Vegan/Animal Rights: A Failing Movement

I mentioned this briefly in my Tweets on Twitter but I want to elaborate my thoughts here.

Since listening to Steven Best's lecture, and dwelling on it regarding my own personal experience, I have now come to realize the world going vegan will most likely never, ever happen--not only in my lifetime-but never (unless God/dess force everyone to be vegan) because of the movement itself.

Steve Best gave his reasons why the Vegan/Animal Rights movement is failing--mainly due to the movement as a whole in not wanting to join forces with other social justice causes of various movements world-wide to make the planet a place of freedom and justice for all: People and Animals and thus the Environment. Please listen to Steve's lecture if you have not already. It is the most profound speech I have ever heard!

Here are my personal experiences and also reasons why the Vegan/Animal Rights movement is failing and will continue to do so:

The movement is full of egos--people wanting to be a celebrity in some way so chooses the Vegan/Animal Rights movement to do it in (mind you, people like these are in any kind of movement--not just animal rights--in wanting the spotlight to be some sort of celebrity). These people do not want to listen to others; they just want to do their own thing in hopes of being a famous vegan celebrity.

For instance:

I have contacted well-known animal rights people/groups in the movement like Our Hen House, Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, Erin Red: Red Radio, Go Vegan Radio and Gary Francione. I have mentioned thoughts of my own and thoughts of other animal activists to make progress in the Vegan/Animal Rights movement and they have not responded to me. These ideas (mine and others--like Steven Best and Gary Yourofsky) are well thought-out, intelligent and ideas no one in the movement has said, but yet there is silence with these people and groups that could help make a difference in the movement since they all have a fairly large following. But no response, be it for or against these ideas. They just have their own beliefs and do not care about what others are thinking. What respect I had for these people are now gone, as to me, they don't really care about animals; all they care about is becoming some famous celebrity vegan. Some of these people's/group's podcasts actually sound like entertainment shows!

How sad and pathetic, but as I said, these types of people are in all kinds of movements.

So why do I continue in the Vegan/Animal Rights movement, knowing it's a lost cause?

Because I care about freedom and justice for all beings and it is my own personal moral responsibility to continue to help others and the environment. I'm happy I will have a clear conscience when I pass on, knowing what I did for animals, people and planet was ethically and morally right and I was not in the movement to try to become a famous vegan celebrity.

My hope is that vegans/animal rights people in the movement will come to their senses and realize to truly save the world, we must not have huge self-centered egos and start listening to each other, learning from each other, and come together as a whole to make a peaceful, loving world.

All beings--people and animals--want a free and just life, so let's start making it happen--NOW.