Keep on Driving by Justin McRoberts

Years ago, I worked in the field of traffic engineering as a technical support person. I did technical editing, designed all graphics on AutoCad for traffic studies, and logged the geometrics of intersections. What this meant was that I donned one of those orange vests with reflectors on them, took my wheel measuring tool, and marched in the middle of busy intersections in downtown Los Angeles. I would log the existing structure of the intersection – what type of traffic control it had, whether a stop sign, a four way signal, or something more complex that allowed for left turns only or whatever it might have been, the number of lanes, the left-turn or u-turn lanes and so on. This data was then taken back to the office and added to my library of graphics for use in traffic studies. For me, the challenge was to get the information without getting rundown by a fast moving vehicle.

Intersections in Animal Advocacy

Lately, I have been experiencing a dejá vu feeling about intersections. It is easy to feel like a fast moving vehicle is approaching from some unknown sector of the animal rights movement, before I can gather enough data to do any good. I’m learning to look in all directions before I move forward. Yes, the significance of intersections has been on my mind quite a bit.  Think about what happens in an intersection — cars that are moving in opposite directions suddenly meet for a brief period of time, stopped in a civilized fashion so that all may move more effectively on their own designated paths.  Suddenly, one vehicle headed north and one vehicle headed south share this brief time-out, locked into a common purpose of getting through the intersection without killing anyone heading east or west.  Sometimes, we have a green light, and breeze right through that shared intersection without even a thought to it; at other times we drum our fingers in impatiences as we are forced to yield to the traffic whipping through the intersection from side streets.  Each vehicle contains living beings with usually some singular purpose pushing them in a given direction: going to work, shopping, heading to the gym, picking up the kids, or maybe even driving to another intersection to measure the width of the streets.  We don’t usually think about one another when approaching intersections, so focused are we on our individual task and personal mandate.

A similar thing happens in animal rights activism.  Some of us are headed to a protest about an individual issue such as a protest against puppy mills or rodeos.  Others are moving towards a vegan sampling event, trying to educate and entice people  towards a vegan life.  For some of us, animal rights is a full-time and well-paid position, such as the administrators of large animal organizations like PETA or the Humane Society.  For others, it is a challenging role we pick up on the weekends, some of us bravely heading to the center of town to talk to people about the world of animals and why things need to change, or wearing an “Ask Me Why I Am Vegan” tee shirt, or handling out flyers after a concert. Some of us only enter that intersection via our keyboards or headphones, but we are traveling the same streets nonetheless.

Intersecting With Other Animal-Conscious People

Given this heightened awareness of the metaphor of intersectionality, it has seemed important to realize where I might be meeting other animal-conscious people in an intersection. This has become even more apparent due to the formation of a local group that includes both vegan and non-vegan members, with the caveat that all meetups will be only vegan in nature. During the formation of the group, I began developing collaborations with other rescue and animal-oriented groups in the general area.  One of the women  I talked to about our development of a Speaker’s Bureau mentioned that many people in the animal rescue community are not vegan or vegetarian and do not make the connection.  Here are people with a shared interest – the concern for animals – who are heading in another direction and may miss the vegan message entirely unless we can meet at the intersection.  The more the collaborations between our group and the other animal groups grows and develops, the more receptive the other groups may become. So far, the majority of people attending our meetups have been vegan, yet the conviviality between all of us has remained very high. Despite discussing our differences, we have been able to focus on the ways in which we share commonality.  Best of all, the health, energy, and enthusiasm of the attending vegans has done more to change hearts and minds of those in our group that are not yet vegan than we could do if we were strangers, without our shared values.

If Not For You by George Harrison

A New Look At Overlap

You have probably seen those diagrams of overlapping circles, where you diagram the people in your life regarding how much you share. A healthy marriage will have a lot of overlap but also a lot of unshared space, allowing each partner to develop their own individuality and interests which can then be shared with their partner.  Some friends may only share a single interest with us– for example, I used to have a running partner and our singular bond was a love of running. She would arrive every morning at 6:30 or so, encouraging me to be ready to brave the cold or rain and get moving on the mountain where we ran. The miles flew by more easily with the distraction of a shared conversation and over time, we got to know one another better. We really did not have much more than running in common initially, but it was a functional and positive link nonetheless, and one that grew stronger over time.

One of the organizers of a local wildlife rescue has already voiced a desire to attend one of our meetups, and I definitely want to learn more about the work they are doing.  Unlike those rescuing domesticates, the wildlife rescuers often have the added difficulty of terrifying the animals they are trying to help and endangering themselves, too. One of our members found a small, pink, very tiny body in her yard. She really had no idea who it was or where it belonged, but she investigated and ultimately saved this very tiny life. It was an abandoned baby squirrel and it survived, was returned to the wild, and still visits her occasionally today. You can see a YouTube video of this thriving squirrel on the blog.

