There are a lot of new vegan faces in 2018 and that's fantastic, we seem to be on the cusp of critical mass and a global vegan takeover. I consider myself a latecomer to veganism, although I've been vegan for about four years now and vegetarian for eight.
Admittedly I used to ridicule vegans myself at one point in my life, with arguments like "where do you draw the line? All food was once living". When I decided to make the switch to veganism I told myself that I would never be like those "typical vegans" that make social situations uncomfortable and shame their friends and family. But I've certainly dipped into that attitude once or twice out of defensiveness.
Society at large will pressures you into being an activist-level vegan by saying things like "you're not a vegan because x food was made with eggs" or "y clothing used wool or a strip of leather". I remind myself of the saying "tu quoque" which basically means "you're a hypocrite".
Don't let non-vegans try to call you out for not being 100% vegan 100% of the time, remember that their meal consists almost entirely of meat, eggs and dairy and they couldn't be bothered to consider the implications of their clothing choices. If you compare your impact of animal product consumption to their indifference, your impact may be around 5% of theirs. That 95% improvement is a huge difference in the grand scheme.
As with any endeavour; always strive to improve but don't consider yourself a failure if you're only reaching an 80% or 90% animal-consumption-free lifestyle, that's still an achievement that you'd have been proud to bring home to your parents in high school and it's an achievement that's making a significant difference.
The activist vegans put the movement above their own popularity and their sacrifice ultimately paid off, they've won many battles and they're winning the war. They've certainly won me over and they're very much winning global sentiment, but we don't all have to be activists. In fact now is the time to start nurturing a culture of comfort for passive vegans.
You can indeed be an activist in other areas while still calling yourself a passive vegan, not specifically trying to push the vegan agenda. And you can also just be someone who wants to enjoy life without being a drain on the ecosystem, you're still a vegan, and you're the kind of vegan the movement needs right now.
You've chosen to not be a part of the problem, find peace in the thought that that's already enough.
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