http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/forum/discussions/feed.rss Mon, 21 May 12 04:45:09 -0700 All Discussions - Abolitionist Approach Forum en-CA http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/forum/discussion/682/louie-gedo-introduction Thu, 20 Jan 2011 13:24:21 -0700 mmissinglink 682@/forum/discussions
As I am always pressed for time, I will direct anyone who may be interested in knowing a little bit more about me, to this interview of me: http://www.satyamag.com/jun07/gedo.html

Additionally, you can see a sampling of some of my artwork here (I haven't added any new artwork to that page in a long time incidentally): http://veganica.com/artist/gallery.php?artistid=32

If you are at all inclined to know more about me, please feel free to ask or friend request me here on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/louis.gedo ]]> http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/forum/discussion/1284/hello-from-melbourne-australia Tue, 13 Mar 2012 16:13:14 -0700 Stevie 1284@/forum/discussions
I'm Stevie and I've been vegan for just over a year now. I have a B.A. in Classics and Philosophy with Hons in Classics as well as an M.A. in Classics. Unfortunately, throughout my philosophical studies I scoffed at any discussion on animal rights despite my love for animals.

My journey to veganism came after learning that a whole foods plant based diet was an effective way to help maintain health and a good weight. I had always believed that animal foods were necessary (at the time I had stopped eating land animals but consumed many other animal products). Once this belief was sufficiently corroded then, and only then, could I be persuaded by the more meaningful arguments for animal rights.

My partner, intrigued and confused by my new decision, went vegan a couple of weeks later. He had done his own research and concluded that he could no longer consume animal products either. So, from early on, I had an ally, friend, and person to experiment with. I am very glad to have such an open minded, caring and compassionate partner.

At first I supported many different animal organisations. Being new to the scene, and not having given much critical thought to what was going on, I wanted to help where I could. The first inkling that something was not right occurred to me while I was following the Ban Live Export debate in Australia. Animals Australia, the driving organisation, in their letters to parliamentary members suggested onshore meat 'processing' as a good economic solution, providing Australians with jobs. I deleted that paragraph, rewrote my own argument before sending it off.

What really got me thinking about the transparency of Animals Australia happened during the expose on national television. There was a lively Twitter conversation happening on the hashtag #BanLiveExport and I was following it with interest. Then, Animals Australia retweeted someone who was themselves a cattle farmer. I felt that it was dishonest of Animals Australia to use any form of leverage that they could get by promoting the opinions of animal exploiters.

It wasn't long after I discovered abolitionist theory and the work of Francione. Although I'm still reserving my judgement on a number of issues in Francione's work, his approach is far more consistent and honest than the work of the big animal organisations like Animals Australia.

Now I co-host a podcast with my partner called Team Earthling. It started out as a place where we could vent, but as our audience was many of our friends who were/are not vegan, it has morphed into something much more educational and informative.

As to what else I plan to do to help non-human animals I am unsure. I have been considering taking up a PhD in Philosophy. But I'm in two minds about whether this is just to relieve my boredom, or whether I can contribute something substantial to the growing body of academic work on these issues.]]> http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/forum/discussion/1268/hello Sun, 05 Feb 2012 09:26:55 -0700 Animal 1268@/forum/discussions
My name is Smara and I have been a vegan for more than 3 years. I live in England. I am an ethical vegan and I believe that no other reason can be a stronger motivation for veganism and a more urgent and worthwhile cause to become vegan than the suffering and murder the animals are subjected to as a result of the worst ever enslavement in known history. As I once wrote on my Facebook wall: “The worst thing that ever happened on Earth as well as to living beings is the suffering animals have endured, both in terms of numbers and in terms of severity of suffering and injustice, from humans. As a consequence, the worst thing that ever happened to the human psyche/mentality is the result of the suffering that humans have inflicted on animals, directly, indirectly, consciously and semiconsciously. The best thing that can happen to both animals and humans nowadays is for the humans to understand these two things. Personally I would be vegan even if the benefits for my psyche/mentality had never crossed my mind.”

