Uniqueness vs. Conformism: Vegan Mind Tricks.

baddest yen I was a university professor
in China I think every single student I had and I had hundreds in total in two semesters in China every single Tseng student I had got a lecture on veganism for me most of them got multiple lectures and for me they heard a lot about vegans for me in both English and in Chinese okay I'm not out here trying to pull rank like oh I've got numbers look at how many people I reached out to face to face when I was in that position I had unique opportunities to talk to people about veganism and in this position right now with much less than four hours of effort I can reach out to and do something meaningful over the internet and and have a meaningful discussion with a few hundred people or a few thousand people in a way that I could not possibly do standing on the street for four hours with or without a mask with or without TV playing a video of slaughterhouse footage and if you just tell someone a little bit about yourself like oh well do you know I'm a medical doctor do you know I happen to be an architect you know I happen to be this that you don't happen to be a musician well the musician has has options for forms of vegan activism that other types of people don't have but my point here is this is also true about you and you and you and you all the unique individuals watching this video some of you are medical doctors some of you are architects it's not a simple hierarchy of better and worse different people can contribute in different ways and by the way sometimes people like medical doctors have the least they can contribute because they don't have time and someone who's unemployed may have the most they contribute this is not something where we're gonna have a shallow one-size-fits-all set of recommendations for all vegans but if you're saying to me which is what he's saying I should get out in the street and stand silently wearing a mask that's that is making a very particular judgement about me what I have to offer and what I do not [Music] I Venice yen why do any of us come on the Internet in the first place anyway yeah one reason is to make friends another is to make enemies exchange information get work done learn languages one of the functions the internet that's unlike listening to the radio or reading the newspaper are the forms of media is that feeling of oh it's not just me I'm not the only one so you've probably already noticed that the the thumbnail image for this video of the cover image the first pop top does not show a picture of me we're about to cut to a few clips from another YouTube channel and you're gonna see that this guy from his own perspective makes a lot of the same points that I've made myself recently on this channel yeah I'm not the only one and I know from the comments section of my earlier videos and just even from the thumbs up and the emails and a lot of the communication of me getting I know I'm not the only one to feel these concerns to raise these red flags I bought some of the things that have been going on in street activism the vegan movement with that Adam had said it's constructive criticism steel sharpens steel and we could all get sharper from this exchange of views moving head towards I hope a better and brighter future for the vegan movement after this clip we're going to come back I'm gonna read and respond to a comment for one of my viewers it's doing something I used to get all the time more like two years ago basically criticizing my right to criticise it's a thing that goes on and we're gonna wrap it up with a brief positive statement about Who I am who you are and how we personally can do our part moving forward with the movement one of the things that I really found uncomfortable was the use of the Guy Fawkes mask I know in modern culture that represents anonymous which is sort of like hey we're doing good things but we're anonymous like we're on the internet and we're stopping bad things and we're anonymous Guy Fawkes is a guy who the max mask is supposed to be portraying is a guy who tried to blow up blow up the British Parliament Buildings and he did that because he didn't like that they had gone Protestant and he was Catholic so he thought if he blew up the Parliament he could switch things around and get Catholics back in there so there's a lot of religious overtones to the appearance of die Fox that I think modern people or sort of contemporary people when they use the mass don't really get he's supposed to be a symbol of anarchy but I don't think he wanted Anarchy he just wanted his particular version of how to run things I saw I'm uncomfortable with that I'm a vegan I make all these videos about being vegan I am not hiding my face this is my face and it's a vegan face and I'm proud of being vegetarian for 20 years vegan for 20 more so at least 40 years of caring about the environment and that's really good I feel good about that it's an emotional choice but it's also a mental choice I think I can defend my position without relying on oh look at the poor animals I don't think that shocked tactics work I don't think if the oh look at the poor animal our tactic works I think those sort of really emotional responses are short-term in duration I would love to see and love to talk to someone who's been vegan for ten years I didn't find anyone at the protest who who came close to that and maybe they are and maybe I need to hear from them but there wasn't anyone in the protests clipping a vegan for an extremely long period of time so it's interesting I think would be to see what happens to this sort of like oh I feel sorry for the animals when you're looking at a 10 12 20 year commitment to veganism I am uncomfortable with the tactics that sort of say you should feel a certain way I think emotion is important part of our response to making a healthy lifestyle choice to treating others and treating the planet fairly but in motion is part of that I think there's also an intellectual or mental response where you make an informed decision that feels good for you and feels like the right thing to do so it's the moral with the mental that go hand in hand I don't think fear works for a long-term motivator I don't think shock works for a long-term motivator and so those are some of my concerns if their tactics I think it's great that they're raising the debate about veganism and I was excited to see them down on English Bay long long before I started this YouTube channel I advocated veganism on dog called vegan mind tricks and the name vegan mind tricks I think pretty directly suggests that