Freeing nonhumans from legal property status

We've been asking ourselves: Can nonhumans be liberated from their enslavementas 'property' to that of legally-recognized personhood without a higher threshold of vegans worldwide (or within one legal jurisdiction)?
I want to jump to WHY we need to support deontological thinking with consequentialist thinking?
Unless there's evidence to SUPPORT the shadow belief that other humans CAN readily (and thus will) see the logic inherent in abolitionism, going vegan, and legal rights for nonhumans, the consequentialist side or aspect of our understanding(s) must (or should) serve as a backup to any advocacy for animals because, if 'the others' think that they are paying TOO dearly for any of these ideas, their 'disconnects' with thinking them through will occur at various (and often unidentified points) along 'the way' in their process of being 'educated'. We (self-styled) 'advocates' are not the best arbiters of whether or not 'the public' is being 'educated'; 'the public' calls the shots in their own learning because they are 'existentially free' - in a 'posture of freedom' with regard to what occurs to them, including presentations. They can merely 'turn off' their cellphones or landline phones as they wish; they can merely turn off advocacy, too, if it's going to cost them too much, and that's what we call 'anxiety'.

The anxiety about any change needs to be lower than the anxiety of staying the same, with keeping the status quo in a matter or an area.

To ourselves, the consequentialist side may not be decisive in OUR remaining vegan, but the general 'others' (all 6.828 billion OTHER humans on this planet) are not we; they are individually 'the they' - 'das Man' (the other) in Heidegger's terms, 'the public', and they are not behaviorally or phenomenologically who we are, even when they function structurally as we do.

The similarities are ways we talk with others; the differences are points of discussion IF we honor the inherent freedom and potential authenticity of others.

Those who claim that you 'don't understand' just need to try a little harder to understand the communications interfaces and challenges we confront. They are many; simple sound bites among ourselves do not teach or educate our own numbers; how could we POSSIBLY EVER educate others?

Points to be made are just that: points to be made, and they are good. But effective communication is yet another chore, a distinct chore. Various groups do something LIKE communications, based on their internal assumptions. Success is nearly impossible to measure, as nearly all marketing companies will confess about their own advertising and marketing campaigns. Budgets (money allocated for the costs of accomplishing their ends) are the primary concern; measuring effectiveness is another, and suitable leadership - thought leadership - is way up there with primary concerns.

Clarifying abolitionism is one task; Clarifying abolitionism is not coextensive with communicating effectively with the unsympathetic (or partially unsympathetic but woo-able) general public.

Don't turn me off here, since I'm really with you all (us). PETA's claim is that their budgets justify the success of their techniques. You and are a deeply suspicious of 'PETA loyalist' claims that because THEY went vegan under PETA's influences 'then' (sometime in the past), PETA's strange (and objectionable) tactics today justify our 'lumping it' and going with the (PETA-driven) 'flow' - why? ' 'for the animals'. But 'leadership' can be negative or bad, and perhaps the logic here isn't good.

Doing something ostensibly for a purpose isn't identical with doing something for the reality of that purpose; it may describe the inner thinking (the phenomenology) of the willing actors, but without measuring outcomes, these 'campaigns' fail even the consequentialist test.


I've merely been pointing out that, in line with Peter Singer, many, many folks who go veggie (at various levels) have learned to think as consequentialists, as pragmatists, as results-oriented expectants, even if they FAIL to do what consequentialism logically requires: testing the results.

Jean-Paul Sartre said that the meaning of history is the outcomes of our actions, and Scandinavian theologian Nels F. S. Ferre taught that the meaning of living in history is the coming to fruition of THE CHOICES OF OTHERS (for our choices do not override the choices of others). Categories of sociality, love, compassion, other-orientedness, ethics, altruism, etc. are all - look carefully - real, legitimate, defensible, and useful existential categories with which to live our lives.


We don't change others merely by the overriding forces of OUR will, nor merely by 'wooing' them to veganism seductively, as many teen vegan women seem to think will 'work' with their hunky nonvegetarian boyfriends. We enable their growth and development in social contexts, and we do much more, for social existence is very complex.


Group social relationships (structured and unstructured) can be studied 'up the wazoo' (not the scholarly term used by social scientists), but somehow, finding ourselves (as individual and variable as we are) is crucial to our living authentically among those numerous social groupings through which we pass throughout our days, weeks, months, years, decades, etc.
If Jean-Paul Sartre is correct in his analysis, the 'meaning' of all this vegan social living and thinking will be determined by whether or not we accept, unfolding in front of us, the authentic decisionmaking of manifold others who 'get it' about going vegan.


