UPDATED: 29 July 2019
Many of us regard veganism as a social justice movement.
Others regard it as an environmental or health movement.
Then there are those who think of it as nothing more than a vehicle towards fame and notoriety.
Or, as some would say, “vegan world domination”.
Tobias Leenaert definitely falls into the latter category.
Rebranding as the “Vegan Strategist”, the former “VeganSapioSexual” (before that he was telling us that “The Future Is Vegetarian“) is turning ‘veganism’ into his career.
Despite his claim to want a vegan world, or “Veganville” as described in his book, his actions speak louder than his words.
(For those who don’t know, the person in the image above is Brian Kateman, Tobias’ hero from the reducetarian movement).
No One Knows What It Is He Stands For
Actually, I don’t think he does either.
Way back in May 2016, he is quoted in an article from The Guardian as saying “I’m a vegan for animal rights reasons”.
Then he jumped into the “effective altruism” movement.
Then he became an “animal rights reducetarian”
Then, the next thing we know, he is a “reducetarian badass”.
He Wants To Redefine Veganism
While there is nothing that says the definition of veganism can’t grow and stay relevant with the times, this isn’t what Tobias wants to do.
While he claims to want everyone to journey up the mountain to Veganville, his redefinition of veganism will allow everyone to be vegan.
While we all acknowledge that people may slip up every now and then on their road to Veganville, Tobias is a little different.
His gotchas, otherwise known as ‘thought experiments’, are written to promote his belief that the consumption of animal products is the only answer.
He Is Anti-Vegan
For some unknown reason he has created a false dichotomy around veganism.
He claims that the term “vegan” is off putting, and that as vegans, we shouldn’t use it.
Yet he thinks it is perfectly acceptable for those who do consume animal products to call themselves vegan.
Despite labelling himself as the “vegan strategist”, he seems intent on destroying veganism
He Doesn’t Understand Why People Consume Animal Products
While it true that “people eat meat, because people eat meat”. It isn’t as simple as that.
The reason that people consume animal flesh, wear animal skins, experiment on other animals, and more is because other animals are thought of as property.
A resource to be used.
It doesn’t matter how ‘tasty’ you make plant-based food, or how ‘clean’ you make lab grown animal flesh, until other animals are no longer considered as property, there will not be a Veganville.
He Doesn’t Agree With What He Says
If you have been following Tobias for more than 5 minutes, you will know that this is what he normally does.
One minute he is against DxE (Direct Action Everywhere), then when given the opportunity to have them as a captive audience, he is suddenly a supporter.
Supposedly he wants a vegan world, or veganville as he calls it, yet he is a devout promoter of reducetarianism, and vegans consuming animal products.
Making this a tad embarrassing for Tobias, he attempted to correct it later by saying that he is a careful thinker.
Which is funny when you think of it, as careful thinkers usually do agree with what they say. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be a careful thinker, would they?
Has An Unhealthy Obsession With Reductarians
For someone who claims to be vegan, and attempting to make a name for himself training other vegans, he seems to have an unhealthy obsession with reducetarianism.
For those who think reducetarianism might be a good thing, remember that the goal of it is to only eat less meat.
Not to eventually go vegan.
Which has to have you scratching your head about why a self proclaimed vegan strategist would want to promote it in the first place.
In closing, I would like to share with you the image below, which actually were spoken by Tobias at an animal rights conference a few years ago