I came across The Abolitionist Approach about a year and a half ago and felt so relieved because till then I was thinking I was the only person in the world who sees all welfare and most so-called ‘animal rights’ organisations as speciesist, not being really primarily interested in essentially helping the animals (though not intentionally I think), doing more harm than good, and also the only person who thinks that all the living beings’ capacity to have sensations or feelings (sentience) puts them on the same footing when it comes to their right not to be used or killed by humans, and also that humans are no more important than any other animal species in the world. I was also finding it so hard to find people who look up to nonhuman animals and see how wonderful and admirable they are, and see them as persons; I also call them people and I believe that they have no less interest in being alive than humans: they want to live their rich ans incredibly interesting lives as best as possible and stay alive for as long as possible just like humans do (when they do). Moreover, I was finding it outrageous that some vegans were against adopting domesticated animals, and sad that they can not see the whole picture. I had no idea that the abolitionist veganism was already a movement at the time and actually I only realised that a couple of months ago. I have to confess that although I have read several essays from the Abolitionist Approach and other related websites, I have still not read any book of Prof. Gary Francione, but I definitely intend to do so in the near future.

I am here because I aspire to turn the whole world vegan VERY SOON (well, I can’t give you a specific date though, haha :-)). First, I want to find the best and most effective ways of advocacy and improve them every single day. I know this change will not happen overnight, but my goal is not only to ‘help a bit’ by chatting on this and that, but also to find novel, innovative and occasionally well planned big ways, mostly through education and information, to wake up the world.

I can recognise some of the names here from Facebook, which I only started using last November.

Sorry if you find it hard to follow my writing: English is not my first language, but I try to do my best.

Thank you for the opportunity to participate in this unique forum.

All the very best to all of you

Smara


]]> http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/forum/discussion/1283/introduction-lena-living-in-alberta-canada Tue, 13 Mar 2012 12:09:56 -0700 Lena 1283@/forum/discussions
I am an adult women living in Edmonton Alberta and have been a joyful vegan for almost 6 whole months now and I am so happy I made this decision.

I have spent years of my life vegetarian and even did a 3 month stint on a “vegetable based diet” but the vegan way of life just feels right. I always thought that animals could feel pain and had emotions and I guess I pushed that knowledge away.

I am in the information management field and work in libraries and I have been reading like mad. I devoured “Vegan freaks” which was where I found out about the animal abolition movement …..before I only really knew about PETA and they conflict with my stance on human exploitation.

This principle really spoke to me

” Just as we reject racism, sexism, ageism, and heterosexism, we reject speciesism”

That is the kind of world I want to live in and the type of person I want to be.

I have tried to be apart of animal rights groups in my area but I do not believe in welfarism and I also seem to make some of them uncomfortable with me because I am vegan. This was all new to me so I went looking for online people that share my animal abolition ideals.

Nice to meet everyone:)

Lena ]]> http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/forum/discussion/1286/new-vegan Wed, 14 Mar 2012 23:42:35 -0700 Verula 1286@/forum/discussions
I'm a new vegan living in the Southeastern US. I hope to learn more here about the ethics and philosophy of veganism.

Thanks!]]> http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/forum/discussion/1269/introduction-my-journey-to-veganism Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:56:07 -0700 Mickey 1269@/forum/discussions
When I was around three or four years old, my parents visited one of their friends who lived on a large farm with pigs and cows – I thought they were pets, like our cat. I soon found out they were going to be killed and eaten, I went insane and started crying and cursing at them; I thought these were the only people in the world who could ever kill an animal, let alone eat it afterwards. Being young and ignorant, I ate hamburgers, hot dogs, dairy, etc without realizing that these things came from animals. By the time I was a little older than that, the realization was so gradual and subtle that it never really clicked in my mind. Throughout my life I’ve been told that animals exist only to be eaten by humans (with some mystical exception to cats and dogs) and have no mind at all but only “instincts” that tell them to eat. I once watched a cartoon in which cows were being branded, and asked if that hurt them; “Animals don’t feel pain” was the answer I received.

