
Why do people hate vegans? - brkumar
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/oct/25/why-do-people-hate-vegans
======
ntlk
It’s possible that people feel judged when faced with a lifestyle that might
be about ethical choice. Being judged feels threatening, and the rest of the
mind finds ways to justify it intellectually.

The choices I am making in my own life (I’m vegan) are obviously about what’s
best for me rather than some moral superiority, but it doesn’t alleviate the
reaction.

------
RaceWon
We don't hate vegans. Homo Sapiens are omnivores, and we are predators. I
would say most people do Not understand why some would choose to abstain from
meat, imo most would consider that quirky.

Personally I have no problem if some people wish to follow that type of diet,
but it is not for me. Quirky on the other hand--that's definitely in my
wheelhouse.

------
Arnt
Key point here, perhaps: People who don't eat x for religious reasons don't
get this hate, at least not so that I've heard it. Jains may be weird but not
hated, right?

The hate is (at least that's my impression) for the people who eat this
[https://src.discounto.de/pics/Angebote/2015-10/1394308/17710...](https://src.discounto.de/pics/Angebote/2015-10/1394308/1771005_mydeli-
Vegane-Fertiggerichte_xxl.jpg) instead of this
[https://supermarkt24h.de/media/image/product/5991/md/lebensm...](https://supermarkt24h.de/media/image/product/5991/md/lebensmittel-
fertiggerichte-menueschalen-freizeitmacher-
putenmedaillions-300g-a-1349497689.jpg) and talk as if there's a moral
difference.

~~~
sawaruna
As long as you think there is a moral difference between eating and not eating
animals, why would a religious vs. non-religious choice matter?

~~~
Arnt
I suppose what I'm saying is that lots people accept religious choice without
thinking closely. If your choice isn't religiously motivated, they may take a
look at the factory-made gloop you eat, notice that it doesn't look all that
different from the factory-made gloop on the other shelf in the supermarket,
and conclude (rightly or not) that your moral choice is a shallow one and
despise you for your shallowness.

It doesn't matter whether you're actually shallow or thoughtful. IMO it
doesn't even matter whether you eat factory-made gloop, so long as the
supermarkets stock shelves full of plastic-wrapped stuff labelled "vegan" and
you might be assumed to buy and eat it.

------
vintermann
"This makes it a rejection of a lifestyle and a rebuke to the majority’s
values"

That's the core of it, as I see it. No matter how discreet you are about it,
when your choices implicitly condemn the majority's values, they won't let it
go.

Take it from a teetotaller. Like most kids I didn't drink and avoided drunk
people whenever I could. Unlike most kids I kept doing that. Strangely enough,
I've never had as many invitations to parties - sincere ones, too - as after
my peers found out I thought there was nothing for me in those parties and
wouldn't go.

Even though I was easy to ignore, it was apparently preferable to get me there
and get some reassurance that I didn't object THAT much to their habits.

I try to keep that it mind and not be that way with vegans. It should take
more than the implicit condemnation of non-participation to make us uneasy; if
it does, maybe we need to confront some things in ourselves.

~~~
luckylion
> No matter how discreet you are about it, when your choices implicitly
> condemn the majority's values, they won't let it go.

Weird. I've lived vegan for more than a decade and I've never had anyone say
more than "oh okay" when I tell them in response to something like "you should
try the steak, it's really good". Important to say that I didn't care if they
ate the steak, I didn't argue with them, tell them what to do or ask for
praise of my superior lifestyle.

~~~
vintermann
Well, are you a vegan for purely health or environmental reasons, or ethical
ones?

If you follow a vegan diet/lifestyle but have no problems with anyone else's
animal killing, I guess people will catch on and be relieved. But I'm also
sure that if you do mind, people will catch on to that too and may give you
unpleasantness over it.

~~~
luckylion
I did it for spiritual/ethical reasons, but I never tried to make anybody else
adopt my views. I'm sure I would have had unpleasant exchanges if I did, but
it's not like I'd be pleasant to be around in that case, so that wouldn't
surprise me.

My point is that I doubt it's about the "I'm vegan" part that people react
annoyed to. I'm pretty sure it's the "and you should be too" part that some
vegans adopt, and they are the ones that people are annoyed by.

------
Zanni
For the same reason people hate mimes. Which is to say, no one hates
thoughtful vegans, or anyone with any dietary restriction; they hate people
who are smug and difficult. (Just as no one hates brilliant physical actors on
stage; they hate obnoxious, in-your-face street performers).

I have friends who are vegan, and we can comfortably go out to eat together
because we all order what we prefer and there's no judgement on either side. I
can't imagine doing that with someone who actively disrespected my choices or
voiced the opinion that meat is murder.

~~~
emptysongglass
I used to hold the same opinion as you but I realized it was out of a strong
desire to be an affable peacemaker for something that is essentially
concentration camps for animals. I have resisted any attempt to be vegan for
years and years despite mounting evidence of the mind-boggling level of
cruelty that goes on at factory farms. I just don't think we can afford to
blissfully ignore it at this point. If a meat-eater can sit through the film
Dominion and not change their mind... Man, I just don't know what to say. I
feel like I can only afford to be affable to those meat-eaters truly ignorant
at this point.

~~~
LeoNatan25
Do you also avoid any product manufactured in China, which runs child
sweatshops and concentration camps for people? Or did you type the above
message on a Mac?

~~~
emptysongglass
This is a false equivalence. Buying factory-farmed meat directly supports its
producers. The manufacturer of my laptop does not run the concentration camp
for Uighers.

~~~
LeoNatan25
You really don't know how Chinese business operate, do you? The government
owns stakes in virtually all business. Buying anything built in China directly
supports the government.

~~~
emptysongglass
I'm sorry, it's really not the same thing. At all.

------
elvecinodeabajo
No problem with vegans. Big problems with people who talks all day about being
vegan or a gluten free diet.

There's no need to say "I'm vegan" everywhere everyday.

------
JoeAltmaier
I find it an annoying religion, because its dogmatic and arbitrary. Just like
a lot of others. And one dogma is, it presume to be logical and reasonable.
Most religious don't bother with that.

