Saturday, March 1, 2008

On Veganism: Part One

I came across this NY Times article the other day. It's a few weeks old, but I'm a few weeks out of it. It's called "I love you, but you love meat". Basically, it's about the phenomenon of interdietary relationships. Yay, diversity! I can now be all like, "I am in an interdietary relationship."

This has never been a big deal for me. I don't think I've ever dated a vegetarian, much less a vegan. Most people don't care what you eat or don't eat as long as it doesn't affect them. Besides, I'm a Libertarian. I don't care what anybody does as long as it doesn't affect me. I'm a laid back vegan, not some "vegangelical"--another new term I learned from the article.

Does this make me morally superior to preachy vegans? Probably not. I do lots of socially questionable stuff that I don't expect anybody to approve of. It'd be nice if they did, but I've got a thick skin. And it's not like I'm a real vegan anyway. I own suede boots and sometimes sport a leather purse. I've been known to drink wine that's filtered through pig skin because I'm too cheap and lazy to go out of my way to buy vegan wine. And I sometimes look at websites like this.

The reason I identify myself as a vegan is because I don't eat animals or any of their by products. Except for the occasional totino's pizza. But sometimes I use them. Does this mean I'm not a vegan? Yes, I suppose. There goes my argument.