In middle school I became “vegetarian” after talking to a friend who showed me a PeTA video of animals being tortured in China. I still didn’t have much of a capacity for common sense and critical thinking, and lacked the insight to understand how meat or dairy magically materialized into existence from an animal. At the time, I thought animals were only abused in China (and I foolishly thought that China itself was a hell-on-Earth being run by an evil dictator that has minions enslave the entire population to be whipped into submission in sweatshops). Giving up meat was easy, as I never really had an appetite for it; I consumed as much dairy as ever, and eventually started eating tuna after repeatedly being told that, without protein from meat, I’d be “on my deathbed within 30 days”. I continued this way for about a year, and gradually made more and more exceptions until I was back to eating the way I originally was.

In the following year or so, I learned a bit more about what was involved in meat production, specifically factory farming. I knew it was bad, but didn’t really give it much deep thought. I had no idea of the degree of the suffering involved (which I originally thought was simply ‘distress’). Last year, I had taken up an interest in gardening, and I now enjoy spending all of my free time around nature. I often watch the birds that come into the yard and wonder what they are thinking, or seeing. And very recently, I could often hear a rooster crowing from the other side of our street, and my thoughts kind of took off from there, and eventually I thought of the lives of chickens we eat and the factory farm. So I decided to finally face what these animals endure, and was absolutely horrified with what I saw. I went vegan immediately, but became severely depressed and unable to function for several days.

I started to educate myself on how I could do more. At this point, I was not aware of welfare, abolition or any of the politics of animal rights. Most of the sites/blogs I came across were unreasonably critical of being 100% vegan, as if they were saying that anyone above 90% or 99% was a grinch. I was positive I would never want to knowingly do harm to another animal, no matter how minute, and I didn’t see how anyone else who cared about animals would want to. I eventually came across Gary’s site and his podcasts, and his message really reflects the way I feel about animals.

My sister is the only other vegan in my family, but only due to various food allergies. Fortunately, she is a wonderful vegan cook. I live with my cat (the handsome guy in my avatar) and my dog (who can often be a little pest sometimes). Neither is vegan (yet).
]]> http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/forum/discussion/1264/hi-everyone Sat, 28 Jan 2012 01:39:45 -0700 bjhardy 1264@/forum/discussions
My name is Ben. I am 22 years old, and currently reside in Australia. For the past few years I've been working as a tradesperson, but have recently quit my job to pursue university studies. I'd like to eventually earn degrees in philosophy and science (the extent of my long-term thinking).

I became a vegan less-than two years ago, after seeing some unsettling footage. I couldn't stomach the indifference shown to other animals, certainly not without reason. After innumerable arguments with friends and family, I am yet to be convinced that this decision was wrong.

I consider abolitionism to be the only reasonable approach to non-human rights/welfare. I have only slight disagreements which you can be sure are the product of my own misunderstanding. I plan to read two of Prof. Francione's books in coming weeks: 'Animals as Persons', and 'The Animal Rights Debate'.

I look forward to meeting you all, and further discussing these ideas :)



]]> http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/forum/discussion/1272/introduction-isaac-bullfinch Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:35:11 -0700 IsaacBullfinch 1272@/forum/discussions
Introduction:
I am an early-twenties male living in Atlantic Canada. I am a full-time student, and that keeps me occupied enough to exclude a long list of hobbies, but I do make time for reading, cooking, and baking.

How/When I Became Vegan:
I became vegan seven years ago after maybe a year of passive exposure to veganism through online forums for alternative music, a short book with a welfarist message, one violent video of a fur farm, and a few minutes of a documentary on cable television. I didn't know any vegans at the time, and I haven't really known any since.

How I Arrived Here:
I read through two of Mr. Francione's books, 'Rain Without Thunder', and 'Animals, Property, & The Law'. It seemed like a much more grown-up version of veganism than anything I had been exposed to before, and I like to think it helped me grow up a bit in my own views.

What I Would Like To Be When I Grow Up:
A major shareholder in a multi-national vegan corporation.

Conclusion:
Thank you for reading! I look forward to being a participant in your forum!