it's a blog that's gonna prepare you for the conflicts that you have with meat eaters the sort of strange debates and negotiations that often go on even within your own family I can remember talking to people but the face-to-face interactions they have with co-workers husbands boyfriends brothers and sisters and yeah once in a while about complete strangers in the street but the truth is there's another important category for vegan matrix and that is vegans dealing with other vegans a lot of us a lot of our time and energy goes into managing the kind of hostility and frankly emotional sabotage that vegans use against other vegans vegans try to denigrate and demotivate one another tell one another that their efforts are worthless as may seem to some of you surprising to hear me addressing this but if it surprises you you just haven't been following my channel for long enough because in four years of address this kind of state thing from many different angles I've been on YouTube for four years over 1,000 videos I've reached more than 2.8 million viewers we've covered a lot of ground here on compel SEL um jumping ahead to kind of know what I think is the main point or main conclusion in this conversation look at the text here that's that's in bold in yellow whatever my positive contribution to the movement maybe it won't thus the imitating the failures of others nor the derivative content of others I think what I meant to say was it won't be I won't be derivative of other people's content but it's true I also mean that I don't want to be derivative of other content that's derivative in itself alright I say you may not know this about me I speak Chinese I'm currently working very hard to improve my ability in Chinese after two years living in China studying very intensively and I was in a Chinese language program at University of Victoria blah blah blah long story for years I studied other languages Cambodian Lotion Thai Korea Najib way the advice you're giving doesn't reflect anything about my unique contribution of the movement potential or actual whereas and then I give a link to two different sets of videos that tell you quite a lot about what my unique contribution is or has been and potentially what it could be one of the links is to the manifesto video on this channel which is titled on community and that's been translated into a whole bunch of languages and the other is to a vegan story book projects which I originally wrote in Chinese and it's been transferred into several languages one of those really describes the type of approach to vegan activism I want to take it does so in different languages and the other demonstrates it you know the type of approach to being act so there's something particular about me I've got my advantages and disadvantages and what I can offer the movement but my point here is this is also true about you and you and you and you all the unique individuals watching this video some of you are medical doctors some of you are architects I was starting to someone earlier today who was a restaurant manager and I think not a vegan restaurant you know there are people working in the food and beverage industry there were people working as you know bureaucrats scholars whatever it may be musicians whether you're a creative person or a destructive person you know this is not something where we're gonna have a shallow one-size-fits-all set of recommendations for all vegans and if we did it really wouldn't be worth much right when we do make universal one-size-fits-all recommendations we normally come down to advice similar to what Gary France aione provides great friends Gary Fran Sione's is a long time vegan activist he makes recommendations like talk to people well okay that's advice that the architect and the medical doctor and the restaurant manager can all use right talk to your friends and family he recommends that you strike up conversations with strangers at the grocery store okay well you know that's that's advice everybody so with that run that that general fine but we get more specific like if you're recommending that you stand wearing a mask for four hours in silence holding up a screen with a particular video play that's really specific and if you just tell someone a little bit about yourself like oh well do you know I'm a medical doctor do you know I happen to be an architect you know I happen to be this that you know I happen to be a musician well the musician has has options for forms of vegan activism that other types of people don't have right and someone who speaks Chinese someone who can go back and forth between Canada and Taiwan speak Jenny maybe has some options and opportunities other people's don't have right someone who could maybe reach out to you and do activism involving First Nations people Korean a Jib way people or in some other case maybe mohawk person maybe there are some opportunities maybe there's something they can contribute that's different from standing in silence wearing a mask and this is not just worth asking about me it's worth asking about you and you and you but look guys here comes the mind trick so I get this message in the old days I used to get this all the time not so much anymore quote I'm sorry I've watched a lot of your videos and even though I agree with a lot of your points it seems like you spend the majority of your time attacking vegans usually very ethical and well-intentioned vegans who are usually more popular than you Oh fie fie for shame no I criticize everyone I've criticized channels that have 15 views of criticize people who are much less popular than me if the people I'm criticizing happened to be more popular than me trust me that's just just happenstance and when there and there have been some channels who have criticized and I've watched them grow where I knew their channel when they only had a few dozen viewers and have watched them blossom to have a larger larger audience but trust me and also it is not at all the case that I've only criticized ethical and well intention vegans I've I've criticized neo-nazis so you know literal neo-nazis within the vegan movement I don't know other channels that take on challenges like that really hard criticism of what you call hard targets but sure also salaried academics religious figures a huge range of people and I think that criticism is really productive as you already know all right but we continue we continue with this person who is criticizing my right to criticise got it quote I can't help but wonder if you might be a little jealous I understand you say that every movement needs