The Nicest Way of Being an Asshole: Vegan Activism.

I'm trying to make the effort to do
vegan activism more often than not right I'm trying to do my part by spreading the word at my school at my university all that stuff and I know it's not enough like not nearly enough as what I could normally do but again things come into play like supporting my family transportation these sorts of things right like I'm not going out and trying to buy the fanciest piece of our article of clothing right like I take my money and I'm gonna spend it accordingly it goes down to a point where I deny I deny buying my family animal products when they want to eat it even though it's their money I'm gonna be like no if if you want me to go buy it you go drive to the store I know it's five minutes away I could usually do it you're still going to get it but I want them to go through that struggle now no no way I just got over there I'm six foot three when I go grocery shopping people sometimes ask me to take things down off the top shelf for them I'm self-effacing you butter so I say oh no I couldn't possibly and they say what do you what do you mean you're tall you can reach it I you know it's on the top shelf no no no no it's not that I'm short I'm vegan so I do kind of make a joke of it but I joke is real I don't do it I don't get it up oh man that's the nicest way of being an [ __ ] I have to admit the nicest thing is Josie [Music] I've lettuce yen so you bring up two names in particular about vegan youtubers and I understand that they're on the smaller scale of things you bring up Angie and Ryan and you bring up on natural vegan now here's the deal with what I see with them right like again I take no offence because I think that it's important that we learn from all aspects although we might disagree on some points it's always nice to hear the other side but the question that gets raised with these particular youtubers and there's many like them right you you see them all the time and honestly it's kind of cringy because you see them do these what I eat in a day videos they play the same music they're eating the same foods and they're just basically advocating their lifestyle which is fine there's no harm in that you have every right to do so but as a vegan like the question that I wanted to ask is is being vegan enough right like we look at it as a social political philosophical movement to end all of animal exploitation and cruelty and I know that we're doing our part by not eating animals or their you know their byproducts like milk and cheese and whatnot but is that enough or should we be taking more of a stance so you see in phrasing the question you hurt people the answer no of course of course is not enough and we would say the same about gay rights this is a great case for gay rights is it enough to just be gay is it enough to live in Saudi Arabia right now and just be gay is it enough let's be blunt to just suck dick it's not enough it's never gonna be enough to just suck dick it's never gonna be enough and we can all we could all pat ourselves on the back and feel like heroes for sucking each other's dicks and at some point you got to say no you know what we actually need a political movement we actually need some kind of you know whether it's through lobbying government or protest we have to get organized right ultimately this is a political and democratic struggle and of course in Saudi Arabia it's also a religious struggle even here in Canada it was a religious struggle to some extent it was a struggle that took place within the Anglican Church and Catholic Church but I mean those those churches aren't that powerful in Canada compared to a you know majority Muslim countries the role of religion there but regardless it's still a religious struggle in Israel too by the way just to just to give fair recognition that it's not it's not really easy gay rights in Israel um so no your own consumption your own sex life your own private left's though it's never good enough now the only caveat I put is it not everybody can do it yeah I've all my life I've known disabled people there sorry me I'm not gonna say I have a lot of disabled friends at the moment different times of my life I've had friends who were disabled to different extents there are people who can't really do anything just because they're physically disabled there are people who can't really do anything to do extreme poverty my own economic situation is pretty dire I'm very limited in what I can do bime economic situation I can't just fly to London and attend a conference and London England or something these are every everything I do is a big decision financially but the question is and this is my way of posing it if not you then who if and you right it can't be everyone I'm you know I say this about different kinds of political and social movements you know why you still learn Korean a giveaway and want to bring back those languages I used to do humanitarian work in Cambodia not everybody can do humanitarian work in Cambodia not everybody can study Korean ejoyed notes right but somebody has to and the question is if not you then who and it gets pretty surreal when you're looking at someone who's who's ostensibly devoted their lives to the vegan movement ostensibly like Angie and Ryan from happy LT vegan like a natural vegan also known as Swayze when you look at somebody like that and they're not doing it well if not you then who you're a full time vegan activist you're being paid I don't know Mike the vegan anyone what are you doing with this money and leisure and you know platform and connections and network and power you have some degree of you know money power and respect if not you then who so that's when it gets really weird and you know there are there are some people who I think are trying to do everything they can I I'm not you know cynical about Earthling ad I think he probably is gonna adapt and find new ways to be a vegan activist I think he'll get bored of having the same conversation on the sidewalk again it I think people will go on to either professionalize or specialize or or or do something better but yeah so the but the direct answer question is no it's never just enough to be vegan it can't possibly be we all know that too just as it's different in Saudi Arabia and in Canada there is a cultural and political question of context what you can do not you as an abstract but you if you're an architect if you're a musician if you're unemployed they're different if you're disabled sure there are constraints but then finally within the talent pool we got the limited talent pool of people who are committed vegans if not you then who Adventist yen and I have one vegan friend she wants to do who hill activism and she thinks she's gonna start when she's 55 because she says look I have so many decades raising my kids and then I have to do this then after that but she predicts you'll have enough money and leisure free time and free money to really do activism when she's in her 50s yeah