When I started drafting this article, I planned to write something about how the vegan movement won’t have its own “Weinstein moment”.
03: Veganism Is Under Attack, About That Meme, and more
The first episode for 2018, and I get straight into things.
About that Meme
Animal advocacy is a funny ‘thing’ to be involved in.
The more vocal, or talk about issues, the more likely you are to become a target of those who want to maintain the status quo.
Though one thing you don’t expect is to be the target of those within the animal advocacy movement.
And that is exactly what has happened to me recently.
Animal Liberation Queensland – Evaluation
Organisation Details:
NAME: Animal Liberation Queensland
ABN 66 010 101 005
ACNC Registration: Yes
Tax Concessions:
GST Concession
Income Tax Exemption
FBT Rebate
Established: 1979
Paid Staff: No
Volunteers: 100
Constitution: Yes
Allow Members: Yes – Paid
Democracy Rating: 7/10 (Document submitted to ACNC is around 40 years old. Needs updating and modernising).
Good-bye 2017, Hello 2018
2017 has gone, and the paint is still wet on a brand new 2018.
It is usually at this time that we pause to reflect on the year gone by, and set plans for the year to come.
Sadly 2017 was the year that Tom Regan passed away.
The world has lost one of the genuine pioneers of the animal rights, and vegan movement.
Despite not knowing him personally, I will always be indebted to him for the impact that he has had on my advocacy and understanding of animal rights.
If you are making a list of things that you want to do this year “for the animals”, please make sure that reading one of his books is at the top of it.
The Bullying Has To Stop
A little over four years ago I wrote an article asking “How Entrenched Is Bullying Within The Animal Advocacy Movement?”
While I do hold high hopes for this ‘movement’, sadly things aren’t getting better.
In fact, I genuinely believe they are getting worse.
Which is especially concerning considering that this is a ‘movement’ that is supposedly based on compassion, and removing oppression.
It seems that the only way to ensure you don’t become the target of the social media bullies is to support the status quo.
Except that isn’t what veganism is about.
Time To Talk Politics
Now that the Queensland state election is over, its time to talk politics. That means why we can talk about all things political without the distraction of an election. In the comments I have made on social media, the following questions were asked.
- Why as a vegan, and someone who is interested in animal rights, don’t I support the Animal Justice Party?
- And, why, as a vegan, would I want to support Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party.
Both of these questions are able to be answered briefly. Yet to do so gives a potentially confusing or easily misinterpreted answer. So an explanation and more detail is required. Hence this blog post.
November Income Report
Nothing to see here. Move along. This is the income report from this site.
FAQ – Answers to questions that shouldn’t be asked
It is a sad indicator of the state of this ‘movement’ that I have even thought about writing this post in the first place.
While I do expect narrow minded comments on the things that I write, what has annoyed me the most was a troll who came to my personal facebook profile and demanded to know what my AUTHORity was to be able to make a comment about anything vegan related.
This troll claimed it was his ‘path’ that lead him to me.
Though once he found out, he deleted his comments and went back to hide in the hole he came from.
So, to save me having to repeat myself time and time again, here are the answers to the most common ‘questions’ I get asked.
If you are reading this post because you want to know the answers, shame on you for even thinking they needed to be asked in the first place.
About That Kiss…
Holy smoke.
Did I underestimate things or what?
I forget that when you post something on social media that challenges the status quo you can’t expect rational discussion.
This is exactly what happened when I shared a meme.
Someone who wasn’t able to respond to the meme like an adult would, dug through the vegan police facebook page to find some other ammunition.
And find it they did.
Once they found it, they used that image to change the direction of the discussion.
And yes, my “support” for one nation over the Animal Justice Party also came out. Though I will be talking about that in a later piece (maybe tomorrow).