It is not about being perfect but to reduce animal suffering where you can as we live in a non-vegan world where some things are only made with animal products.
Carnists are overlooking the fact that vegans are pushing for all vaccines to be made without animal products. Like when I went to my local pharmacy in Canada to get the Covid shot I asked for the covifenz plant-based vaccine but to my dismay they responded that it wasn’t available, so I had no choice but to pick Moderna instead and in February 2nd 2022 they discontinued that plant-based vaccine leaving the world with only the cruel options.
I’m tired of this “you must be perfect or you’re completely wrong, so stop trying to reduce harm” attitude from carnists as they don’t even apply these same unrealistic standards to themselves, that way thinking is problematic because if we thought that way about every issue nothing would improve because small improvements would be relentlessly attacked because they don’t fix everything.
Sometimes meat eater here that has gotten into debates about this before.
Honestly, phrasing it as a “debate” is the wrong headspace entirely. You aren’t going to convince anyone to change any position they hold by arguing. This is a psychology problem more than a vegan one, as people dont like to be made to feel like they’re doing something wrong.
I grew up with boomer parents that served meat with every meal and the thing that got me to reduce my meat intake after moving out was twofold:
- exploring culinary options from other cultures that eat less meat.
- meat being really fucking expensive for someone fresh out of college.
Host a dinner party sometime and show people that the options aren’t just bland tofu flavored to resemble meat like they were in the 90s.
Also, dont expect to fully convert someone. Treat the times they order a dahl from an Indian place instead of a burger as a win.
