Is Being a Vegetarian/Vegan without Engaging in Activism Futile?

[KilluHertz]

Now I can't speak for all vegetarians or vegans because there are a large variety of reasons for why people decide to refuse eating animals and animal products, but I would imagine that many people are concerned about the harm that butchering and killing animals causes to them. They do not believe that pleasure is an acceptable reason to support these actions in nations where there are alternative methods of satisfying one's appetite and staying healthy.

However, keeping this idea of ethical vegetarians/vegans in mind, is simply personally abstaining from consuming animal products an effective way of going about preventing the suffering of animals on a large scale? I would think not. Despite a hand-full of the population's distaste for animal products, Vegetarians and Vegans make up a small minority of the total population and the global meat industry continues business as usual.

People are welcome to dispute this claim, but given this premise, what is the best way to convince other people that Vegetarianism or Veganism is worth pursuing? Vegetarians and vegans -whether accurate or inaccurate- already have somewhat of a reputation of being condescending, arrogant and judgmental and this characterization has put off many people that I have tried to persuade in my personal experience. I don't want other people to believe that I am trying to convince them because of an assurance of my ego, or because of some kind of desire for authoritarian collectivism. My desire as well as that of many others stems from a genuine concern for the well-being of sentient creatures as well as the environment.

Also, there are people who simply don't value the well-being of animals or factor morality into their decision making. Simply describing and showing these people the suffering of animals will not cause them to feel sympathy. To lesser degrees this lack of empathy also occurs in other people who can't care about animals in the same way that they can humans or that caring for animal rights is something trivial. Can this lack of empathy be taught to people who don't possess it? How can we make people care who already don't? What have your experiences been like communicating with meat-eaters, and what has been successful?

I apologize if this post is disorganized and very loaded. This is my first post, so I am still learning what is an appropriate way of communicating. You are welcome to respond to any one component of the entire message or the entire thing if you may.

Cheers c:

[brimstoneSalad]

Welcome!

However, keeping this idea of ethical vegetarians/vegans in mind, is simply personally abstaining from consuming animal products an effective way of going about preventing the suffering of animals on a large scale?

This is an issue of "moral baseline", which is a bit complicated, and it depends on how you normalize moral judgement (there are multiple potentially valid methods of doing so).

If the goal is to be a morally "neutral" person, relative to what would have been if you were not born and there was one fewer person on Earth, then you're only responsible for eliminating your own contribution to suffering.
If you do more than that, then that's great too.

The moral baseline is much more complicated than notions of "all or nothing", or even just preventing personal contributions to suffering, though, since neither are fully possible.
You would need to do a little activism or charity to try to counterbalance the harm you do that you can't prevent by going vegan.

I hope most people are aiming to actually be good, though, and not just to break even.

People are welcome to dispute this claim, but given this premise, what is the best way to convince other people that Vegetarianism or Veganism is worth pursuing?

Effective altruism. You basically have to do research on these methods, which is psychological and sociological, and involves marketing, surveys, etc.

Animal charity evaluators does a lot of that. I recommend you read their site to get a primer on the topic.

http://www.animalcharityevaluators.org/research/

Leafleting seems like the most effective method so far.

Also, there are people who simply don't value the well-being of animals or factor morality into their decision making.

These people, some 85% of people to varying degrees, and only around 1% to an extreme degree, are not our target demographic. Reach the low hanging fruit first; that's the most cost effective.

After 15% of the public is vegetarian/vegan, it will become easier to reach others with additional arguments of health, convenience, and social acceptance.

Can this lack of empathy be taught to people who don't possess it? How can we make people care who already don't? What have your experiences been like communicating with meat-eaters, and what has been successful?

Yes, but it's not easy. Primarily, you have to reach them with more rational arguments, including consistent formulations of ethics (which is why stamping out deontology in the movement is so important).