.
------------
Many good thoughts by Scott Newman:
 Interesting discussion. I disagree with Steve Best's approach, and specifically with one example he uses in his speech. He states that when activists like the ALF use violence, it sparks some public interest, that people begin to take notice, and it gets some to consider the movement simply because if a group is so passionate about it, there must be something to it that they hadn't considered before! I'm sure there are a few (very very few) cases where such violent protest has influenced people to change. However, I believe that most carnist's [note of Anders Branderud: non-vegans should be used (carnist only refers to meat-eaters)] who see vegans on the news burning farms down, or screaming at people as they enter a McDonald often think "those vegans are crazy and militant wackos!" or "vegans think they are morally superior, but look what they do, they seem so angry!". Steve Best's approach can in some cases actually be a disservice or "counter productive" to the animal rights movement [Anders Branderud: I would say: in many cases], and can easily turn many people off to ever going vegan. In my opinion, Vegans must first seek out true peace of mind, and eventually others will take notice, and be jealous of what they have, for deep down that's what we all want! We need to work as a team, we'll only free the animals by freeing the hearts of people first, and by showing them a path back to their true nature, which is compassion and love. Namaste' , don't sell your fellow humans short, the same thing that exists within you, exists within all people, help them find it today.

---

Veronique Perrot HC I agree with you Scott. It is already difficult enough to be taken seriously by non-vegans when they see us leafleting, so let alone ALF stuff. We are not gonna change anyone by doing these stunt, however well intentioned they are.

Quote by Jeff Perz:
Jeff Perz:
Thanks very much, Tammy, for your eloquently worded question.
When you speak of “direct action” above, you appear to be limiting it to removing animals from situations of exploitation. If this is indeed all that you mean, my view is that sometimes rescuing animals is morally acceptable or desirable, sometimes it is not clear whether a rescue is acceptable and other times rescues are clearly immoral.


I will start with the rescue situations that I am ambivalent about. On the one hand, there are individual healthy animals in need of rescuing, and it would be cold to turn one's back on them. On the other hand,
rescuing healthy animals will cause more animals to be bred into existence to replace those rescued. In other words, the act of rescuing one healthy animal is casually connected to the response of the exploiter, who will respond to the demand that the rescuer has created, phone his supplier, and ask that more animals be bred into existence, used and killed. The rescuer is the cause of this suffering and death NOW. So, I am of mixed minds when it comes to rescuing healthy animals.


Regarding rescue situations that I believe are morally acceptable or desirable, these would involve “unhealthy” animals, or animals that the exploiter does not want for whatever reason. If the animals are so
unhealthy that they would be discarded by the animal exploiter, then I support efforts to rescue them, so long as nothing is paid for them, not even $1. These situations do not create demand for breeding more animals into existence, whom would then be exploited and killed. Rescues are clearly unethical when not enough consideration is paid to the well-being of the animals. For example, cases of releasing minks from mink farms, where the minks have died of dehydration, starvation, or have been hit by cars. All of that said, it is a better use of an activist's time to do vegan education than to rescue animals. Vegan education saves* many more lives. One could spend days (or more) planning and executing an open or covert rescue. Perhaps that would save 10-50 animals. Or, instead, one could spend that same time doing vegan education. Helping just one person in her 20s to go vegan would save*(i.e. prevent _thousands_ of animals from being bred into existence, exploited and killed) NOW. As Francione notes, we’re in a zero sum game: every minute spent doing a rescue is one minute less that we could have been doing vegan
education, saving more lives.

So, in general, this is the reason why I believe direct action via rescue is not the best approach to abolish all animal use. That said, I do not actively oppose all rescues, as I explain above.

-------
Property damage and violence
Colin Wright:
Property damage is actually a form of violence. When you destroy property and the people observing this (especially after the fact) have no understanding of why the property should have been destroyed (in the case of labs being burned for example), it creates in them the feeling that their houses or businesses may be next, which they regard as terrorism.