Vegan Hypocrisy

Since transitioning to a vegan lifestyle, one thing I've noticed is that non-vegans really want to find all the ways in which you must be a hypocrite for being vegan. I have to admit that I did this too before I switched to being vegan. I would grill vegans to find the loophole or inconsistency in their belief system.  I think it makes people feel better about their own choice to harm animals if they can point out all the little ways in which the vegan is somehow inconsistent in their attempts to be cruelty-free.  They think that if they can prove the vegan is a hypocrite in some way, it makes their use and consumption of animals ok.

Certainly as vegans we are used to people making "Appeals to extremes" in their arguments against veganism (Would you eat meat if you were stranded on a desert island? etc).  After all, you have to go to great lengths to deny the simple fact that hurting animals for pleasure and convenience is wrong. But the hypocrisy arguments are different in that the non-vegan thinks that their own actions can be justified if they can just show that one person was somehow morally or ethically inconsistent.

The real hypocrisy...

Maybe you are still wearing a pair of leather shoes that you need for work and can't afford to replace. Perhaps you have a favourite old tie of your Dad's made from silk. Maybe you gave into temptation after a few drinks and ate a treat that had milk in it. To a non-vegan any of these infractions are a perfect chance to expose you as a hypocrite and give them all the reason they need to go on harming animals.

It can sometimes feel like being vegan requires an almost saint-like level of control and consistency, but I like this quote from early animal rights advocate, Henry Salt: 'We would much rather be inconsistently humane than consistently cruel.'

And the real hypocrites, of course, are the people who claim to love animals yet eat them, wear them and exploit them on a daily basis.