Isaac Bullfinch]]> http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/forum/discussion/1261/a-brazilian-vegan-hello Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:34:36 -0700 kojieumesmo 1261@/forum/discussions
I'm here because my friends at Veganos pela Abolição advised me to keep in contact with abolitionists outside Brazil, and I hope to learn more about creative vegan education here and make some friends too :)

My name is Koji, I'm an interaction designer, vegan for 15 years and I live in Belo Horizonte city in Brazil. I travel to US almost once a year, because I work closer with people in Sillicon Valley. I'm 32 years old and I became a Vegan by influence of Harcore/punk DIY community. I've been involved with different struggles, including feminism, copyleft/free software, left wing politics in general and, of course, animal rights.

I'm a volunteer of a pacifist animal rights group called Gato Negro (Black Cat) here in Brazil (www.gato-negro.org only in portuguese, sorry). We work basically with veganism as the moral baseline for the animal rights, we promote small events with lectures, culinary workshops, discussions and so forth. So we have an annual event within two days, some thematic culinary workshops during the year, a studies group and we are working now to build a vegan pledge as a 1 month event. We also have some materials, one basic leaflet about animal rights and veganism, another focused on animal advocates, a Vegan Starter Booklet and an online list of products (in Brazil is a little hard to do, we almost do not have 100% vegan companies, so sadly we have to show vegan options inside this context.)

My main challenge now is:
1) Show brazilian people that is not hard to go vegan (even in Brazil! We have a lot o fresh vegetables, grains and fruits!).
2) Make people understand our point of view without calling us "fundamentalists" (This is harder, people endorse violence but cannot understand our point sometimes)
3) Understand and get more inspired by others experience on vegan education

Cheers!
Koji Pereira
]]> http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/forum/discussion/1266/hiya-from-seattle Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:10:40 -0700 NathanRivas 1266@/forum/discussions http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/forum/discussion/1254/hi-from-new-zealand. Wed, 04 Jan 2012 12:11:13 -0700 Benji 1254@/forum/discussions
I've been coming to Abolitionist Approach for a long time now and signed up to the forum months ago, but have only just gotten around to getting this introduction done so I can start being a more active member.

I'm 23, living in Auckland, NZ. I was raised vegetarian (although I ate some non-vegetarian products without realizing it for years). My brother and I had gone vegan on and off over the years, but it never really stuck. In hindsight, my perspective was incredibly illogical, but I viewed vegetarianism as the acceptable moral baseline, and veganism as some kind of 'bonus' where I felt even better if I was vegan for a short period of time. Around 2008 or so, my brother mentioned Gary Francione to me and summarized his viewpoint. It sounded like a damn good thing to look into, so I came onto the Abolitionist Approach website and had only read two or three articles before it was abundantly clear that to have a morally defensible lifestyle and consistent values, I needed to turn vegan. It probably took less than ten minutes from me loading up the website to my partner and I acknowledging there was no doubt turning vegan was the right move. Even today I'm still impressed by how quickly (but also thoroughly) Gary's writing deconstructed my defense of vegetarianism and proposed clear logical reasoning for why going vegan was the right thing to do. I'd read numerous pieces of 'go vegan' type literature in the past, but nothing with Gary's logical clarity and poignancy.

And heading into 2012, I'm very much still vegan. So that's my lil' vegan story. Hope I didn't bore anyone, and I'm looking forward to being a more active member in the community.

- Benji.]]> http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/forum/discussion/1221/greetings-from-the-east-coast-of-the-united-states Wed, 16 Nov 2011 01:45:57 -0700 tenhills 1221@/forum/discussions
I've joined this forum in hopes of finding people/organizations to collaborate and share literature/materials with. I'm also a free culture advocate and dismayed at the amount of animal advocacy groups that license their pamphlets and posters under restrictive licenses that prohibit adapting or redistributing works. Hopefully we can work together to change that :)
To paraphrase Propgandhi:
Tell you what- I'll call you on your stuff, PLEASE CALL ME ON MINE. Then we can grow together and make this planet better in time.]]> http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/forum/discussion/1238/san-diego-southern-cal-california Wed, 07 Dec 2011 05:52:38 -0700 CompassionateHedonst 1238@/forum/discussions http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/forum/discussion/605/hi-from-perth-in-australia-animal-rights-at-universities-activism... Fri, 31 Dec 2010 08:36:00 -0700 Nick_Pendergrast 605@/forum/discussions
It would be great to discuss teaching animal rights at universities and animal rights activism with others.]]> http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/forum/discussion/1230/hello-from-oxford-uk Wed, 23 Nov 2011 05:34:31 -0700 KellyMonster 1230@/forum/discussions
I've been vegan for 2.5 years, and have been familiar with abolitionist theory for nearly as long. I'm not sure why it's taken me so long to get around to joining this forum!

