Should vegans be able to make money from ‘veganism’, or is it something that we should be doing “for the greater good”?
If, “we” are able to make money, how much should we charge, and at what point does our “fee” become profiteering?
If, “we” are doing it for the “greater good”, what happens when this “greater good” isn’t able to “put food on our table”?
Should We Be Making Money Off Other Vegans?
While I do agree that people should get compensation for the time they spend on something. I also believe that there is a line where expected fees or gratuities are “too much”.
As a blogger, this is something that I have had internal conflict with for many years.
Should I ‘monetise’ this site and YouTube? Do I create a member’s only area of this website? Or, do I give it all away for ‘free’?
This then lead to the conundrum of spending time on things that weren’t “making me money”, while ignoring those that were.
What makes it even more interesting is that “we” as vegans will happily spend $9.00 on a block of “cheese”, yet criticise those who put ads on their website.
The sad reality of life is that we need money to survive and play our part in this ‘matrix’.
The Rise Of The Professionals
Over the past few years we have seen an increase in the number of “professional” vegans.
This then changes “the message” to being one that sells the most tickets, rather than one that has the most “impact”. Watering down veganism to appeal to the “lowest common denominator”.
They gloat about the number of people who have turned up to a “training” session as if it is some sort of trophy. Reminiscent of the “Billions served” slogan of McDonalds.
Here Comes The $2500 Lunch
The “Vegan Bros” recently published an article titled “We’ve Been Living A Lie For The Last 11 Years”.
The post starts of harmless, telling the story and history of the “Vegan Bros”, Phil and Matt Letten.
When you get to the end of it, you realise that it was a “bare all” blog post after all. They have hoodwinked us into reading a long form sales letter.
And the product is a 1-2 hour “lunch” in LA. for the “EXTREMELY generous” price of $2,500.
Is It Worth It?
Only those who pay for it, and go on one of the “lunches” will be able to answer that one.
Being mindful that when we buy things, we only do so when the “value” exceeds the “cost”.
Take the $9.00 block of “cheese” as an example.
We will buy it because of the “value” that we can get out of it by making pizza, or some other ‘cheese’ based dish.
Which leads us to ask, “How much “value” will someone get out of a “lunch” with the ‘Vegan bros'”?
They claim the “lunch” will help those who struggle with:
- Self-confidence?
- Talking to your friends and family about veganism?
- Religious trauma?
- Communicating with others?
- Frustration?
- Anxiety?
- Being yourself?
- Feelings of guilt for being attracted to the opposite sex?
- Feelings of guilt for being attracted to the same sex?
- Depression?
- Shame?
- Guilt in general?
- Being afraid of questions others will ask about you or your past?
- Feelings of void and emptiness?
- Life in general?
- Negative associations with money?
- Shyness?
- Holding your head up while you walk?
- Making eye contact with others?
- Overcoming the false need to stay busy?
- Overcoming a coping mechanism?
- Feeling numb?
- Weightloss?
- etc.
What concerns me about the “lunch” is that the areas they talk about aren’t ones that can be ‘fixed’ in a 1 or 2 sessions. Which means that you may need to go back for follow up “sessions”.
Enter the Guru
With the rise in social media, there is a marked increase in the number of “experts” on subject with little or no actual experience in their field.
Take Tobias Leenaert for example.
The misnomered “vegan strategist” claims that by attending one of his “training” sessions, you will become a more “effective” activist.
Yet, the very fact that so many disagree with what he is saying indicates that maybe he isn’t that good at being “effective”.
While I am not saying that people need a “formal” education on a particular subject to be able to teach it. It does take more than reading a few books, and discussing things “widely”.
Considering the money involved, would you rather go to a Tony Robbins event or a Vegan Bros “lunch”?