Back to those circles: sometimes it is most difficult to maintain relationships when there is a lot of overlap, such as in a marriage. The overlap means there is a lot similar, so differences may become magnified.  We all know marriage is much more challenging than say, friendship, because of several factors. In a marriage, there is more invested, more intimacy, and more vulnerability.  So, too, in pursuits like vegan activism.  There is as much diversity among vegans as there is among most any other group, yet our expectations tend to be raised, so we can become more disappointed when the other party does not think like us in most ways. We just share the desire to stop commodifying animals, but how to get to a better world for all of us remains in question.

Change: Intersectional Thinking (Better Management podcast)

This sounds like the prefect time for creative vegan education and significant social change which may well utilize innovative techniques towards creating a new approach to living, towards compassion and respect for all beings. As a cognitive behavioral therapist, I know how difficult change can be even for those who desperately want to change. Imagine how much more difficult our task is as vegans to help others understand the need for a change they may not even want to make. But in the larger scheme of things, it is just another bump in the road.

Bump In The Road by Johnny Lang

While Mark Bittman is not a supporter of veganism by any means, he is a polished speaker who recently shared something that most animal rights folks would appreciate. He showed a picture of a beautiful black and white cow and then followed it with a graphic of an atomic bomb explosion — the mushroom shaped cloud — a good vehicle to get the attention of his audience.  Here is Mr. Bittman speaking at a TED conference – the intersection between technology, entertainment and design.

Mark Bittman on TED

Aikido Activism

Using the principle of Aikido Activism, I have attempted to use Mr. Bittman’s arguments, which are sound, to help us learn better vegan outreach, even though that was not Bittman’s purpose. He is only asking for a reduction in the consumption of animal products. It always amazes me that people who are knowledgeable about the negative impacts of animal commodifiation still cling so tenaciously to this outdated and cruel practices, trying to believe that there is such a thing as humane animal products, which is of course ridiculous. No animal who is commodified has any liberty. The humane meat myth is unfortunately one many people believe. But Bittman makes a few good points. He points out graphically the destructive capabilities of our current use of animals, he mentions the importance for human health of a plant based diet, and looks at the environmental impact of our current path. What he fails to mention, however, is the element of violence and the total immorality of exploiting and subjugating other beings and how that too has an impact. I liked his use of the beautiful gentle cow and the alignment with the violence of an atomic bomb – he has the idea of violence even though it is unstated in his presentation. Perhaps, a subconscious nod to how the violence against animals ultimately folds back upon us. He also mentions that the use of lists and statistics is mind numbing, and it is. People can feel overwhelmed when there are large numbers or overwhelming odds and mad elect to do nothing due to a sense of helplessness.

Intersectional Thinking And Positive Change

Intersectional thinking is an exciting new concept, one that has been successful in the past as well. Consider the educational gains made for generations now by Sesame Street using both entertainment and education, or the orthotic devices created when engineering and medicine collaborated. Research into psychology is also a proactive component in effective animal advocacy as we learn more about how people change and learn, too, and then help us to apply that to our own outreach.

A new era is required to meet the many demands on our planet, in order for life on this planet to even survive. We were warned decades ago by Chief Seattle that whatever we do to the animals, we do to ourselves. All things are connected. We can see this in practice today: we take the animals from their families, and our families begin to degrade. We fatten up the animals, and we suffer obesity. We stuff the poor farm animals with antibiotics and now have pernicioius infections that are resistant to all antibiotics. We unleash horrible, callous violence against animals and are ourselves forced to live on a violent, ever warring planet.

What will intersectional thinking add to the vegan movement? Here are some practical ways we can use those intersections to our advantage: hosting a vegan table at an environmental or vegetarian festival or event…..presenting a talk on animal rights and veganism at a progressive church…..collaborating with animal groups that are not yet vegan……requesting vegan options from non-vegan businesses and restaurants……collaborating on shared missions with other vegans…..listening to many ideas from many sources……brainstorming with those within other disciplines.

Promote Peace, Pause at Intersections

No matter how we approach the intersection, it is important to respect the rights of other drivers. Remember, it is going to take a multiplicity of ideas to effect the necessary change, to use creativity and compassion at this, the exact right time to do so. And it is important, as we learn, grow, and evolve, as we become better and stronger advocates, we keep on keeping on in our pursuit for justice for all beings. Remember to promote peace, keep on driving, and pause at the intersections!

Keep on Driving by Justin McRoberts