Episode Details
Back to Episodes“The vegan trap: are we making animal advocacy harder than it needs to be?” by tobiasleenaert
Description
note: crosspost from my substack
As a vegan for almost thirty years, I’ve long had second thoughts about how effective veganism is for helping animals. I am not alone in this. Recently others have expressed doubts about veganism (see for instance here, here, here, here, or here)
To be sure, veganism has its uses. In essence, veganism is about boycotting animal products - which are almost invariably the products of suffering and exploitation. The hope is that with enough people participating in this boycott, we’ll have an impact on demand, and fewer - ultimately no - animals would be used for food (or other purposes). Veganism also has a signalling function: we show that we don’t participate in animal cruelty because we think it's wrong. And veganism provides our movement with an identity, which can help with internal cohesion. When a vegan meets another vegan, they know that they “get it”. No conversation is necessary. They have arrived at the same place as we have. They’re one of us. We understand each other. And we’ll feel betrayed and take it personally when others give up on veganism.
Vegans, no doubt, deserve respect. It's not easy to be vegan [...]
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Outline:
(01:44) The number of vegans is hardly growing.
(03:21) Veganism has many challenges and downsides
(05:53) Creating barriers
(06:59) What if we had never invented veganism?
(08:01) Then what do we do?
(10:09) The vegan trap
(11:55) We need more non-vegans
(14:40) Enlisting non-vegans' help for animals
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First published:
September 24th, 2026
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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.
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