Anger, Humor and Advocacy

[Guest guest]

This is a new article from Vegan Outreach called " Anger, Humor and Advocacy " by

Matt Ball, and it's just the pep-talk I needed. I've been feeling particularly

disillusioned, isolated, and discouraged lately. (All the fur coats out there

are killing me. It's like I don't even want to leave the house. It haunts me.

Sometimes I look at my beautiful cat Vishnu and touch her stunning, shiny long

black fur and all these coats pop into my mind and I want to scream at the top

of my lungs and I wish I could make it all stop.)

 

Okay, here's the article...

 

In my opinion, our inability--individually and as a movement--to deal with our

anger in a constructive manner is the greatest hindrance to the advancement of

animal liberation.

 

As a reaction to what goes on in factory farms and slaughterhouses, extremely

strong negative feelings are understandable and entirely justified. Over time,

people tend to deal with this rage in one of three ways. The first, and most

common in my experience over the years, is to burn hot and furious. This anger

leads to cursing, screaming, hatred, vandalism, etc. It also doesn't last long

in many cases. I wonder, for example, what a former Vegan Outreach member did

with his prominent " Vegan for Life " tattoo, once he quit being active--and

vegan--after two years.

 

The second way to deal with these strong reactions is for people to wall

themselves off from society, surrounding themselves with only the like-minded.

This often fosters a " bunker " mentality, mimicking the conspiracy-theorists of

right-wing militia groups. They start inventing and believing their own

propaganda and myths, creating a fundamentalist religion with strict adherence

and loyalty requirements. If concerned with changing things, effectiveness of

" advocacy " is judged by the quantity of media coverage (quality is irrelevant.

 

At best, these reactions do no good in creating long-term change in society.

Except to the already disaffected, neither group is appealing to the rest of the

public, and their warring, misanthropic, bitter, persecuted mindset serves to

keep others away.

 

The third possible reaction is having a positive outlook and a sense of humor.

This not only makes it easier to continue in activism long-term and avoid

self-righteous and arrogant fundamentalism, it also makes it possible to

interact positively and constructively with others.

 

The question, of course, remains: how can one develop and maintain a sense of

humor? Unfortunately, there is no easy answer.

 

The first possible step is to think about your ultimate goal. In my case, it is

the alleviation of suffering. If I allow myself to be miserable, I am adding to

the suffering in the world. More importantly, I am saying that unless utopia is

instantaneously established, it is not possible to be happy. Thus, my goal would

be fundamentally unachievable to any degree.

 

To have any change occur in the world, we need to convince others to think

beyond themselves. We must be willing to do the same. Just as we want others to

look beyond the short-term satisfaction of following habits and traditions, we

need to move past our anger to effective advocacy (e.g., moving from yelling and

chanting to constructive educational outreach). If I claim that I can't be happy

in this world, that I am a slave to my situation, how can I expect others to be

able to do differently?

 

It also helps to maintain a historical perspective. I realize that I am not the

first person to be upset by the state of affairs in the world. I can learn from

the mistakes and successes of those who came before me.

 

Few people came to an enlightened view of the world by themselves and overnight.

It took me over a year after my first exposure to the issues to go veg, and even

longer after that to go vegan. If I had been treated with disgust and anger

because of my close-mindedness and pathetic (in retrospect) rationalizations, I

would certainly never have gone veg, and Vegan Outreach would never have come

into existence.

 

My story is not unique. Not only does it show the shortcomings of anger and the

benefits of patience, it also indicates that you shouldn't give up on your

friends if they don't react to information as you would like them to. Shunning

your friends because they don't immediately adopt your vegan religion not only

cuts you off from the very people we need to reach, it also perpetuates the

stereotype of the joyless fanatic with no life other than complaining.

 

" Fighting " suffering is not the only way to make a better world; creating

happiness and joy--especially when flowing from a thoughtful, compassionate

example--can be an even more powerful " weapon " for creating change.

