That doesn't really explain how labeling most of the world as brainwashed is reasonable. Humans have consumed animal products for thousands of years before mass communication or even writing. Are members of vegetarian cultures also brainwashed?
You also completely skipped the addicts part, care to elaborate?
I know is the go to for some folks (mainly first world whites), but I would appreciate if you could refrain from comparing eating meat to racism. The comparison with misogyny is also in bad taste.
I think you might be confusing what I said with what Cereza said, unless they also said similar things. I'll try to explain:
Brainwashing - People have been eating animals and animal produce for thousands of years, but the industrialised agricultural machine is a recent (in relative terms) invention. It is significantly crueller than "traditional" farming methods, and is largely fuelled by a consumer desire for animal products rather than a necessity to feed a population. I'll admit that the term "Brainwashing" is somewhat alarmist, but it is technically true and the point is to envoke a response. The advertisements we see on TV, billboards, radio etc. showcasing happy cows in fields, happy chickens roaming around etc. are more or less entirely lies, or at best don't tell the full story. They are propaganda pieces put out in order to convince people that the consumption of these animals "is fine" and to cover up the true exploitation that is being carried out. Many people have no idea what large-scale animal farms are actually like and believe that they're all "Old McDonald" style fairytales. It's not their fault, it's what they've been told to believe.
Side Note: Veganism seeks to reduce animal suffering as much as is reasonably possible. Most vegans understand that there are some areas where the use of animal products is near unavoidable. In first world countries this would be areas such as medicine where animal testing is required in order for a medicine to be approved for public use, or the medicine itself may be derived from animal produce. In developing nations this can be extended to agriculture where the countries and the people living within them do not have the ability to get alternative sources of sustenance. To be clear, we would not consider those people Vegan, but we would also not chastise them for their way of living, we would just personally choose not to participate in it (as we don't need to).
Addiction - Addicts are not bad people, let's be clear on that. Some bad people are addicts, but being an addict does not make one inherently bad. Addiction manifests in many forms. I've been addicted to games, for example. Many people are addicted to tobacco, gambling etc. Seldom do we ever blame the individual for being addicted to something. Normally that blame lies at the hands of the producer.
In the case of people who have been confronted with the realities of industrialised animal agriculture they typically have two responses: They'll either change their way of life to prevent participating in that, or they won't.
If they chose the latter, you have to ask why? Is it because they don't believe what they've been told or seen, or is it because they just don't want to stop doing what they're doing? Again, if its the latter then you need to ask why would someone who believes the evidence not choose to remove themselves from that system? Why would they actively contribute towards it? Well, I believe it's because they are addicted. I've heard countless times "I just couldn't live without cheese, steak, chicken etc." (Disclosure: In the past I said this myself) Now we all know thats hyperbole, you absolutely
could, you just don't
want to, or think that you couldn't.
I find this view also helps when trying to come to terms with the fact that people you love (friends, family) are doing things that you find morally repugnant. I know that these people are not bad people, I know they don't actively want to hurt or inflict suffering on anyone or anything, so why do they contribute to mechanisms that do so?
As I said before, I'd never blame an Addict for being addicted, I only blame the supplier.
Culture - It may interest you to know that whilst the term "Vegan" is a relative new one (First appearing in the 1940s) many cultures around the world have had very similar views that predate the Vegan movement by hundreds if not thousands of years. Jain Buddhism prevents the eating of any animal products and even some vegetables where the entire plant would have to be killed in order for it to be eaten. There are also offshoots of Hinduism that observe similar restrictions, and even "Ital" food from the Rastafari movement (Though it should be noted that the reasoning for the restriction in "Ital" doesn't
appear to be necessarily an ethical one - though full disclosure I only heard about this a few months ago and don't know that much about it)
Unfortunately, I have to scoot now and won't be able to reply in-depth to anything (Holiday time!) but I hope that explains my position a bit better. I don't expect you to agree with me, I just hope you can understand my point of view :)
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