Clear philosophy has a place, and perhaps some public stunts will, also (I'd rather have singable pro-vegan pro-animal music, but that's not on the agenda, apparently, among vegan groups, even if they write songs). However, measurement is what successful corporations do, and though Ralph Nader 'wishes' to the contrary, this IS a world where corporations' success can be seen. Why? Perhaps because they do 'reality testing' frequently, periodically, carefully, intensively, and expectantly. Resources are devoted to measuring what comes of what they do, and perhaps we ought to do some of the same sort of thing - with a set of vegan think tanks that have resources to actually measure.


We used to look to VRG - the Vegetarian Resource Group - to tell us how many vegetarians and vegans there are. To get that socially-desired data, they paid marketing firms to interview the general public (so that required putting sets of questions in various survey instruments that were ALSO used for other purposes. We trusted that data, but we also learned that our percentages are not growing (significantly).


We can speculate why that is our historical lot. I think that the influx of nonvegetarian populations who COULD quite easily be swayed towards more nearly plant-based diets (the same groups that work in slaughterhouses, to our dismay) bends the numbers, and our social traits as vegans freely but not efficiently networking prevent us from making communications and outreach ('evangelism') a low priority (to nonexistent concern).


So,


(a) we've not scoped out the challenges and possibilities.


(b) we shy away from the distasteful challenges we've already discovered


(c) we imagine from within, without the necessary evidence bases for effective actions


(d) we content ourselves with many new books and media which, in effect, communicate TO us about clarifying our vegan values (in other words, the authors tapped their markets).


(e) we fail to learn about advocacy from the vegetarian businesses, who guarded their ideas and marketing acumen as if it were private IP (intellectual property) and ceded their potential roles as 'thought leaders' in the vegetarian movement in favor of running (or managing) their business (when they could have collaborated with one another - thinking together about how to grow the market by increasing the number of vegetarians and vegans who would naturally WANT their products, leaving that responsibility to the nonprofits and advocacy groups, like you and I know 'on the ground').


(f) it's a pity that animals are dying because of our inefficiencies; it's a pity we haven't done better; it's a pity we haven't learned to [bracket] our inner energies (personalities, Buddhist meditation, Alan Beck's Mindfulness Based Therapy, sporadic energies that emerge in our bodies and minds, etc.) and have lead the sheep (democratically?) run the movement where we need vision and (collective or shared) leadership.


Now, to return to the question (which I merely THINK that I've clarified somewhat), will a threshold percentage of vegans make possible, predictable, likely, foreseeable a recognition of their personhood through a change in their legal status?


That's a yes or no, but that COULD be a yes or no in certain jurisdictions, just as we have regional jurisdictions (states, provinces, cities) that decide some elements of social life locally or regionally, without a national or international consensus.

What might that threshold percentage be? Do we have any evidence base for approximating such a threshold percentage?


Maynard

Universalizing Veggie Pride Parade across every continent, in every major population center on the planet

