Should Vegans Be Held to a Higher Ethical Standard?
As we all now know, John Mackey was posting on Yahoo Finance’s bulletin board as Rahodeb for seven years, "championing his company’s stock and occasionally blasting a rival," according to Andrew Martin of the New York Times. The rival is Wild Oats, which Mackey is now trying to buy.
At the end of the article is a post from one JimTarHeel who writes, among other things, "Maybe [Mackey] needs some animal fat in his diet. I’ve known vegans who suffered from teeth and gum disease; now we know a vegan who’s suffering from ‘foot-in-mouth’ disease." I know, I know, it’s a joke. And a great way to end an article if you’re Andrew Martin. But I, for one, am getting a tad tired with the mocking of the vegan’s decision to not eat animals.
We already know that Mackey, to most vegans, is a sketchy character because he has convinced people that the animals he sells are produced and slaughtered in a kindler, gentler way somehow. And we know that’s bunkum. And posting online with an alias, to talk up your own company and talk down another, clearly is at least borderline unethical, in my mind.
But should John Mackey be held to a higher ethical standard because he’s a vegan? Should we be shocked at any of his behavior–as a libertarian and entrepreneur? Those two aspects of Mackey’s belief system clearly inform his actions far more than his veganism. Is that okay?
If someone is a vegan because they do not believe in using animals, that’s a fairly higher-order cognitive decision. To me, that shows a tremendous amount of consideration for the rights of nonhuman animals. But why is it that that same consideration doesn’t apply to people in the form of honesty and integrity and kindness? As I wrote yesterday, the human ability to compartmentalize is remarkable.
Though I personally hold vegans to a higher ethical standard instinctively, that impulse is probably unfair. For some people, veganism is just one part of what they do and who they are, and it doesn’t inform their behavior beyond food and shoes, and it certainly doesn’t inform their personality. Perhaps one of our goals with vegan education is to cultivate a new generation of vegans who use their veganism to inform every part of their lives, including their relationships with other people.
I think as a human being, I hold all people to high ethical standards, regardless of whether they are vegan or not. As a human being, we have an obligation to ourselves, to the earth, and to all the creatures on it (human or non-human) to be the best possible person we can be. No one has said this better than Nelson Mandela. Perhaps I am not really speaking to the issue here, but here is Mandela's speech all the same:
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
I saw a person with a tattoo the other day that reads, "EXPECT THE BEST, ACCEPT THE WORST."
That's basically how I TRY to view others—by always trying to give them the benefit of the doubt; to try to see their light instead of their darkness. Seems to me that all of us have both of these qualities within ourselves; isn't it futile to not recognize that in ourselves?
I think the general public holds vegans to higher ethical standards. Because we are vegan, it seems, people think that WE think we are perfect. But on the other hand, I hold myself to much higher ethical standards as a result of becoming vegan. After a period of time, it's hard NOT to make the connection between animal rights and larger issues of social justice. For instance, I've become much more interested in the intersections of feminism, environmentalism, racism, etc., as a result of becoming an abolitionist vegan. Before, I think I rested too easily in my small-minded world of white male privilege. I've heard these same kinds of stories from many other vegans—the way this choice has an uncanny ability to change one's entire life, and to open us up to the fullness of life, and the responsibilities that result from a life lived as ethically as possible.
That said, I am not surprised by John Mackey's behavior—and not because of who or what he is. I am unsurprised simply because he is an ordinary human being, and one who's gotten itself wrapped up in its own, giant ego. But he is only one example of many.
Funny about that tattoo, Dustin. My motto is: EXPECT NOTHING. This way, you can't be disappointed, and you just might be pleasantly surprised!
I too find that my veganism informs the rest of my life, or maybe my feminism and nonviolence and my quasi-buddhism informs my veganism. It's, well, a chicken or the egg thing for me. But whichever came first, I certainly do find that it's impossible FOR ME, to be one without the other (without the other).
If Mackey weren't a libertarian and hadn't already demonstrated a remarkable capacity for denial, I'd probably be a lot more surprised than I was to learn of his posting antics.