
38. Our Challenges for the ’20s
Social movements, like all living and prospering entities, must evolve and grow, else they wither and die. In the next decade, our movement will face
Social movements, like all living and prospering entities, must evolve and grow, else they wither and die. In the next decade, our movement will face
The slow pace of social change may make us wonder whether our struggle to save animals is bearing fruit. Our success becomes so much more
If we believe that all animals are equal, then saving animals raised for food abroad should be just as worthy and perhaps even more cost-effective
We all want to help secure the basic rights to life, bodily integrity, and freedom of movement for animals, but don’t always know how. High
The recent Netflix blockbuster My Octopus Teacher chronicles a mutual relationship between a man and one of the world’s most bizarre looking animals – an
Joining forces with other movements increases our ability to effect change. Animal rights is fundamental to opposing all oppression, and veganism is the ultimate health
Who launched, nurtured, and shaped the U.S. animal rights movement? What happened to them? Why hardly anyone knows their names? Here, at last, are some
Conferences are an effective vehicle for forming, shaping, and nurturing our movement. They offer documentation of animal abuses, activist training, and lots of inspiration and
At what point does a vision induce people to act on it? At what point do individual actions become a movement? And, what is the
Traditionally, leaders who launch organizations in our movement end up managing them. Yet, leaders and managers are very different people? What can be done to
How do we get started with saving animals? How do we free up more time and deal with multiple priorities, adversities, and burnout? And how
Is our diet an option or a decision? Are our choices based on a rational process, social norms, or chance circumstances? Who makes our choices?
Grassroots activism gave birth to the animal rights movement and fostered its growth for the next three decades. Then, its role has greatly diminished. Here,
Letters to the editor are widely read. They are an effective and trusted way of conveying our vegan message to the general public. The opinion
Language and rhetoric are the fundamental tools of any advocacy. Language refers to our choice of words and expressions. Rhetoric is the art of shaping
Human behavior, including what we eat, is dictated by our community’s powerful social norms. These norms are shaped by our collective needs, desires, and morals,
Social movements, like all living and prospering entities, must evolve and grow, else they wither and die. In the next decade, our movement will face
Approaching the year 2020 affords an opportune time to look back at the social changes we’ve wrought since the birth of our movement 40 years
We seek a vegan world. That’s the one concept we all seem to agree on. But what does a vegan world look like? Will we
It was a beautiful day in Washington in early September of 1975. I was still flush with excitement from having attended my first World Vegetarian
The concept that animals should be endowed with certain basic rights, as an extension of human rights, was first proposed by British social reformer Henry
Exploitation of animals in the name of science came much later in the history of human civilization than their exploitation for labor, religious sacrifices, and
Back in the early 1980s, shortly after I committed my life to stopping the use of animals for food, I heard an apocryphal tale of
The role of animals in prehistoric diets is still the subject of lively debate. Even the Bible has it both ways. Animal sacrifices, associated with
For more than two millennia, human relationship with animals was governed by Aristotle’s view, that animals are mindless creatures in the service of men. That
Two key factors combined to doom animals since the beginning of human civilization. First, a perennially angry and vengeful god, manifested through natural disasters and
On this very day, 80 years ago, the Nazi armies invaded Poland, and launched World War II. I was five years old. Within a year,