I want to see Veggie Pride Parades in EVERY major North American and European City would be GREAT !!! Just recruit local volunteers and provide volunteer staffing backbone to indigenous leadership, as we saw Pamela Rice do in NYC. It's POSSIBLE to see such a movement in every major population center on the planet, followed by annual off-season vegetarian food fairs. Earthsave organizers have already said that it's such a huge undertaking, so hopefully one day, but ... Not only does it 'get the word out', but it's a way to reward ALL those still-living and yet unsung heroes and heroines who have given courageously and selflessly through the decades and generations to make our PRESENT state of vegetarian and vegan awareness possible - and to tap yet-untapped resources in the historic struggle to put off the old ways that degrade life and society, and move together towards a brighter - and healthier and greener - future. I think we COULD outline or list the STEPS required to get to that point, which could include, I'd suggest (in addition to making that list)  a manual of documentation on 'How to set up a Veggie Pride Parade' in YOUR city - probably commissioned by Pamela Rice of NYC, who does this annually, who could oversee the final product, or end product; this could be hosted at an IVU website, as VUNA hosts 'How to start a local vegetarian group' a frank discussion about the obstacles, the challenges and potentials, the pros and cons, etc. of doing this sort of thing; ideological challenges likely come from the abolitionists, who think that promoting anything OTHER than the moral and legal RIGHTS of all persons is 'getting in bed with the devil' (and promoting something which affirms evildoers freedom, rights, and powers to continue doing evil, as are welfarism and libertarianism, etc.) speculating about possible resources for doing this, including what social groups (in cultural anthropology, we discuss this in terms of 'the social sources' of some value, activity, energy, or potentials) talking this up on the Internet among vegetarian lists (cross-posting the IDEA that it could be done in major urban population centers) establishing an e-mail list - a public list perhaps at Yahoo Groups, where resources and discussion could take place among SERIOUS contributions, but membership should be controlled and postings moderated. Let's have some discussion on this. Maynard Maynard S. Clark 617-615-9672 (GoogleVoice) http://Maynard.Clark.GooglePages.com  My profiles:  Contact me: Maynard.Clark MaynardClark MaynardClark MaynardSClark MaynardClark MaynardSClark MaynardSClark THots8421 SanDiego95 Maynard.Clark   Maynard S. Clark  MaynardClark@Yahoo.com http://Maynard.Clark.GooglePages.com - Links ALL my blogs and photo sites "Making  connections  for  plant-based  diets" Vegetarian Resource Center   (since 1993) P. O. Box 38-1068; Cambridge, MA 02238-1068 USA 617-571-4794 (cell)  Maynard.Clark@GMail.comhttp://maynardclark.spaces.live.com - Maynard's Veggie and Boston Blog

Celebrate October 25 - 31 - World Go Vegan Week, by sharing it with others enthusiastically - and go vegan, if you haven't already

I'm celebrating October 25 - 31 - which is World Go Vegan Week, by sharing it with others enthusiastically.

