No One is 100% Vegan

Topic: Nobody’s perfect, and perfection isn’t the goal.

However, non-vegans and non-environmentalists are very quick to point out when you’re doing something that opposes your deeply-held belief. In fact, they thrive on discovering your inconsistencies so they can call you a hypocrite.

This is all, of course, rather than looking at their own actions and beliefs.

Conversations often go like this:

Nonvegan: So you’re a vegan, eh? Do you wear leather?
Me: Nope.
Nonvegan: Silk?
Me: Nope.
Nonvegan: Does your car have leather in it?
Me: Nope.
Nonvegan: Is your cat a vegan?
Me: Nope.
Nonvegan: AH-HA! So you DO kill animals!

I expected plenty of such ridiculousness in college–twenty years ago–FROM 20-YEAR OLDS. But I’m almost 40 and it’s tiresome and embarrassing to hear it from colleagues.

Here’s the problem: Once you’ve labelled yourself, you’re practically inviting interrogation and accusations of hypocrisy. And no one–NO ONE–is completely consistent all of the time when it comes to animals or the environment. It’s impossible.

But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try our best to align our behavior and our consumer and investment choices with our beliefs.