Hi welcome to the vegan club, can I see your papers?
Okay let’s see here…
says you're a Republican? [sucks teeth]
Hi welcome to the vegan club, can I see your papers?
Mmmhmm. Oh! Says here you grow your own greens?
Very nice. Very nice. Ah! Yes, you see here? Says that you sometimes steam those greens?
Yeah, well, we recently upgraded to an all-raw club...
so...
Hi welcome to the vegan club, can I see your papers?
I’m sorry you left your Instagram account name blank.
You don’t have one?
How will we know what you’re eating?
Hi welcome to the vegan club, can I see your papers?
You sign online petitions, fantastic.
Ah and you’ve done mission work?
Is that like for the vegan mission?
Oh the Christian mission.
We’ll let you know.
Hi welcome to the vegan club, can I see your papers?
Animal lover, basic pass.
Okay I see here that you live in the inner city?
Do you at least have a trendy café in your area
that you could frequent donning a beret or similar hipster headwear?
No?
Could you at least grow a handlebar mustache?
Hi welcome to the vegan club, can I see your papers?
Political liberal, excellent.
Works as a barista, oh very nice!
Oh says here you’re transgendered?
No! No that’s great!
We love Caitlyn Jenner.
Very brave.
Where are you going?
Hi welcome to the vegan club, can I see your papers?
Yes. Good. Excellent.
Once voted for…George W. Bush.
Sir, just where do you think you are?
Hi welcome to the vegan club, can I see your papers?
Mmmhmm. Mmmhmm. Mmmhmm! Mmmhmm. Mmmhmm
Excellent! I didn’t think we’d be letting anyone in tonight. Welcome, welcome. Have fun, enjoy!
Yes? Back so soon? Well of course there’s no one in there. We keep the highest standards.
Enjoy the exclusivity.
Hi it’s Emily from Bite Size Vegan and welcome to another vegan nugget. Exclusivism within
veganism is something I’m very passionate about and something I covered in one of my
very first videos, “Why are Vegans A-Holes?”
It’s a topic always worthy of revisiting because in the end, as you saw in the beginning
(that’s a little confusing), exclusivism harms not only those excluded, but also the
very movement itself and all that we’re fighting for.
The vast majority of society continues to kill and consume animals, to the detriment
of our planet, certainly the animals, and very often the people themselves. Veganism
part of the solution to these pervasive ills of our culture, a path of healing, and a lifestyle
of compassion. We have strength in our numbers and everyone and everything benefits the more
vegans we have. Except, of course the smug problem…that may be an issue.
So why would we want to limit our numbers in any way? Who exactly is that benefiting?
Certainly not the animals! They don’t care what you look like, who you voted for, where
you live, what you earn, who you love, how you identify. They just want their freedom
and safety, and I’m pretty sure they’d be just as happy to be not eaten by a Liberal
as a Conservative.
There is no prerequisite for living compassionately, no background check needed for being vegan.
Exclusivity only benefits the excluders by affording a sense of superiority, hence the
vegan smug problem. Stop being so self-satisfied!
Given that veganism is all about having respect and compassion for beings who don’t happen
to look like us or communicate in a way we can understand, does it really make sense
to bar others from veganism or make them feel unwelcome based on how they look or aspects
of themselves that we don’t understand?
Shouldn’t we be helping anyone and everyone become vegan rather than keeping people out
and bickering amongst ourselves about semantics and insignificant dietary differences?
When people are struggling to become and stay vegan, isn’t that the time to lend a hand
with helpful suggestions rather than dismiss their challenges and tell them “it’s easy-
just do it!”?
Shouldn’t we learn from one another on how to be the most effective advocates we can
be for the animals, the planet, and the people? Wouldn’t our varied voices from countless
backgrounds, sexes, races, classes, genders, religions, orientations, cultures, differing
abilities, and unique struggles make the vegan message that much more relatable?
The answers, if you’re curious are no, yes, yes, yes, and yes. Oops…got a little too
proud of myself.
And not to burst anyone’s bubble, but there are conservative vegans, economically challenged
vegans, vegans of color, Christian vegans, homeless vegans, Muslim vegans, gay vegans,
differently abled vegans, vegans on food stamps, vegans in Majority World countries, transgender
vegans, autistic vegans, vegans in the military, vegan slaughterhouse workers (yes, you heard
me), vegans with mental health struggles, and on and on and on.
So vegans, we’ve got the whole being nice to animals down pretty solid. Now let’s
be sure to extend that compassion to others who want to be nice to animals too. Let’s
help them if they’re struggling. Let’s celebrate our own differences as much as we
do those of the various species we defend. Think of what we can learn from one another
if we get out of our own ways.
We’re all going to misstep and we’ll all forever be imperfect. But perfection is not
what the animals and the planet need.
So for all that is holy in this world, let’s focus on that and stop fighting amongst ourselves
like pre-pubescent girls at a Justin Bieber concert. Is that…is that reference still
relevant?
As I’ve said many times, and now emblazoned on a T-Shirt, “Veganism takes all kinds:
there are enough animals to not kill and enough cruelty to not inflict for all of us.” You
like how I plugged my new T-shirts there. Yeah I feel kind of gross about it.
We don't have to be best friends and sing Kumbaya, but we can unite under our common cause. In
other words, as my video of old concluded: When it comes down to life and death, does
it really matter? So come on vegans! Stop it! Stop being douches!
I hope this video was helpful or at least entertaining. If you liked it, do give it
a big thumbs-up and share it around to help everyone join the club. If you’re new here,
do hit that big red subscribe button down there for more awesome vegan content every
Monday, Wednesday, and some Fridays. If you want to help support Bite Size Vegan, check
out either of the support links in the video description below or click on the Nugget Army
icon or the link in the sidebar. Now go live vegan, don’t be a d-bag, and I’ll see you soon.
That was a pretty decent video...
I'm so sorry.