Adventures in Moral Schizophrenia: Cecil the Lion

If you are upset about the killing of Cecil the Lion and you are not a vegan, then you are suffering from moral schizophrenia. There is no difference between “Cecil” and all of the animals you eat who do not have names but who value their lives as much as the lion valued his.

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So please, if you think animals matter, go vegan. It is the only rational response to the recognition of the moral value of animals.

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If you are not vegan, please go vegan. Veganism is about nonviolence. First and foremost, it’s about nonviolence to other sentient beings. But it’s also about nonviolence to the earth and nonviolence to yourself.

If animals matter morally, veganism is not an option–it is a necessity. Anything that claims to be an animal rights movement must make clear that veganism is a moral imperative.

The World is Vegan! If you want it.

Gary L. Francione
Board of Governors Distinguished Professor, Rutgers University

©2015 Gary L. Francione

Once Again, The U.K. “Vegan” Society Trashes Veganism

You will recall last year that The Vegan Society’s “Ambassador,” marathon runner Fiona Oakes, appeared on BBC and ran away from veganism just as quickly as she could, stating that veganism isn’t “for everyone, I’m saying that it’s not probably for very many people.”

At their June 27 meeting, The Vegan Society elected yet another “Ambassador”–a comedian named Sara Pascoe. who, in this essay states that veganism “is not a lifestyle I would recommend for everyone.”

She states further in that same essay that she is “not against eating animals or farming in theory”, but that “now there are so many people to be kept alive, and the food industry pressed to make more money that the conditions that animals are kept in are incredibly cruel.”

She expresses doubt about animal consciousness: “I don’t know how conscious animals are, I think it’s probably on a sliding scale…”

I suppose that the appointment of a comedian who holds such views as an “Ambassador” makes sense for an organization that has become nothing but a joke.

Vegan Society founder, Donald Watson, must be spinning in his grave.

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If you are not vegan, please go vegan. Veganism is about nonviolence. First and foremost, it’s about nonviolence to other sentient beings. But it’s also about nonviolence to the earth and nonviolence to yourself.

If animals matter morally, veganism is not an option–it is a necessity. Anything that claims to be an animal rights movement must make clear that veganism is a moral imperative.

The World is Vegan! If you want it.

Gary L. Francione
Board of Governors Distinguished Professor, Rutgers University

©2015 Gary L. Francione

ADDENDUM (added August 1, 2015)

I was informed that Sara Pascoe is no longer an “Ambassador” of The Vegan Society.

Now perhaps they can remove Fiona Oakes, who not only trashes veganism but sells “happy” eggs.

Abolitionist Vegan Starter Kit Launched!

We have just launched our abolitionist vegan starter kit: www.HowDoIGoVegan.com.

Thanks to our great volunteer team, headed by Sandra Cummings, for a splendid job. This will be an important tool in our efforts to engage in creative, nonviolent vegan advocacy.

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If you are not vegan, please go vegan. Veganism is about nonviolence. First and foremost, it’s about nonviolence to other sentient beings. But it’s also about nonviolence to the earth and nonviolence to yourself.

If animals matter morally, veganism is not an option–it is a necessity. Anything that claims to be an animal rights movement must make clear that veganism is a moral imperative.

The World is Vegan! If you want it.

Gary L. Francione
Board of Governors Distinguished Professor, Rutgers University

©2015 Gary L. Francione

Veganism without Animal Rights

An essay that I co-wrote with Anna Charlton, Veganism without Animal Rights,, which was published in The Philosophical Salon of the The European Magazine, can be read here.

We hope you enjoy it and that you will find it useful in your efforts to educate others about veganism.

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If you are not vegan, please go vegan. Veganism is about nonviolence. First and foremost, it’s about nonviolence to other sentient beings. But it’s also about nonviolence to the earth and nonviolence to yourself.

If animals matter morally, veganism is not an option–it is a necessity. Anything that claims to be an animal rights movement must make clear that veganism is a moral imperative.

The World is Vegan! If you want it.

Gary L. Francione
Board of Governors Distinguished Professor, Rutgers University

©2015 Gary L. Francione

Welfare Reform Campaigns, Single-Issue Campaigns, and Animal Exploitation: Perfect Together

Welfare reform campaigns and single-issue campaigns (SICs) necessarily promote animal exploitation.

In order to see this clearly and easily, consider that the entire point of these campaigns is to build coalitions that involve animal exploiters. And the only way that can be done is by promoting animal exploitation.

Welfare Reform Campaigns

These campaigns work by building coalitions of people who oppose a particular practice but who do not oppose animal exploitation generally. These people see the targeted practice as morally objectionable but do not object to other practices involving animal exploitation.

For example, a campaign in support of “enriched” battery cages seeks to build a coalition that includes people who think that eating eggs is fine but who think we should consume eggs from “enriched” cages rather than eggs from conventional battery cages.

The only way that such a campaign can work is if it promotes the eating of these “happy” eggs as morally acceptable and desirable. That is, the entire point of the campaign is to promote the idea that eating eggs from “enriched” cages is morally defensible but eating eggs from conventional cages is not. And this amounts to promoting animal exploitation.

SICs

The same analysis holds for single-issue campaigns (SICs).

For example, an SIC that targets foie gras seeks to build a coalition that includes people who think that eating foie gras is “barbaric” but who have no problem eating other animal foods.

The only way that such a campaign can work is if it promotes the eating of animal foods other than foie gras as morally defensible. That is, SICs necessarily promote the idea that certain animal foods represent morally acceptable choices while others (such as foie gras) do not.

I have yet to see an SIC that is explicitly abolitionist. These campaigns cannot be abolitionist if they seek to build coalitions involving exploiters.

Animal advocates who support welfare reform campaigns or SICs necessarily promote animal exploitation whether they intend to or not.

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If you are not vegan, please go vegan. Veganism is about nonviolence. First and foremost, it’s about nonviolence to other sentient beings. But it’s also about nonviolence to the earth and nonviolence to yourself.

If animals matter morally, veganism is not an option–it is a necessity. Anything that claims to be an animal rights movement must make clear that veganism is a moral imperative.

The World is Vegan! If you want it.

Gary L. Francione
Board of Governors Distinguished Professor, Rutgers University

©2015 Gary L. Francione