THE TIPPING POINT: How a small minority of vegans can cause a social paradigm shift
There's this false idea that veganism's way to achieve its goal, which is a complete cessation of animal use, is to constantly influence people into 'ethics, environment, or health' until we're not 1-3% of the global population, but 100%. But a study published in 2011 has found that when just 10% of the population holds an unshakable belief, their belief will always be adopted by the majority of society. Then, if 10% of humanity becomes vegan — the world where animals are perceived as individuals they truly are, and not exploited as if they're tools, commodities, and resources — is within reach.
SERHII DOVHAN: Social justice movements are often met with harsh criticism, misunderstandings, and a lack of interest from the broader public. This is specifically observable when a cause is on its beginning stage. The vegan movement remains the most marginalized cause despite being over 80 years old. It may seem like it’s been a long time since the beginning of veganism in the 1940s and it’s ultimate formation in the 1950s, but given the scope of distortion and the misinformation in and around veganism, it’s not really a surprise that we’re still on the early stage of it.
There are various studies and social theories examining the change in public consciousness. They suggest various percentages of the human population embracing the new norm as “a tipping point” when the change simply becomes inevitable. If we summarize these historical and sociological insights, the most plausible tipping point seems to be around 10%. That is, if 10% of humanity becomes vegan — then the world where animals are perceived as individuals they truly are, and not exploited as if they’re tools, commodities, and resources—is within reach.
A study published by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2011 has found that when just 10 percent of the population holds an unshakable belief, their belief will always be adopted by the majority of society. The findings indicate that when the view is held by less than 10%, minority beliefs spread slowly and face resistance. But once the tipping point is reached, social dynamics shift — people adopt the view much faster, often nonlinearly…
As per the current ratio of non-vegans, only 1 in 10 people needs to become vegan in order for the movement to become ultimately unstoppable and keep the snowball effect rolling. But that again means to become an actual vegan: someone who rejects the very idea of animal use for any purpose, no matter how much the victims suffer, or if they seemingly don’t suffer whatsoever. We don’t need people to calculate or ponder how much the animals suffer…
At this early point of the vegan movement, we don’t need every selfish influencer to say they’re vegan. Nor do we need to call them “vegan” just because they eat plants and have nice muscles. We need justice-driven people to continue the emancipation momentum going, not misinformation and welfarism perpetuators. We shouldn’t think of ourselves as so special that only we have been able to uphold the vegan principle, and others are “stupid masses” and they need to be tricked, manipulated, and so on…
There’s this false idea that veganism’s way to achieve its goal, which is a complete cessation of animal use, is to constantly influence people into “ethics, environment, or health” until we’re not 1-3% of the global population, but 100%. Not only this doesn’t even focus on the countless animals exploited outside of the food sector, but that is not at all how social justice movements operate. We simply need to build up a momentum to reach the aforementioned threshold, which I would say is the only doable and rational goal of the current generation of vegans to lay a solid foundation towards animal emancipation…
Now, does it mean all this is easy? Of course not. It’s just like running a marathon, so simple—you just run. Is running a marathon easy? Hell no. Vegan education is also akin to a marathon. It’s not a sprint towards simple solutions. When the problem we’re trying to eradicate is so deeply embedded, routinized, to the point of invisibility despite being in plain sight, it’s not a fun, easy game to eradicate it…
Animals deserve uncompromising, genuine advocacy, not shaming tactics, not apologetic sell-outs, not utilitarian calculations, or more welfarist labels. Unless we really are ready to run the simple, yet not at all easy marathon, animals are screwed big time. SOURCE…
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