Question for vegans or who ever?!
dont be mad at me its just an honest question, im not hating on vegans or anything i like them for what they try to do. though im not one.
Answers: i know they dont eat or wear or do anything with animals except love them. but i dont under stand why they wouldnt eat or wear leather and stuff. you want to stop the killin of animals but it still happens no matter what.. thats why i dont understand. why try to make it stop if it never will?
dont be mad at me its just an honest question, im not hating on vegans or anything i like them for what they try to do. though im not one.
Ok lets paint this picture
there are 100 cows waiting slaughter for meat and leather the farmer is sending them off to be killed he gets $9 a kilo
2000 people become non meat eaters and stop purchasing leather
The butchers notices that he sells only 10 kilos of steak a day then in 2007 when he sold 30 kilos of steak aday
Mrs business lady sold 70 leather bags last xmas but this xmas she sells 10 and increased hers sales of plastic and synthetic handbags
So.......................................
then the farmer is told because of decreased sales he can only get $3 a kilo so he decides its not worth breeding beaf and to make a living grows canola or something else like..............sunflowers
meanwhile the plastic/synthetic industry increases sales and hires more people
Basically it all boils down to DEMAND if the demand is not there than people won't breed beef
that is the basic premise and its interesting your question
because if society took that outlook then medical industries would not strive to find cures because after all the diseased people are going to die anyway
and war time peace - who cares because people will die anyway
or why we have commercials that's theme is about prevention - of something - why bother because people die in car accidents anyway or why bother about drug education because people will just use drugs anyway
the facts are a little effort by everybody will make a big impact
think globally act locally
Because they don't want to support the industry in any way. I am a vegetarian for the same reason. It is just standing up for what u believe in.
Indeed! Why should Tibet protest the Chinese invasion of their land? Why should the Iraqis be upset when Saddam and his sons killed and tortured them? Nothing will change just from people being upset , right?
To answer your question, if only a few less animals are slaughtered, that is a good thing.
It's not necessarily about making it stop, because no one person can do that. It's about refusing to contribute to it or support it. If you don't believe that animals deserve to be exploited for human gain, you don't participate in it. If it were legal, would you own a slave simply because you couldn't end slavery all by yourself?
Most of my friends who are vegan are realistic enough to know that "the killing" probably won't end anytime soon just because they don't wear leather. They know that you can't change the world in one day. But they do try and change it a little at a time. Avoiding foods and hygienic products that utilize animal byproducts and refusing to wear leather is not an easy task in our world today. But some believe that when they make these choices they are also making a statement. They are trying to set an example that it is possible to live without animal byproducts, the use of which is undoubtedly the cause of much waste and pollution on our planet.
The good thing is they're vocal about their beliefs. The bad thing is that it probably won't make much of a difference. Businesses go where the money is. Not everyone wears fur, but leather shoes are popular. I'm a vegetarian (don't like the taste of meat) and a bit of an environmentalist. I can see me chained to a tree telling some guy in a bulldozer he'll have to take me down too. lol In the grand scheme of things, would it make a difference? No! He'd probably haul me out of there and kill the trees anyway. It's hard being in the minority, especially when your beliefs go against big business.
Economically speaking, we are in a supply and demand based system. We vote with our dollars! Everything we buy is both supporting many obvious and hidden industries, and also keeping money out of other industries that we are not giving money to. I used to wonder about how much good it was doing, but consider this: I haven't eaten meat in 12 years. Over time this makes a pretty large difference, and when you consider growing numbers of people becoming vegetarian and vegan, it is even more powerful.
There's also the ethical side. I don't want to walk around in shoes that used to be skin for another living, conscious being. To me that's disgusting. There are many other materials that shoes, hats, belts, and clothing can be made from.
There's also the creepy side:
It isn't natural to kill animals in huge numbers on an assembly line to make coats and meals for humans. That is a very recent phenomenon that started during the industrial revolution and intensified after World War II.
See we have the power to make difference in this world. And ourselves.
Look at the great people in our society, Ghandi, Martin Luther king, Malcom X. see if these people thought the same way as everyone else, nothing in history would have improved.
Its the same notion,
Be the change you want to see in the world.
I hope my answer was helpful!
Although we can't *stop* the meat, leather, dairy industry we can make a difference. Being vegan or vegetarian saves approximately 100 animals per year. It's about supply and demand. If enough people boycott animal products, there will be a reduced demand. We may not be able to save every animal or stop all agri-business but veganism is about minismising the amount of suffering and exploitation as much as possible.
i'm a vegetarian, not a vegan, but i'm still against leather and fur and don't buy them. i don't do it because i think it will make people stop killing animals, i do it because it's what i believe is right. i also want to know that my money is not going to people who do that.
The more it is consumed, the more it is produced. It's basic supply and demand. The over consumption is what causes the horrible factory farming practices.
A misconception is that leather is just a bi-product of meat consumption so it is not wasting by using it. Leather is a big part of the profit and will affect demand. Leather also comes from foreign countries with even less regulation than here where animals put through unbelievably painful treatment. Also, you just don't know if your leather shoe was made out of cat or dog. It is that poorly regulated.
Vegans vote with their dollars.
The point is not to stop it.
As one person I make virtually no difference but as an example that vegan people are usually healthy and sane just like everyone else.
With millions of vegetarian and vegan people in the world, we actually do make a difference in the number of animals that are born and have to live crappy lives. Their deaths are usually horrible and traumatic but the worse part is having to spend their entire lives in unnatural and cramped conditions. These conditions are usually filthy and the boredom that they mandate most certainly leads to mental anguish.
It is all about personal choice. You may not understand it - very well might not even agree with it - but that doesn't mean that their choice is going to be the same as yours.
That is what makes the world so interesting - not all views are the same.
I am sure MANY are not going to like my answer - but that doesn't mean that it still isn't the truth......
As a number of other posters pointed out, it's about voting with our dolalrs, baby. If I refuse to buy products from a company that tests on animals, and I get other people to do it, and they get other people--well, eventually, that company is going to have to stop testing on animals.
Likewise, if I stop eating animals and wearing their skins as "fabric" and find humane alternatives, and if I get other people to buy the animal-free stuff, and they get other people to stop buhing animal products, the companies that exploit animals will see less demand and have to produce animal friendly stuff.
Okay, this can take a long time, true, but in the past 10 years or so, there has been an explosion of veggie alternatives to animal foods. And numerous vegan online retailers have popped up. Even omnivores are concerned about the treatment of the animals they eat. Whether they seek out less cruelly produced meat or eat a lot less of it, they're voting with their dollars, too.
But what really matters is I am not contributing to these cruel industrires. I am not wearing dead animal flesh on my feet nor carrying it on my shoulder. It won't be on my plate nor in my refrigerator. I may not make a difference to all the animals, but I'm sure I make a difference to some.