The major issue is the subsidisation of the meat and dairy industries.
your personal impact on nature
It is a major issue but not the major issue, veganism is also not about “impact on nature” in the environmentalist sense but it is at it’s core about animal liberation. About bringing the stupefying amount of violence we enact upon our kind down to zero. It has to be clear always that all animals have a free will and to inhibit that is wrong. This has to be at the core of the discussion and on every ones mind while discussing veganism.
So someone “doing something even if they are still eating cheese” still has a long way to go. Like how smoking one pack a day is better than smoking two packs a day in the technical sense, but practically it’s not something you brag about the way people here have been talking about not eating as many corpses as before (Wow half as many as 10 years ago!! Progress!!!). Sure people will give encouraging words to someone slowly quitting smoking, as they should, but it is always clear that it can’t stop there. And this part seems to be completely lacking from the discussion here.
And, because I’ve seen this example used by non-vegans coming up with excuses for eating cheese, it’s important to note the fact that meat or cheese or whatever is not an addiction. A smoker or alcoholic struggling is struggling of chemical dependency. A non-vegan struggling might be struggling because of systemic issues (availability of medicine, dietary restrictions etc.) but they aren’t struggling because they “crave” it. Any such “craving” is them prioritizing their comfort over someone else’s freedom.
Sorry I have more thoughts. On
It is a major issue but not the major issue, veganism is also not about “impact on nature” in the environmentalist sense but it is at it’s core about animal liberation. About bringing the stupefying amount of violence we enact upon our kind down to zero. It has to be clear always that all animals have a free will and to inhibit that is wrong. This has to be at the core of the discussion and on every ones mind while discussing veganism.
So someone “doing something even if they are still eating cheese” still has a long way to go. Like how smoking one pack a day is better than smoking two packs a day in the technical sense, but practically it’s not something you brag about the way people here have been talking about not eating as many corpses as before (Wow half as many as 10 years ago!! Progress!!!). Sure people will give encouraging words to someone slowly quitting smoking, as they should, but it is always clear that it can’t stop there. And this part seems to be completely lacking from the discussion here.
And, because I’ve seen this example used by non-vegans coming up with excuses for eating cheese, it’s important to note the fact that meat or cheese or whatever is not an addiction. A smoker or alcoholic struggling is struggling of chemical dependency. A non-vegan struggling might be struggling because of systemic issues (availability of medicine, dietary restrictions etc.) but they aren’t struggling because they “crave” it. Any such “craving” is them prioritizing their comfort over someone else’s freedom.