What Does it Mean to Do "Enough"?

Hey Everyone,

P_M here again, this time with a specific user in mind, so if someone with the s/n "anastasia" is reading this then thank you for your review of my last post and this is for you.

The question I'm answering today is a bit specific. I personally cannot tell you, the individual reader I've never met, what it means for you to do "enough" for the the sake of the billions of non-humans that face death and exploitation everyday on this planet. I can't tell you what to do or how to do it, because lets face it, if I did I'd be a stuck up power mad authoritarian jerk or just a person with way too high an opinion of herself and an overestimation of her influence. That said ,what I can do is give you some questions to ask yourself next time you feel hopeless or powerless.

Next time you watch an Animal Rights video and get that feeling like you aren't doing enough, ask yourself these questions, and remember... "enough" is standard based on love. Think about it. If someone you love almost if not more than yourself gets sick, enough becomes no less than everything you can possibly do to comfort and assist them, right? But if one those distant relatives whose names you'd forget if they weren't on your Christmas card list gets sick, enough might be a prayer and cheap get-well card. If you want to get technical about it "enough" also has a bit to do with the severity of the situation, our moral responsibilities to other beings and other factors but, as I happen to be a bit sentimental right now, I'll say that love has a bit to do with how a person looks at those other factors. (you may feel free to agree or roll your eyes at me, but since you're still reading this I can only assume that on some level you care what I think)

Any way, These are the questions that you should ask yourself to help you assess whether or not your doing enough for the cause of Animal Rights.

1. Am I vegan? - step one to taking down animal oppression is always a bit obvious (STOP SUPPORTING IT). this is the one I'd insist on. No, vegetarian isn't gonna cover it. No, don't even step to me with "cage free" "humanely raised" "read fairy-tales to and cuddled before killed" products. Going vegan is the "prayer and cheap get-well card" equivalent from my example, using the example of a sick person, anything less ranges from ignoring them to slapping them.

2. What good am I doing already by just answering yes to the first question?
3. Knowing the answer to the previous question, do i feel the need to do more? - remember this one

(If you answered yes to the last question keep on reading, if it was no, congrats your doing enough for you)

4. What do I feel comfortable doing ( leafleting, feed-ins, screenings of AR films ect.)?
5. Am I doing it and doing it effectively to inform the public of what they are supporting (factory farming, animal agriculture, legalized murder/torture) and what they can do to help stop it ( go vegan)?
6.Am I making time to do non-activism related activities that I love and other things ( like eating and sleeping as i should and not abusing the animal that I can help the most (yourself)?
7. What good am I doing by answering "yes" to question 5?
8. repeat question 3 and note in ( ) that follows it
9. If you answered yes to question 5 and still feel that you must do more, (which, if you did what i asked in #8, and are still reading is the case) Is there anything else I can actually do? - get creative.
10. Can I do it without answering "no" to question 6?

If at any point in time you answer "no" to question 6, stop!!! You're doing too much. you're probably a wonderful person to feel such a need to help, but if you burn out...well...how much can you really help anyone?

Don't let anyone (yourself included) make you feel like a bad person or a lazy activist because your definition of enough involves less activism than someone-else's. And you're not obsessed or radical if "enough" for you means doing more than others either. Like I said, It's a standard measured in love, and any amount of love, or effort, is important and has meaning far greater than what we can see in the moment.

I hope this helps,
yours ( because doing this is part of my "enough"),
Plant_Murderer

PS. anastasia, don't give up the art if you love it. It'll keep you sane. Thanks again (for the idea for this post)

How do you remain so disciplined?

Working in the healthcare environment that's the question that I get the most, and it always catches me like a deer in the headlights. Why? Because it makes no sense.

See, being vegan, at least an ethical vegan, means that veganism isn't about losing weight. It can be spiritual (because saving lives has that effect), but it is not a religious quest of sacrifice.

It is indeed about the animals, it is about bettering the environment, the conditions for other humans, and the world in general. My veganism is me taking a small step to end suffering, simply by doing the right thing!

Yes, being vegan is about doing the right thing. Is it right to kill another person? Do you consider yourself disciplined because you don't run around killing people? That is what is like for a vegan who understands animal suffering, we recognize that milk, cheese, eggs, and meat come a tremendous amount of suffering.

Which makes bringing my lunch to work not that hard for me to do, because I don't like blood in my food. Do you? Because unless the food is vegan, I can guarantee it's there!

"You're so brave!"

Whenever I hear this, really, it makes me want to be violently ill. Is the state of our world really so terrible that no one stands up for what they believe in anymore? But to the point...

Yes. Yes I am.

I am brave to be vegan in the face of a world of humans that tells me, "It's not natural," "You're going to starve," "You're a freak," "What? That's crazy!" "I could never do that," "Oh, I forgot to order the vegan meal for you," "You're a self-righteous fanatic," "You're a terrorist," and, yes, "Oh, you're so brave!" (Usually followed by, "I could never do that...")

Shit yes I'm brave to face off to that from nearly everyone I meet. Shit yes I'm brave to face off against the FBI, CIA, whatever organisation it is that's calling us terrorists these days. Shit yes I'm brave to face off against hunters (note, they're armed).

You know why I'm brave enough to face ridicule, loss of food, even imprisonment?

Because I know...

If I don't do this, someone will get hurt.

Or rather, because I am not doing something, it is:

If I do the opposite (using animals), someone will get hurt.

Yes. So they're "just animals". So what? You're "just" a human to them. Why shouldn't I look at it from their point of view rather than yours? Their lives are infinitely more worthy of existence than yours to their point of view.

In a world where hundreds of millions of animals are slaughtered and abused every day, I can do no less. In a world where millions of animals are force-fed, in a world where millions of animals are starved, in a world where millions of animals are beaten, in a world where millions of animals have their throats slit for no other crime than being born into the wrong body - every day - I can do no less.

So think about why you admire me, and instead of hanging by the sidelines, get in there. Learn. See. Hear. You'll become brave too.

Shit yes I'm brave.