Rohan's blog

In your lifetime, you might have experienced many virus outbreaks. And most of them came from animals. And one of the reasons is the animal treatment.

They are kept in bad conditions, given too much anti-bioticand left to be crowded. At such times, they do catch diseases. And many times,a virus catches them. Slowly over the years, they do contact human and thenspreads in humans.

Of course, when things like this happen a lot, you wonder.What if the world was eating veggies. And no meat. Because the demand would godown, the people would stop breeding animals. And this virus breakouts would godown or stop.

Also, eating animals is bad. Because you are killinganimals. And they are in pain. Too much. You enjoy your meal. But at whatexpense.

You do have the alternative – to eat plant-based products.So why would indulge in meat-eating when it affects so many animals. Also, theraising of animals causes many greenhouse gases which affect climate change.

When you are seeing so many changes, and you do realize youcan have a positive impact – why are you refraining from it.

Plant-Based Meat

You can buy meat which tastes, feels and looks like animalmeat. But it is made from the plant. Would you eat that?

As a non-vegetarian, I would try that, and if it is similarlypriced, tastes good, then I will opt them. But for now, there is less demandfor it.

Turns out many vegetarians aren’t buying the veg meat.Apparently, because the word is meat is attached. Well, if you want the worldto adopt the vegetarian lifestyle, you should promote and buy on theplant-based meat.

Because you are already eating plants, you can try them andadopt them. So there will be more demand for the same. And thus the researchwould go up, the cost will come down.

And slowly, it will be on par with the animal-based meat. Itwould be easy then for non-vegetarian people to switch to eating vegetables.Because now, there is plant-based meat which could satisfy their desires.

Vegetarian people don’t do this. Because they don’t want todo anything themselves, just put the onus on others to change their lifestyle.

How about you eat plant-based meats first and increase itsdemand to start the chain. You won’t do that. Just keep blaming. So how is itany different from non-vegetarians to refrain from their diets? Both arerefraining – only from their different perspectives.

Why Are You Vegan Anyway

If you choose to be vegan just because then it is fine. Butif you became vegan because you don’t like the treatment of animals or you loveanimals, then you are a hypocrite.

For you to survive, you have to kill. Either it is plants oranimals. And it is fine you can do any one or both. But don’t choose it becauseyou don’t like killing animals. Because by that definition, you love killingplants.

Regardless, you have to eat only living beings. You can’teat rocks.

Killing is an essential part of your survival. Be vegan – fine. But not for reasons like you don’t like killing animals or you don’t like seeing how they are treated. Because the same applies to plants. But you munch on them just fine.

You do vegan, others do whatever they like. As long as it islegal – I don’t care what you eat. Eat meat or plants or both. Who am I tojudge or put moral obligations on you.

Yes, eating meats would cause some viral infections. But you aren’t stopping animals from eating meat. They would get viral infections. Do you only care for animals only at a certain setting. Why aren’t you going and convincing animals to stop eating meats.

Dietary preferences are individual. And it is fine as longas you don’t eat your own species, don’t force others to eat something or judgeothers, don’t eat endangered animals.

Those are the 3 exceptions – rest everything is fine. Enjoyyour eating practice, let others enjoy theirs. Stop shaming people for whatthey eat.

But Vegans Are Beneficial

Yes, if everyone switched to being vegans, there could bemany positive economic benefits. But most of it is the first-orderconsequences. There hasn’t been enough study about second-order consequences.

Also, just because something is good, you don’t do it.

For example, smoking cigarette is bad. But it is legal tosmoke. Because people like smoking. As long as you are smoking in private, whocares.

Similarly, alcohol is bad for your body. But it is legal. Becausepeople like drinking alcohol. As long as you are drinking a ton impacting yourbody, who cares.

Humans do a lot of things which are harmful to themselves.Or might seem weird or not the rational choice. But as long as it is legal, whyput a moral judgement and make them feel bad for their choices. Of course, youwouldn’t be happy if you were targeted for eating just plants.

The same way, non-vegetarian people shouldn’t be made to feel bad for what they eat. Maintain boundaries, communicate and have mutual respect. I guess this is the main thing we need rather than some debate on what is better to eat. And why only one type of diet is good.

Healthy Debate

Sure, there can be debates on which diets are better. Butnot by blaming individuals for their choices. There can be a rational argument.But you have to keep the emotions aside.

And also, you should not expect others to change. Becauseyou won’t change your thinking just based on a debate. So expect the same.

Give time, the culture takes time to grow, evolve andhopefully become better. If you believe your idea is good, then start by livingit. And then show how it is better for everyone without demeaning or makingthem feel bad.

There will be tension. But since you want things a specificway, the onus is on you to collect people like you. Who does things like you.

And maybe not everyone will join. Sometimes you will getenough. Don’t focus on going all or nothing. It’s awesome even if 1 personfollowed you. Stay curious, calm and empathetic.