a critic I don't I don't say it needs a critic I think that every activist should be an intellectual every intellectual should be a dissident intellectual I want every single one of you to ask yourself these hard questions I want every single one of you to engage in productive criticism of what's going on in the moment I don't want anyone to be a blind follower I you know I'd like each of you to take on the same kind of dynamic role I'm playing it's not that we need a critic we need critique across the board from all angles in all direction this morning all right I understand you say that every movement needs a critic yes fine but also shouldn't we as ethical vegans be trying to expose McDonald's CEOs and real true animal abusers and exploiters rather than the few ethical vegan activists animals have on their side and sorry we lost a couple words here I think you just said something just saying I think there's just one more word or something that disappeared from his comments sorry about that you'll see what he's sitting up for here you'll see what his next comment is he may he makes it sound like it's not too too denigrating my position but you'll see he gets he gets Shirdi pretty quick it's the word shirt he's still in the dictionary I'll check no I'm not jealous I'm sincerely passionate about the future of the movement check out my book reviews playlist I have a lot of substantive content on this channel but what's going on in the movement and frankly I think you'd have to be an idiot to think it's motivated by jealousy for example that I'm reading a book and doing a book review out of jealousy as for the other half of your argument there's already plenty of uncritical cheerleading for mainstream veganism in the internet go ahead look see how little difference it makes and already plenty of mindless demonization of corporate villains such as you request I do again take a look see how little difference it makes whatever my positive contribution to the movement maybe it won't thus be imitating the failures of others nor derivative of the content of others nor their derivative content you may not know this about me I speak Chinese for years I studied other languages Cambodia and lotion Thai create a jib way the advice you're giving doesn't reflect anything about my unique contribution to the movement potential or actual whereas you can take a look at these videos lets you know what kind of potential I've got well how do you really feel quote I'm not sure lowering yourself to character taxes really I'll pick to prove your point oh I'm sorry what you wrote to me was it anything other than a character attack I and what I wrote you in reply it actually didn't attack your character it just pointed out if you look at something like a book review only an idiot would look at these book reviews and they got read this book and did this book review with no other intention than jealousy for the author of the book that's a pretty perverse interpretation of a book review video so I challenged you on that but your first comment to me wasn't entirely consistent if attack against my character you said that what i'm doing here is motivated by jealousy calling me an idiot does not really help the further our shared cause ethical veganism nor does it help to prove your quote/unquote superior intelligence who was making any such claim apparently you're ascribing argument to me I didn't see anything of the kind I feel like you have a lot of ego wrapped up in this and not a lot of heart just my humble opinion it's great that you speak Chinese Cambodian lotion Thai Korean it's your boy I applaud your contribution and I do think this is quite impressive and I certainly cannot say I can do the same maybe someday I will be as smart as you thought that note so just note note what he's doing here intentionally or unintentionally he's utterly missing the point of my comment the point of my comment isn't that everyone can learn Chinese believe me I don't think everyone can learn Chinese I've even talked about this at length I don't think everyone can learn Cree or a jib player those languages the point is to recognize different people are going to have different unique contributions that can make to the present and future of the movement whether you are a medical doctor or an architect or a musician or unemployed different people are gonna have different things they can do or you're a parent who's obsessively researching how to get enough nutrients and vitamins to your newborn baby I mean there are people who are especially in the parenting lane of the Health Sciences Lane there are different approaches different people going to Sunday contribute but if you're saying to me which is what he's saying I should get out the street and stand silently wearing a mask that's that is making a very particular judgment about me what I have to offer and what I do not okay but I didn't make any such claim that I was smarter than you nor would anyone else who someone wrote back to you and said hey look man if you wrote back saying hey I'm a musician what I do what I can contribute to the vegan movement is through playing music singing this kind of creative work it's not a simple hierarchy of better and worse different people can contribute in different ways and by the way sometimes people like medical doctors have the least they can contribute because they don't have time and someone who's unemployed may have the most they contribute all right we continue maybe someday I will be as smart as you dot dot dot that being said I still cannot and do not agree with you attacking ethical vegans attacking um why don't you compare my criticism of kal-el who's known as kal-el kitten Calcutta : my criticism of kal-el compare it to vegan gains the word attack doesn't belong in the sense it doesn't there's just no sense I mean why didn't you actually click on the links over why don't you look at my book reviews would you would you describe a negative book review as an attack I read the book I read the book I'm criticizing and then I offered a critique of it it's not an attack on a deep level you have to accept for there's a role for dissident intellectuals in this movement which is gonna involve a lot of critique right and you don't on a deep level that's exactly what you're uncomfortable with that's exactly what you reject it's exactly what makes you feel intellectually inferior that's a sense of your aura tea you got a deal with and putting the word my humble opinion putting this phrase in it doesn't get you off the hook here I do not agree with you attacking attacking