Vegans Are Not Extreme
Holding my hands up and openly saying that before I went veggie, I really thought they were over the top and crazy! But people think this, or I know I thought this because I wasn't really listening to the message they were trying to spread. I could easily put to the back of my mind the animal suffering because I wasn't faced with it every day and I thought I needed animal products to thrive.
To understand vegans and where their passion comes from, you really need to understand what they are saying. People can hear what you are saying all day long, but until they think about it and process it, they won't get it. They won't understand why you have such an anger for people who are ignorant to the suffering they are contributing to.
I honestly think people think we are extreme because they don't actually understand what they are contributing to by eating meat. They don't really process and comprehend the suffering that an animal goes through to become their bacon, they don't understand the damaging effect that this has on the environment, how much damage has been done just for 1 burger and they sure as hell don't have a clue what damage the animal products are having on their bodies.
Without understanding all of that, the vegans passion and message gets lost and they can push it aside because we are just crazy and trying to be 'out there'.
One thing I would really love to see is children really being taught about what consuming animal products does to the environment and their health. I don't think they should be shown graphic images of slaughters etc but they should be explain that this animal has been bred for the sole purpose of reproducing so we can steal their milk or eggs and then eat them and wear/use their skin not like their pet dog which has been bred to become part of the family, to be loved and to be happy. They should be taught that the animals that we eat are no different to our pets and the animals we love, they should be taught what speciesism is. Give the children the facts, let them grow up to make their own choices. If they choose meat, then at least they did it knowing what they were doing. Children are the future and they shouldn't be lied to.