soyfuckers
I've received a number of messages of concern related to the MetroRail Red Line tragedy. I'm fine and thanks for asking. I do take the Red Line a few times a week to go to my chiropractor appointments or to the gym. It's a transfer point for me on many trips. But most of the time I'm just on the Green Line (that has its own share of problems) and yesterday was a normal Green Line day for me. It's a tragic accident and I'm amazed at how the roof of those cars just peel off like a shrimp shell when hit.
These notes from passiveaggressivenotes.com crack me up. I think the carnivore note is especially hilarious because whoever made it took pains to carefully mock the design as well.
It is often these kinds of righteous anti-meat declarations that turn people off to vegetarianism. What you put in your mouth is your business, and someone passing judgement on that had better be sensitive about it or expect a backlash. Enviro and vegan types need to consider how they market their ideas just like everyone else.
Guilt-free environmentalist Josh Dorfman has an interesting solution to such challenges:
"Prophecies of doom and gloom or trying to appeal to a moral imperative, those tactics appeal to a very small minority that change their behavior," Dorfman said in an interview. "I'm interested in implementing change for the great majority."
I have often said the same thing. Being judgey or sounding like Chicken Little every minute of the day will not change minds in the long run. In fact it will more often turn people off completely. Same thing goes with daily messages from gay activists - you can't demand immediate participation NOW every single day. That will lead to burnout. Not everyone is an activist or as passionate as you are, and activists need to remember that when they try to deliver their messages. Most people are in the middle somewhere and aren't raging like you are 24/7.
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: soyfuckers.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.kr8tiv.com/blogit2/mt-tb.cgi/537
Ideologues are tiresome. But then, so are people and eating establishments that assume meat should go into every fucking thing, which is something of an ideology in its own right.
Erm, it could just be me, but how is the sign advertising a vegan/vegetarian/veg-curious group a "righteous anti-meat declaration"? It doesn't say anything at all about eating meat, and if they're trying to attract the vegan-curious then there will probably still be some flesh consumption going on (which is why they went to the trouble of calling themselves "nonjudgmental"). The response sign on that one is still funny, though.
I like to think of "The Vegan" as some comic-book supervillain - maybe one of Captain America's nemeses from the '60s. His powers: a mastery of nutritional yeast, the ability to infuriate unsuspecting omnivores to the point that they embarrass themselves in anonymous passive-aggressive response notes, and the ability to convince Bill Cosby to make the worst movie EVER in "Leonard Part VI".
I must admit that when I heard of the Metro crash, I did think of you. Glad you're alright.
Vegan curious? Now I've heard everything.
The best way to sell environmentalism and vegetarianism is through the pocketbook and health benefits... both lifestyles cost much less and vegetarianism is very healthy... I am still gonna eat meat though... animal flesh is mighty tasty!
i love having vegetarian friends helps me be more creative in the kitchen, vegans can be a bit tiresome and there are so many variations it's nice when they tell you what their limits are so you can plan a menu. Personally i like to eat at least 3 vegetarian dinners a week but i have no idea how i would live without cheese.
And your right about activists, give it a rest some times and try to set a good example, don't act like the PC police and you'll win over some friends
re: p/a notes... A couple of months ago when our office fridge got so bad that my suite mates and I wanted to puke everytime someone opened it, I dumped everything and posted a message; "Please label your food so we know who to return it to when it spoils." It got a laugh, but there hasn't been a problem since.
I also fail to see how the vegan advert is in any way combative or pushy. I could argue the carnivore parody is guilty of the aggressive stupidity (and gender cliches) that so often go with meat consumption.
And somehow using the image of an extinct animal who ranked lower on the scale of intelligence than his herbivore counterparts and was known largely for being a ravenous eating machine just smacks of a terminal inability to grasp irony.
"Bacon is Life"
LOL!!!!!