My main aims of joining are to discuss veganism, abolition and the like, and to improve how I articulate my responses to people's questions. I have found recently that I have been clamming up when it comes to talking about veganism, or avoiding situations altogether because they have tended to be so tiring and confrontational. I need to step up my game and learn to diffuse people's negativity more effectively whilst still being able to discuss key issues.

When I'm not being socially inept (and in fact, sometimes when I am) I like to work out, bake, eat, read, knit and crochet. I'm basically a 29 year old grandma.]]> http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/forum/discussion/1229/hi-from-chicago Tue, 22 Nov 2011 16:44:41 -0700 jra939 1229@/forum/discussions http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/forum/discussion/1222/hey-from-california. Wed, 16 Nov 2011 08:05:57 -0700 Evolventity 1222@/forum/discussions http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/forum/discussion/1215/so-lets-work-out-how-to-help-the-rest-of-the-planet-go-vegan Thu, 10 Nov 2011 13:12:24 -0700 clarkeoz 1215@/forum/discussions
I am 37, I live in Brisbane with my wife and 3yr old daughter. We've all been vegan since January 2010. My wife and daughter were vegetarian from birth, lucky things. I became vegetarian about one chapter into reading Fast Food Nation in 2003. Whilst a vegetarian, I thought i was making a difference and that vegans were extremists. I was too busy skiing and rock climbing to do any more vegetarian reading; although i built an amazon wishlist with a heap of animal rights books i never got around to buying any. After my daughter was born i started to ask what example i wanted to set for her, and how i could be a dad she was proud of. I changed my job, we moved to a family sized home. I started supporting PETA and listened to their podcast and read Animal Times magazine. And learnt enough to realise veganism was the only way i would be comfortable with the way i consume.

We know one other vegan family and the discussions we have with them are great. We want more. Reading only helps your vegan growth so far, eventually you need to start discussing. I aspire to be able to articulate my position as clearly as Gary Francione. I don't want to force my opinion onto people, but when invited, i do want to help reveal what is hidden and help people consider the real cost of their lifestyle choices.

And I should tell you about my developing vegan ideology:

So my introduction has something of a grandiose title, but we all need a goal, and that is the one i dream about most. So that is what i am ultimately joining the forum for. I want to help contribute to a big shift in the way people view animal use; I want to see animal use abolished. I dream of seeing the day that demand for animal products is extinguished and strong legislation helps make it permanent. I have very little time to indulge in this goal right now, so my current aim of being here in this forum is to learn more, to become a clear, engaging vegan advocate. When people ask me about veganism I want my responses to be compelling, multi-faceted, attractive and ultimately effective. And i want to achieve that without sounding and feeling like a religious zealot trying to convert people to some whacky religious beliefs.

So of course, I also occassionally want the forum to provide a safe haven of similar minded people so that i don't feel quite so crazy and disillusioned as society sometimes makes me feel!

Finally i should add that professionally I am a marketer. I am looking for ways to translate my marketing knowledge into effective vegan advocacy. So if anyone can point me in the direction of some vegan research i'd be very grateful. I think one important starting point for developing vegan messaging is to understand how existing vegans became vegan. In our experiences and stories of becoming vegan will be essential insight that helps us understand how to be more effective vegan advocates, because what worked on us will work on others. If anyone wants to discuss that, let's get started...

cheers

Clarke]]> http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/forum/discussion/1225/abolitionist-education-for-children-and-youngsters Fri, 18 Nov 2011 12:12:16 -0700 timds 1225@/forum/discussions
I've been vegan for more than 9 years now, and have been active for quite some time. The best way for me to reach non-vegans with an abolitionist/anti-speciesist message has been going to schools and giving presentations. In Belgium, both primary and secundary schools let kids choose between classes Moral or Religion, two hours a week. Those are ideal to present the ethics in a constructive manner, and most kids are highly motivated to participate.