 

There has always been suffering, and, as long as there remains sentient life on

Earth, there will always be suffering. This is simply the price of conscious

life. The question becomes what one does with that existence. We can choose to

add our own fury and misery to the rest, or we can set an example by

simultaneously working constructively to alleviate suffering while leading

joyous, meaningful, fulfilled lives.

 

So have fun! Laugh at the Simpsons (Lisa is a vegetarian); enjoy loud music (I

recommend Beck: " She's got tofu the size of Texas " ); party with friends (Beck's

beer is vegan); enjoy great vegan food (Ethiopian is awesome).; travel to new

places (Washington DC has great Ethiopian restaurants); read (or listen to) a

bubble gum novel (anything by Elmore Leonard); see a popcorn movie (South Park:

Bigger, Longer, and Uncut will test your sense of humor). Another way to make

sure you don't take yourself too seriously is not to let anything be off limits

to humor among friends. Once, the question came up what I wouldn't joke about. I

named one thing, which, of course, became the sole source of jokes for a week!

 

Being a vegan isn't about deprivation, sobriety, and wallowing in misery. Its

about seeing everything, being fully aware so as to be fully alive.

 

The article's at http://www.veganoutreach.org/satya.html

 

And here's beautiful Vishnu http://www3.sympatico.ca/anji/cats.html

 

--

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Dear Anji

Thanks for bringing this to our attention - it's a valuable article. It's

also a very hard ideal to live up to. Like you say in your preamble, when

you let the reality of animal abuse into your consciousness it's like a

knife twisting in your soul. I believe that I have a very developed sense

of humour, but I'm going to find it extremely hard to find anything to smile

about when considering even something as basic to everyday life as the

consumption of animal flesh. The aspect that I find hardest to deal with is

the thought that if I smile sweetly when someone is crass enough to slobber

and rave over their meat they're eating, just to wind me up, then I'm no

better than those who did not protest the Holocaust. I understand the

validity of Matt Ball's arguments, but in the same way most people would not

find a joke about child sexual abuse amusing, I find nothing remotely funny

about the way in which we treat animals. The best I seem able to achieve in

the face of taunts is silence, which I guess is one step better than

preaching but nowhere near ideal. Any other suggestions, anyone?

Cheers.

Cathy.

 

> ----------

> anji b[sMTP:vegan]

> Reply

> 19 January 2000 03:03

>

> Anger, Humor and Advocacy

>

> " anji b " <vegan

>

>

> This is a new article from Vegan Outreach called " Anger, Humor and

> Advocacy " by Matt Ball, and it's just the pep-talk I needed. I've been

> feeling particularly disillusioned, isolated, and discouraged lately. (All

> the fur coats out there are killing me. It's like I don't even want to

> leave the house. It haunts me. Sometimes I look at my beautiful cat Vishnu

> and touch her stunning, shiny long black fur and all these coats pop into

> my mind and I want to scream at the top of my lungs and I wish I could

> make it all stop.)

>

> Okay, here's the article...

[Guest guest]

It's not easy, that's for sure. If you don't say or do anything it's kind of

like you're not part of 'the solution'. If you say and do something, you're

preaching. If you have a sense of humour, you may not be taken seriously. There

are very fine lines. I suffer in silence too, especially at work where I don't

want to be too controversial, so I just try to act 'normal' and bite my tongue.

I wish I had the answer.

 

I do have a question for you Cathy, how do you deal with the fact that your

husband is omnivorous?

 

 

-anji

 

 

 

> also a very hard ideal to live up to. Like you say in your preamble, when

> you let the reality of animal abuse into your consciousness it's like a

> knife twisting in your soul. I believe that I have a very developed sense

> of humour, but I'm going to find it extremely hard to find anything to smile

> about when considering even something as basic to everyday life as the

> consumption of animal flesh. The aspect that I find hardest to deal with is

> the thought that if I smile sweetly when someone is crass enough to slobber

> and rave over their meat they're eating, just to wind me up, then I'm no

> better than those who did not protest the Holocaust. I understand the

> validity of Matt Ball's arguments, but in the same way most people would not

> find a joke about child sexual abuse amusing, I find nothing remotely funny

> about the way in which we treat animals. The best I seem able to achieve in

> the face of taunts is silence, which I guess is one step better than

> preaching but nowhere near ideal. Any other suggestions, anyone?

