What the Hell is Wrong With Vegetarians?

There is a conception among many members of the meat-eating community that many if not most vegetarians are pretty much the equivalent of the equally invalid stereotype of the "feminazi".* Groups like PETA are seen as crazed maniacs who would slit their grandmother's throat to save an orangutan. Of course, this is an essay about vegetarianism, so the orangutan issue isn't really all that relevant, since most people are likely to be offered a side of broiled orangutan, at least in polite company. As such, I won't talk much about PETA except to say that I don't really know that much about them. My assumption is that their hearts are in the right place, but they are probably a bit misguided about some things (like every advocacy group) and these cases are highly reported on. I also find it humorous that they organized direct action against Nike for its relationship with Michael Vick, but not for its relationship with sweatshop labor. Of course, that's completely reasonable as they're an animal rights organization, not a human rights one. However, in my eyes, it's just kind of another example of why we should shy away from single-issue causes, or at the very least view our specific causes in the light of greater societal issues.

Okay, I really didn't mean to turn that into a political diatribe. But let's face it: I could turn a rumination on silverware into a rambling condemnation of antiquate notions of social norms and the stupidity of superficial demarcations of class. Anyways, back to the vegetarianazis.

There are probably a couple reasons why this stereotype of vegetarians is so abundant. First of all, it's kind of true. I myself have jokingly made comments about the life of sin my family is living in for consuming the flesh of the innocent. It's kind of funny, and it makes everyone just a little uncomfortable. Furthermore, I'm completely sure that many people have made slightly more serious comments about their friends' and family's eating-habits. Of course, most wouldn't go so far as to make comments like that extremely gratuitously or to total strangers, which brings me to my second point.

They do it to us.

I can really only speak for myself, but I assume the situation is similar for other vegetarians and vegans. I honestly don't think most meat-eaters are trying to be mean. They see a custom they're not used to seeing, and it makes them a bit curious. Or maybe even a little suspicious. I guess it could be akin to meeting a cross dresser, if that's not something you do all that often. So maybe you ask questions. But for most people, implicit in all these questions is that this is a weird thing to do. Even for the most innocent of questions, this can be a grating experience after a while for vegetarians and vegans (especially vegans). And of course some people are a little more aggressive when they approach an herbivore. Its partially a response to the stereotype mentioned above, and partially for reasons unknown to civilized man. That tends to make us pretty defensive, and sometimes that defensiveness stays with us, even when we're not with the meat-bigot. In fact, many of the jabs I make at my family only presented themselves more recently, after years of subtle warfare from "the other side". In this way, it's kind of a circularly reinforcing cycle. Non-vegetarians are a bit rude to vegetarians, then vegetarians are mean to non-vegetarians because non-vegetarians are mean to vegetarians, then non-vegetarians are mean to vegetarians because... (and on and on) Of course all of this belies the fact that it's kind of an unimportant conflict.

Or is it?

Now this is the part where I pretty much confirm in many people's eyes that the myth of the militant maniac of a vegetarian is not a myth at all, and that I am living, breathing proof. I will try as best as I can to prevent that from happening, but I'm only one man, and frankly my writing skills are sub par. The major complaint leveled against vegetarians is that we're dicks who think we're better than everyone because we don't eat meat. In many cases, this accusation kind of spreads to corollaries like "We're dicks who throw blood on fur coats" and "We blow up medical testing facilities" because we're dicks. While I won't get into testing on animals or fur coats, there's actually kind of an obvious possibility to point out for vegetarianism. Maybe the holier-than-thou attitude is justified. During slavery, it would not have been completely insane of abolitionist to look down on people who owned slaves. Now, I should really not have to say this, but there are stupid people abound:

I DO NOT THINK THAT SLAVES ARE MORALLY EQUIVALENT TO LIVESTOCK. I AM NOT COMPARING THE FOOD INDUSTRY TO SLAVERY. YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED THAT I FEEL THE NEED TO SAY THIS.

People who had slaves and approved of slavery thought that certain people could be treated horribly because they were less than people. That is a truly disgusting way to think, and abolitionists were right to accuse it of being such. Today certain people think that animals are less than people and therefore can be treated horribly. It's not really within the scope of this article to discuss what criteria should be used to determine how animals should be treated. But for me it was relatively simple to make a decision about this without developing a complex moral theory. I weighed the harm to me of no longer eating meat, and compared it with the benefits to any given animal traditionally used for eatin'. Now I know that's a bit simplistic. I'm equally aware of the many, many responses to it (most of them revolve around quite a few instances of doublethink and some questionable ethics), but I don't really wanna go into a point-by-point refutation of them. If anyone actually reads this and has a point that they think is particularly prescient, feel free to respond.

Here's where I try to make myself seem like less of a moral absolutist who sits on a golden throne above of you dirty eaters of the flesh. There are many things that other people do a lot better than me. Like energy conservation. But if people constantly ran around telling me I drive too much, and that they're better than me since they bike everywhere, I'd start to get kind of pissed off. I might even be bitter. Worst of all, their annoying chatter isn't going to get me to drive less. That's a decision I'm going to make on my own, not based on peer-pressure (especially annoying, self-righteous peer-pressure). Secondly, if they say they're better for biking everywhere, I might point to their Chucks and say I'm better because I don't buy clothing produced by children in free trade zones. We could probably go back and forth for a while, and leave feeling pretty annoyed at each other. I have lots of flaws, and some characteristics that I'm kind of proud of. I can't just ignore the former and pretend I'm better than everyone else because of the latter. That said, I really don't think there's anything wrong with being vocal about your beliefs. Of course it's near impossible to do that without seeming like kind of a douche.





*As a side note, it really pisses me off when people talk about "feminazis". While its meaning is kind of hazy, I'm pretty sure it's just a slur to imply excessively extremist or radical views. It's also associated with the idea of man-hating, bra-burning lesbians roaming the streets. Of course there are feminists who happen to be assholes, but hey, guess what, there were actually nazis who were really nice! You can't conflate the personalities of individuals within a group with the values of the group itself. Feminists come in all genders, sexual orientations, races, and levels of assholeishness, and it's really stupid/offensive to assume otherwise. As for the term "feminazi" referring to to radical feminists, that's just ignorant. Anyone with half a brain and access to a public library or computer can figure out that radical feminism is almost invariably associated with far-left politics which is anything but nazi. Of course the term nazi, much like "fascism", has been so badly abused, I doubt anyone even knows what it actually means anymore.