In February I'll be starting out again with several classes I'll visit, and I'm composing some material at this moment. And this is why I'm reaching out for help. Does anyone here have good material for children age 2 and up to young adolescents? I'll be going to universities also, but the young ones are often more delicate. Any input is welcome, from drawings to ideas such as puppetplays. Or if you have knowledge of good resources (online or not, doesn't matter), please share as well.

Get in touch, thanks! (mail me at tim@speciesism.info if you have any attachments you'd like to send)
Tim]]> http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/forum/discussion/1209/hi-there-from-texas. Thu, 03 Nov 2011 14:47:24 -0700 jessica 1209@/forum/discussions
My name is Jessica, I live in Austin, and I'm 32 years old. I've been vegan about 14 years. I don't have a "veganniversary", and there were a few times in the early days that I made mistakes, and I'll admit to that. I think it's really important to have a friend or group of friends who are vegan to help mentor you when you're just starting out. It has to be so hard going out to eat with your omni friends and family, and trying to stay positive about your choices. I am always very impressed when I meet someone who says, "You're the only other vegan I know!"

We have a great group of vegans here in Austin. There are so many different people from all walks of life, that sometimes the only common thread we have is being vegan. So, of course there are the people who lean to the welfarist side, and those who are abolitionists. There's a whole lot of people in-between, as well.

I firmly believe in Abolitionist theory, but I struggle with how to put it into practice. I am opening a vegan grocery here in Austin (soon!) and that's my main form of activism. In my younger days I'd prance around with picket signs in front of stores that sell fur, or drive out to Little Rock to stand in front of a building shouting at the inhabitants to "Shut down HLS!", but now I'm really just trying to get people to open up to veganism. I don't know why we as vegans/animal activists try anything else.

So this is why I'm here, to figure out how to become more active in my community using the Abolitionist Approach.

Thanks!]]> http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/forum/discussion/1210/scotland-calling... Sat, 05 Nov 2011 13:30:02 -0700 Calum 1210@/forum/discussions http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/forum/discussion/1129/hello-from-austin Tue, 02 Aug 2011 11:38:21 -0700 vegandude 1129@/forum/discussions
My name is Gabriel, and I'm a long-time vegan (since 1990) from Austin, Texas. I'm very glad to be here and look forward to getting to know other members. I live with my girlfriend and six cats and one dog (all of whom are vegan!). We have a veganic garden that has been producing a lot of zucchini, eggplants, cucumbers, bell peppers, and cantaloupes. We're part of a local vegan social group, that I helped start in 2003. In addition, we're both on a committee that is planning a new VegFest here in Austin.

My vegan philosophy has always been abolitionist, though I didn't really know much about the whole abolitionism/welfarism dichotomy until the last few years. In fact I was woefully ignorant of modern animal rights philosophy. Even though I studied philosophy, I stayed away from a lot of the animal rights philosophy because I just was frustrated by what I had encountered in the animal rights movement. What a lot of "animal rights" groups promoted didn't make sense to me. Rather than just encouraging people to become vegans, they seemed hell-bent on getting people to eat "humane meat" or to get businesses to make their animal exploitation more tolerable. Fur was bad, but leather was okay. Well, they didn't say that, but that was the message that they seemed to be sending. I would meet well-intentioned people who protested the issue of the week and claimed to love animals, but they couldn't even scrap their leather belts or give up cheese. Because of this, I didn't really consider myself much of an animal rights person, even though I had very strong convictions about the rights of animals. I figured that was the difference between a vegan and an animal rights person.

For the first 11 to 12 years of being vegan, I knew very few vegans. Then, as veganism started to become more popular, I became more involved with other vegans. I started to feel more hopeful, but I found myself continually disappointed. I was shocked at how so many people who call themselves vegan actually continue to engage in animal exploitation making unacceptable and avoidable compromises. Pointing these things out made me the dreaded "vegan police," when I was sincerely trying to be helpful. On top of that, I got attacked for being too nit-picky about ingredients. "Bread is just bread. Don't sweat it!" I couldn't believe that people unwilling to do a little legwork called themselves vegan. But it got worse. I couldn't believe it when I heard so-called vegans make claims like "Temple Grandin did more for animals than any vegan!" What?!!