Please join us in the celebration... and go vegan, if you haven't already


http://www.worldgoveganweek.com/

“I chose to be vegan initially as an energetic pursuit, as meat and dairy slowed me down, but have since become convinced that it is not only the most healthy way to live, but also the most compassionate and ecologically responsible way.” -Woody Harrelson, World Go Vegan Week Supporter World GO VEGAN Week Celebrate Compassion... The 4th annual World GO VEGAN Week is taking place this year from October 25 through 31. This week is a celebration of compassion and a time to take action for animals, the environment and everyone’s well-being. We encourage people to use this week to use this week to educate their community about the vegan lifestyle as a compassionate, sustainable, and healthy way of eating and living. Promoting veganism through outreach events and the media, we know that our annual World GO VEGAN Week is helping make the word "vegan" a household word, universally recognized as meaning love and compassion for all living beings. World GO VEGAN Week is also about celebrating what it means to be vegan. Veganism enables people to live in balance with all of Earth's creatures and promote freedom from exploitation for animals as part of their everyday lives. Modern animal agriculture is cruel and violent toward the chickens, cows, pigs and other creatures used to make meat, milk and eggs. During World GO VEGAN Week, we encourage people to become conscious of what - and who - they are eating, the effect it has on the world, and that a non-violent alternative exists. We urge people to recognize the effects their actions have on the world, and our ability to actually avert some impending disasters such as global warming. For the health of people, the environment, and farmed animals, veganism is the best choice. World GO VEGAN Week embodies this idea. As an international campaign, it encourages people around the world to experience the benefits and joys of a more compassionate way of life. Here are some ways you can celebrate World GO VEGAN Week: Be sure to register your event with us so we can send you flyers, posters and other materials to make you event a success. Contact Hope Bohanec: hope@idausa.org (415)448-0048 ex. 208. Plan an event or activity to get people interested in veganism, such as a public lecture, cooking demonstration, feed-in with vegan food samples, leafleting, tabling, library exhibit, or street theater performance. If you serve vegan food at your event, you can get refunded for the cost through the VegFund. Contact your local paper and encourage them to publish vegan recipes or a vegan article. We have a “editor’s pack” that you can send to your local newspaper with information and vegan recipes. Contact Hope Bohanec, hope@idausa.org, to have it sent to you. Order Vegan Starter Kits to distribute. Host a vegan potluck dinner or restaurant outing to show your family and friends that they don't have to sacrifice taste to save animals' lives. Sharing delicious vegan food with others is a fun and easy way to make a difference in the lives of animals and the people you care about. Ask your local natural foods store to offer vegan samples for the week. Ask your favorite local food store to offer vegan samples or specials for the last week of October. Let them know that we can send information, posters and materials to help them celebrate World Go Vegan Week. Ask veg-friendly restaurants to offer discounts or specials on their vegan food. Encourage restaurants to have vegan specials for the week or to offer a discount for bringing in a veg-curious customer. Host a screening of Fowl Play, an eye-opening documentary about the egg-industry, at your local library or another venue. Fowl Play illuminates the plight of factory-farmed laying hens through interviews with people who are fighting diligently to save them. Invite To get a copy of Fowl Play, contact IDA at (415) 448-0048 ext. 208 or hope@idausa.org. Show a powerful, short vegan video at your next potluck or social gathering. Here's one of our favorites: Vegan video by NonViolenceUnited.org. Host a vegan pie-baking contest. You can do this in your own home in a public place. Offer prizes like gift certificates to veggie restaurants or IDA T-shirts. Don't you want to be a judge? Yum! Host a Vegan Halloween Party. Have a costume party and have prizes for the best animal costume, most compassionate, and the most vegan creative! Have vegan Halloween candy and treats on hand and go trick-or-treating, offering folks at the door vegan candy and brochures. Students: join or start a vegan club in your school and plan an event with your friends that will educate people about the benefits of a vegan diet to human health, animals, and the environment. Write a paper on veganism, hand out vegan literature at a college campus or help get vegan meals into your school's cafeteria. Visit Choice to learn how. Have a well-known vegan author or athlete come speak in your community. Host an event where a famous vegan offers an inspiring presentation. Have vegan treats for folks to try. IDA can help you contact the person. Send a friend or family member who lives far away a gift certificate to a restaurant in their own town. Visit Happy Cow for reviews of vegetarian restaurants around the country. Encourage meat-eating family and friends to try Meat Out Monday and give meatless meals a try for one day a week. If they sign up for the newsletter, they get reminders, recipes and inspriation in a weekly newsletter. Go to: www.meatoutmonday.org. Write a letter to the editor about the benefits of a vegan diet or the cruelties of factory farming, or ask your local newspaper to write a story on the subject. If you are religious, or participate in spiritual services or gatherings, look for opportunities to incorporate the vegan message into the discussions. If you participate in study groups, suggest discussion fo the vegan message. Enter cooking competitions and bake sales using vegan recipes. Emphasize the fact that you didn't use any animal ingredients to make your delicious dishes. Attend cooking competitions and support the vegan entries. Visit a farmed animal sanctuary and take a friend who still eats meat. There are a number of farmed animal sanctuaries where you can visit rescued cows, pigs, turkeys, chickens, ducks, goats, sheep and rabbits live naturally in peace and harmony without fear of abuse or slaughter. Check out Animal Acres, Animal Place, Farm Sanctuary, Poplar Springs Animal Sanctuary, or IDA's Project Hope. Order t-shirts, bumper stickers, posters, pins and other fun stuff to have for the day of your event from IDA and other vegan merchants. Join or start a vegan dinner club. Find veg-friendly restaurants and invite the community for dinner. Try a different restaurant every month. Encourage a Compassionate Thanksgiving. Since Thanksgiving is coming up in a few weeks, talk to your community food banks about providing vegan options such as Tofurkys. Consider buying a few Tofurkys, preparing them, and bringing them to your food bank or other similar community dinner. Be sure to check out Gentle Thanksgiving which offers a lot of information and guidance on this special observance. Share the ideals of veganism with your community of friends and colleagues by adding this quote to your email signature: "Veganism gives us all the opportunity to say what we 'stand for' iin life -- the ideal of healthy, humane living. Add decades of health to your life, with a clear conscience as a bonus." - Donald Watson If you are a part of an animal protection organization, become a presenter of World GO VEGAN Week. There are no costs to you for joining us as a co-presenter. All you need is to post the World GO VEGAN Days banner on your web site, which links to the World GO VEGAN Days web page. Contact Hope Bohanec, for more information: hope@idausa.org or call (415) 448-0048 ext. 208. Adopt an activist. Add a link to IDA's World GO VEGAN Week Web site from your web site. Create a plan to promote veganism all year. Click here to download the banner in .pdf format. Celebrating the power and compassion of veganism. Watch Kenneth Williams' PSA! Presented by:	Event Registration Why Go Vegan? Muscle Power Vegan Cooking Action Center Outreach Vegan Bodies Vegan Resources FAQ Vegan Quotes Events Home Recent undercover investigation of egg hatchery horrors; the egg industries tiniest victims. Click here to learn more. Click here for more resources, links and recommended reading
For more great ideas, visit our Action Center.