Tuesday, February 10, 2015

The Most Telling Quote (and not-work-safe video)

"[Our tactics] aren't meant to win people over."

In a capitalist society, animals will continue to suffer and die as long as people want to each meat. No controversy or news stories will change that. The only way we can make progress toward animal liberation is by having more and more people make compassionate choices. (More here: The Roadmap to Animal Liberation.)

PS: I understand the arguments against this video (i.e., the opening doesn't seem to espouse the ideals they are promoting). But online, the loudest people seem to be the most passionate -- and often persuasive. That's why I love this video, despite the endless F-bombs -- Matt and Phil are unashamedly passionate about their constructive commitment to the animals, and are honest about the mistakes they made in the past.

PPS (March 4): here is why I think this video can be useful in some circumstances.


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your PS statement here reads like an endorsement of the tactics you oppose, "But online, the loudest people seem to be the most passionate -- and often persuasive." You seem to say confrontational approaches (this video is clearly very confrontational) are the most effective, despite saying elsewhere that you oppose confrontational approaches.

Matt Ball said...

Thanks for this comment. I'll address it in a future post.

Anonymous said...

Good to hear. My personal opinion is that confrontation within the movement (e.g. screaming and cursing to make fun of another animal advocacy group like in this video) is almost always counter-productive because it increases in-fighting, recidivism, makes us as a whole look bad, etc., while I'm just not sure yet whether confrontation is a good approach with the general public.

Anonymous said...

Since this wasn't a video aimed at non-vegetarians, I find it funny! The target audience is clearly vegetarians and vegans that say the same exact things that these two individuals are mocking. So I think the video is helpful, funny, and insightful - vulgar, but comedy is vulgar. Personally, I cringe any time I hear the word "carnist" and I think to myself, I don't want to be associated with "those people", referring to vegans and vegetarians that, in my opinion, harm more animals than they help. I am willing to work with any activists as long as those activists are letting the animals guide their advocacy, not their personal veganism and anger towards others. This video clearly is a mirror directed at those who are too blinded to see what others see....those who the animals need to make the change to alleviate their suffering. Thanks for posting this video and comments!