]]> http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/forum/discussion/1042/hi-from-a-new-vegan-from-australia Sat, 21 May 2011 23:47:41 -0700 katstar 1042@/forum/discussions I've been vegan now for about 3 months after nearly 2 years of half hearted vegetarianism. It was like I was always trying to find some moral balance between which animal products I could and could not consume. My un-clear boundries made it hard to stick to anything. I always thought veganism was a bit extreme and un-necassary, I had basicly written it off without giving it much thought. That was until I saw an ad campaign made by animal welfare group Animals Australia about the treatment and slaughter of bobby calfs born to dairy cows. I suddenly understood that the use of dairy cows was just as cruel as that of any animal raised for meat. I gave up milk and cheese then and there and set out to educate myself on veganism. I read the book 'Yoga & Vegetarianism' by Sharon Gannon and read heaps of stuff on line. I think it was on Face Book that I came across a link to Abolitionist Approach and that absolutely cemented my commitment to veganism. Veganism really is the moral baseline for animal rights. I've found it really easy going vegan because the reosoning is so clear to me now, in fact it feels like the most natural thing in the world. My family and freinds have all been supportive but they really don't understand. They're a bit like " I respect your choices so you have to respect mine", meaning, "It makes me uncomfortable so I don't want to talk about your veganism". So as I don't know any vegans personaly I joined this forum to swap thoughts, ideas and gain a little moral support. I'm also hoping to educate myself further and hopefully develop my communication skills so I can maybe be an advocate for veganism without freaking people out. And that reminds me - The Vegan Freaks, Bob & Jenna Torres, have been another inspiration, love their podcasts and am awaiting the arrival of their book.
Thanks for listening , it's been really quite cathartic for me, I've never really had the opportunity to share my thoughts on veganism before. ]]> http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/forum/discussion/1203/hi-everyone Fri, 28 Oct 2011 13:31:29 -0700 PatsyG 1203@/forum/discussions http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/forum/discussion/1187/introduction-from-canada-leah-waters- Thu, 06 Oct 2011 10:53:04 -0700 leahwaters 1187@/forum/discussions
My name's Leah and I'm currently living in Calgary, Canada. Unfortunately, most people know Calgary as the home of the Calgary Stampede, or know Alberta as "Beef Country." Obviously, not all of us are into that, or I wouldn't be here, but as you can probably assume I don't know a whole lot of abolitionist vegans (none, actually) in Calgary and I REALLY think we can change that.

Anyways, just hoping to learn as much as possible in hopes of educating others about what veganism really means and connecting with people who ARE on the same page as me.

Thanks for reading! ]]> http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/forum/discussion/1199/introduction-for-moralbaseline-new-member Sun, 16 Oct 2011 16:46:12 -0700 MoralBaseline 1199@/forum/discussions
'Ello. I'm Eliza. I'm a 23 year old student of psychology. I'm a vegan of five years, with only a month of vegetarianism in the interim between that and the previous oblivious 18 years. I "converted" over night, thanks to a documentary called "Earthlings". As of this year, I'm making a lot of progress into the "real world", having been isolated and consumed for a long time with depression, and I'm sure because of this, there will be more chafing between me and the (very) non-vegan aspects of that world. I consider myself a highly-sensitive person, and often am overwhelmed at the amount of gratuitous cruelty and violence in the world. I can still become very cynical sometimes...for a while, after watching Earthlings, I would deliberately expose myself to footage of the very worst treatment of animals by humankind, to better inform myself, and I still have some imagery seared into my mind that becomes vivid when people express indifference to or ignorance about animal suffering...it makes me despair, often. Despite this, I'm determined to live by example, and use my blossoming new life to shine a light on veganism and animals in every way that I can. I just polished off a (gluten-free!) pumpkin cake, and my mom (who tried it already) has asked me to bring it to our Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. I think it's in the small victories that the war is won.

