Vegan education vs single issue campaigns and animal welfare reform

For each hour, we can choose to either devote it to change the root problem of people's thinking, to enable them to understand that all animal exploitation, including all domestication, is wrong. It is a zero sum game.

Or we can choose to devote it to e.g. single issue campaigns, which never change people's mentatlity at its roots. They don't make people understand that all animal exploitation is wrong. Such campaigns, including efforts to trying to regulate the law through 'animal welfare reform', have been popular for the last hundreds of years - yet the animal exploitation in the world increases for every day. They have very little impact, since they don't transform people's worldview and mentatlity about animals. We can't and shouldn't force people to change their worldview; but we should spend our time dedicated to do our best effort to educate in a way, which will enable them to change their worldview. First of all we need to plant a vegan seed in order to enable them go vegan. If we plant a seed of e.g. that only fur is wrong, it will not help them to understand the necessity to go vegan.

What is starting to turn the tide, and what is causing more and more people to go vegans, is a grass root movements of people who inspires our friends to go vegan, e.g. through study groups of World Peace Diet, table conversations at work about veganism, and vegan outreach tables.

I regularly see and hear about people going vegan through vegan education (mine and others). E.g. this weekend where I was involved in a discussion in a spiritual Facebook-group about veganism, a person understood the necessity of going vegan. We have so much to learn also about how we educate our friends about veganism.
Here is more information and links about the problem of single issue-campaigns:
http://bloganders.blogspot.no/2013/03/single-issue-campaigns-such-as-anti-fur.html

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I would also like to share this about the efficiency of vegan education:
NZ Vegan did a street stall promoting veganism on Queen Street yesterday!

I asked how it went and the response was: "Really amazing, and such a palpable difference from when I started doing this - the common theme now is "I have been thinking about going vegan" or "I just went vegan recently" or "I am vegan yay!" or "my friend/girlfriend/cousin is vegan". It's happening! It's really happening!!!"

This is awesomely exciting news! I just got a message the other day from a nonvegan woman who said she is now committed to going vegan!

I am definitely doing my "Free vegan cupcake with a conversation" stall SOON! What are you doing to help nonhumans?
From this website: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Clare-Is-Vegan/360638237346574

If you are not vegan please read through the recommended links in the menu at the right section. Go vegan if you understand it is morally wrong to exploit, enslave, hurt and kill animals for "taste", habit or convenience. Going vegan is the only morally right thing to do: www.vegankit.com

 

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More Reading:

Protests have been part of our history and all cultures of the world for the longest. Protests have been part of our history and all cultures of the world for the longest. People have protested all sorts of things, from war to poverty to women’s rights and animal rights. But how useful is it to even protest? With this article, I am possibly bringing a controversial take on the effectiveness of protests but I need to make a point here.

The need to protest is something I completely understand. I did protest in the past, against wars, for immigrant rights, against fur and animal cruelty. Then I came to realize that it was a waste of my time. The reason for this is that it has little educational value.

http://thebusyvegan.xanga.com/773175137/why-protests-are-for-the-most-part-useless/

 

Veronique Perrot HC I get similar responses when i go out there with Vegan education. There are obviously always a few who yell "i love meat" to you but its just the typical defense mechanism when a truth is put in your face and you don't want to face it. On the other hand, i did demos against vivisection where cards were handed out about the bad guys of UCLA. People signed them for the poor monkeys and when back to business as usual and very likely forgot about them the next day while they were munching on their cholesterol/heart disease laden sausage pizzas.

 

Veronique Perrot HC I understand what you're saying Leigh but I am less concerned about doing "what's right" (and I don't think most protests fall into that category) versus doing what's right for the animals, as in what is the most effective and what will help them the most. I am not advocating instant gratifications, which is what protesters do when they think yelling at the institutional abusers will accomplish. That is pointless. Because it doesn't eliminate the demand, wastes time and resources which could be better spent with actual vegan education. There is a lot less instant gratification or ego boosting at talking to people about Veganism, because it is not spectacular or lacks shock value. You have no way to judge the effect in the long term.