> Cheers.

> Cathy.

--

 

 

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[Guest guest]

> It's not easy, that's for sure. If you don't say or do anything it's kind

> of like you're not part of 'the solution'. If you say and do something,

> you're preaching. EXACTLY! If you have a sense of humour, you may not be

> taken seriously. There are very fine lines. I suffer in silence too,

> especially at work where I don't want to be too controversial, so I just

> try to act 'normal' and bite my tongue. I wish I had the answer.

>

You too? Sounds exactly like me, which is comforting as I tend to assume

that everyone else can handle stuff like this with grace whereas I bumble

along feeling ineffectual and useless, which can so easily turn into rage

against everyone.

 

> I do have a question for you Cathy, how do you deal with the fact that

> your husband is omnivorous?

>

Sometimes I wonder! There are lots of little answers to this question

rather than one big one. I remind myself that I too was omnivorous when we

married and it would be unrealistic and unreasonable of me to expect him to

blindly follow me. I console myself with the thought that when I started

going out with him he and his father used to spend their Sunday mornings

catching and killing rabbits (using ferrets) which they would then sell.

(I'm making him sound horrible - he's not, anymore than I consider that I

was horrible to eat meat in my younger days, it's just what you're brought

up to think of as normal and acceptable. I'm proud that he stopped

ferreting without me asking him to, he never said why, but I would guess

that it was out of respect for my feelings). I am thankful that he probably

now eats less than half the meat he did before I converted to veganism, and

that what he does eat comes from free range sources so at least he is not

supporting the factory farming scum. I was overjoyed when he came back from

shopping with a pretend chicken roast to try (ok it had egg in it so I

couldn't have any, but what a huge step forward for a man from a family who

would always say " alright you can leave your vegetables but you must eat

your meat " ). I love him for going without eggs unless I am able to get some

from the lady who rescues hens from battery farms and gives them a full and

protected life - it is an hour round trip and the supply is inconsistent. I

rejoice that when I cook he eats vegan (we share the cooking and he's better

at it than me) rather than cooking some meat to go with whatever I am

serving as he used to do. This has been happening for the last six months,

since my conversion. Whenever I receive campaign literature from

organisations like Viva! he will read it, so I give thanks that he has an

open mind. I can't help but feel that if I nagged or grumbled or tried to

make him feel guilty then he would be far less receptive and supportive. I

hate it when he cooks a roast, sometimes it really hurts me if my guard is

down but what can I do? I love him and life would be barren without him.

We have never tried to be the boss of each other and I think that's why we

are still married after twenty one years (I tell everyone I was a child

bride), but that does have its down side because it leaves me unable to do

anything to change his eating habits other than by example. He knows how I

feel and that I am concerned for his health as well as the animals and I

think that is why he has cut his meat intake so drastically. But knowing

him as I do I am certain that he would dig his heels in if I tried to force

him to change his ways. There is a defensive technique which I find works

quite well most of the time, and that is to simply blank it off - not think

about it. If I allowed myself to really think about what he was eating then

I might have to start thinking of him as one of the enemy and I couldn't

bear that. But then if (god forbid) I were to leave him on the grounds that

he's an animal abuser, apart from destroying two lives it would also be

counter productive because he would probably just go back to eating meat two

or three times a day. So, like I said, lots of little answers. I would

sooner have Steve go vegan than win millions on the lottery, but I'm not

holding my breath. We live apart during the week at the moment because of

my job, but I am hoping to change that within the next six months or so and

if that happens then I will be there to cook more often which means even

fewer meat meals. I also love him for never objecting when I go on

demonstrations, even though they eat into the weekends, our only time

together. That's how I cope, I guess.

I would be interested to know how others continue friend/family

relationships in harmony with omnivores - is it just me who uses the ostrich

technique?

All the best,

Cathy.