Looking forward to "meeting" you all! ^_^]]> http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/forum/discussion/1186/a-vegan-abolitionist-hello Thu, 06 Oct 2011 00:36:47 -0700 heiferwhines 1186@/forum/discussions
I'm heiferwhines, named after the beginning of Meat is Murder from the Smiths, who is one of the most emotional songs on Animal Rights for me. I'm 21 and I live together with my partner, an adopted cat and an adopted dog in the Middle of Germany.

My Partner and I are vegan since 2007, cat and dog are fed a vegan diet. Before this I was vegetarian for one year, but I didn't know much about the conditions "farm animals" live and die with. I watched videos about slaughtering many times before I went vegetarian (with the idea that i have to know what happens to those i eat), but I first started to be it because of a video that also presented the "solution" of vegetarianism to stop cruelty against nonhuman animals. My family and other social environment never theought me something about vegetarianism besides that its not healthy and that you have to eat 10 times more than normal to get enough proteins and so on. And i knew nobody who didn't eat "meat". In the early phase of my vegetarianism I had still the idea that its ok to eat nonhuman animals who were treated well, but because I couldn't check where "my meat" comes from and how these persons lived and died it was not ok for me to consume it. About cow milk and egg production I didn't know anything, just these popular welfarist sites told me that there are "better" (free range) and "worse" (factories) farms. But my mom (i lived alone with her) said that the "better" products are too expensive and that's why I ate everything except the real "meat" and sausages etc. (How I handled gelantine I don't know anymore)

Then came a day when I couldn't stand it anymore to be alone as a veggie. No one showed respect or interest or understanding for me and my empathy and so I searched for vegetarian internet communities and I found a popular German site, that was also used by a lot of vegans. I didn't know veganism at that time, but after a few days a vegan introduced me to a vegan chat and there another vegan sent me a text about the illnesses of "dairy cows" (If German speaking people are interested I can post it here and maybe there is already an English version?).
That was the knowledge I needed because I turned immediately vegan despite I didn't know what to eat except the raw vegetables and fruits. But I felt that I don't want to be a committer of such crimes against nonhuman animals and I didn't care about my comfort.
It's been a long time until I find out all the delicious thing I can eat, because I was concentrated on Animal Rights Issues and not on recipes and product requests.

]]> http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/forum/discussion/1184/what-is-the-line-in-the-sand Thu, 29 Sep 2011 23:07:48 -0700 DebT 1184@/forum/discussions http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/forum/discussion/1183/hi-again Tue, 27 Sep 2011 02:29:27 -0700 CompassionateHedonst 1183@/forum/discussions
Ok?

I want to engage in creative vegan education, but I get discouraged by Italian people. They are really meann to me because I am American here. They say things to me that if they said them to a Chinese immigrant or African immigrant would be considered racist or at least Xenophobic. It is always the same thing, too. As soon as I voice my opinion I am attacked because of the policies of America when I question the policies in Italy. Um, I live here not in the states anymore. It is making me not want to socially involve myself with Italian Vegans at all. I guess the best I can do is online dialogue? I don't know. My ideas are always cut down. I have been called a bitch, American whore, cunt, etc, not only online but in the streets. The funny thing is I want them SAME THING.


Frustrating.
]]> http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/forum/discussion/1140/greetings-from-the-uk-from-a-new-vegan Fri, 12 Aug 2011 05:39:29 -0700 Razmuss 1140@/forum/discussions
Newly-converted vegan from the UK here. Thanks to the administrators for letting me in!

Having been veggie for over twenty years, it was Gary's podcasts that led me towards veganism. Although I can't say I'm yet convinced by all the abolitionist arguments (am I allowed to say that? I have noticed that some folk have been kicked-out of the forum for disagreeing with certain issues, so i'll leave it at that for the time being), I am a fully-fledged vegan convert of three months.

Our family consists of two humans and three beautiful canine companions, whom we love more than anything in the world.

Having said that, we are now due for a two hour hike around the countryside, so I look forward to reading any responses and to contributing further to the forum when we return!

Short and sweet, I know, but thanks again!]]>