I'm not blaming it on vegans. I've been vegan for years. I think more people should try it. I'm blaming it on the fact that people can't shut up about stuff like what we're eating long enough to be effective. Right now, there are an awful lot more people than usual in my community seeking out food banks and I don't give a shit what they eat as long as they're fed. I'm running a food drive and I don't care if people bring beef stew all day.
And the people who see the word "vegan" and feel compelled to rush in to shit on the idea are equally at fault. Like, nobody asked you to come in to the conversation and start complaining about how annoying all vegans are. Or worse, posting about it out of nowhere. How is that productive?
How about people eat what they want and we can argue about the moral and environmental ramifications of those choices when we stop living in such interesting times.
To be clear, veganism is not THE issue. It's one of many leftists can't seem to stop arguing about long enough to make concrete changes.
You know nothing about me. I haven't eaten meat since 1995 and I've been fully vegan for several years. I've been sharing information with people about the realities of factory farming and our current food system for literal decades. I know for a fact that way more than one person has changed their diet as a direct result of those conversations.
But when ICE is rounding people up down the street, and trans people are in my office trying to get passports and telling me they're afraid they're going to end up in prison and forcibly detransitioned, and my mom came home livid because some racist old fuck cornered her coworker in an elevator and demanded to know where she was from and she's terrified because her cousin was "deported" and no one has heard from her in a week, forgive me if conversations about veganism are not my priority right now. You know who can't be convinced to change their habits? People who are dead or in prison camps or who don't get a choice because their diet is "whatever the food bank has this week."
Conservatives don't fight like this - they say they feel some type of way and then they go and vote for the person with an R no matter what. Meanwhile, liberals and leftists will hold out for a perfect candidate, fight over everything, and then turn around and act shocked when our garbage electoral system doesn't work out in our favor.