ethical vegans especially when you aren't putting yourself out in the streets like these vegans do putting yourself out on the streets there's only one criterion of being an authentic vegan activist if you open a restaurant that counts for nothing right if you bake bread if you make pancakes if you hand out vegan muffins none of that counts you create a factory producing tofu or simulated vegan meat nothing absolute the one criterion the criterion of authenticity and realness is standing on the street in a silent vigil and nothing else not playing music not writing a story book not scholarship not book reviews nothing there's no other form of outreach got it this is how this is how people are gonna boil you and in terms of vegan mind tricks this is what you need to be prepared to deal with let's be real you talk into a microphone on the internet I'm not sure the animals would agree that your quote-unquote activism is really helping them out any especially when you spend most your time criticizing ethical vegans the few humans the animals have on their side that being said I still enjoy watching your content because it makes me think maybe we can agree to disagree and act like mature adults and not call each other names my final comments on this I'm sorry but you're using double standards to an absurd extent I don't say quote I did humanitarian work in Cambodia and Laos therefore who are you to have an opinion I don't say I did ecological activism in Toronto therefore who are you to have an opinion and yet you say to me without hesitation you aren't on the street right now therefore you don't get to have an opinion in this case it's doubly absurd because I did volunteer to participate in street activism the videos discussed the moral problem of why it was refused the opportunity when the organization claims it is open to all etc so again there's this one criterion of authenticity either you're on the street screaming it's not meat it's murder either you on the street holding a candle on a salad vigil either you on the street in a mask in silence or you have to shut up and not have an opinion you lose your right to cup talk or to participate in this movement in million other ways such as being the author of a children's story book about veganism writing that translating into other languages publishing it there were a lot of other forms of activism here guys you really want to count me out you really want to discredit me as a voice in the movement for this reason anyway yeah it's ridiculous and you know it might be less ridiculous if I said to you oh well why why didn't you do humanitarian work in in Laos in Southeast Asia why didn't you go to it there well what what what sure I'm not doing that to you I'm not but you are doing that to me and it's low you may not perceive now what uh what a low blow that is but this is the way a lot of vegans try to denigrate and humiliate one another really try to destroy a little bit of motivation that other vegan sabda do something positive in the way that they can within the movement again whether that's as a musician a medical doctor or an architect unemployed person whatever it may be whatever your limitations are whatever advantages and disadvantages you've got to work within okay um quote let's be real you talk into a microphone on the internet I'm not sure the animals would agree that your activism is really helping about any close quote don't use a double standard my YouTube channel has reached over 2.8 million viewers total do you think I could have reached an equal number of people by standing on the street silently for four hours at a time do you think my interaction with any of those people on the street would have been as meaningful and as in-depth as the influence I've had on people via YouTube even for example just through those book review videos I'm sorry but you and I don't share what cause we were on opposite sides the difference is that you don't realize it and I do so guys this comes back to Gary Fran Sione's encouraging and simple concept of vegan activism he says just talk to people talk to your co-workers talk to the strangers you have to you happen to bump into at the grocery store and there is something kind of sweet in Gary France a oneís faith in this form of activism just everyday outreach with the people who happen to stumble into your life and I do that I mean I can give an example I was a university in China I think every single student I had and I had hundreds in total in two semesters in China every single Tseng student I had got a lecture on veganism for me most in the got multiple lectures and if he is from it depends depends which session they signed up for sort of thing whether or not they were in the extra-credit Club the the english-language practice club that met after class and this kind of thing they heard a lot about vegans for me in both English and in Chinese okay I am NOT out here trying to pull rank like oh I've got numbers look at how many people I reached out to face to face when I was in that position I had unique opportunities to talk to people about veganism and in this position right now with much less than four hours of effort I can reach out to and do something meaningful over the internet and and have a meaningful discussion with a few hundred people or a few thousand people in a way that I could not possibly do standing on the street for four hours with or without a mask with or without TV playing a video of slaughterhouse footage all right so that's the reality of the situation we're in guys this is the sad fact in 2018 a lot of our time and energy as vegans goes into these kinds of vegan mind tricks not against meat eaters but in trying to preserve our own sense of dignity against our fellow vegans you're gonna hear more about that I think in my very next video because the reality is unlike someone like kal-el Cullen unlike someone like Gary Yourofsky even I really have had to stand up against extraordinary defamation extraordinary hostility and attacks including yes real physical threats of violence from my fellow vegans and guess what folks I'm still here I hope that in the next year on this channel you guys will stay here with me I hope that you also will keep asking yourself Disko difficult questions you'll keep asking demanding questions about the movement and together stumbling ahead in the darkness we're gonna find a better future for veganism a better future for ecology a better future for the animals a better future for the planet but we're gonna find it by asking ourselves and others a lot of hard questions about us yen