Whether you want to raise a child or build a company, one person cannot manage to do it alone.
The same rule applies if we want to achieve animal liberation – freeing all individuals from facilities where they are abused, enslaved, exploited and killed.
I’ve talked in the past about the importance of having a diverse community of vegan activists here. I am more than ever committed to doing my part in making this a reality.
People all across this planet are unique, versatile and complex individuals who have their own personal dreams. Most importantly, everyone values different things in their own unique way for their own reasons.
If you are feeling needed and if you know that you have something to contribute to this fight for animal liberation, I beg you to stay who you are. Do not change, do not bend, and do not let them break your spirit.
There are beings who will only go vegan once they hear your voice. There are beings who know it is time for a change but who need someone just like them to be influenced by. That person is you.
No matter how many social justice warriors tried to convince us that there is only one way of being vegan and only one way of voting or thinking or seeing the world, it is not true.
You are needed, and as long as you know that you are doing the right thing and respecting people who deserve to be respected, you don’t have to let them bully you.
There are people who will try to convince you that you are bad for reading certain books, listening to certain podcasts, voting for certain parties, or loving certain people. They will try to make you kneel before them and ask for forgiveness.
If you are weak and afraid of internet strangers, you just might do that, but what does that say about you?
Whenever I see someone who apologizes for something that a few people found offensive, I see a person that is voting for a future in which there is no free speech or conversations or personal progress.
Is that what you want? Do you really want to live in fear of offending someone who is actively looking for things to be offended by?
This is not about those who are actually racist, homophobic or sexist. This is about you and me, people who don’t belong to an ideology that tells them the enemy is guilty without any proof, and if you question them you too become one.
You can only say what they want you to say and think what they want you to think and write about things they want you to write about. You cannot be free because if you are free you are a threat to their Party.
George Orwell writes in 1984: Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end, we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it.”
The only way we will achieve animal liberation is if we fight for freedom of individuality. We must be free to be ourselves, free to think our own thoughts, free to question what we are told – especially if the evidence is scarce.
While people like Sam Harris are bringing the awareness of censorship and cancel culture to a wide range of people, my main target are my fellow vegans.
My platform may be small but I will stand my ground against everyone who towers over me. My whole life I have been fighting for my freedom, and while I failed too many times to count, I am still motivated to continue.
If you have this pure anger inside of you that you want to transform into activism, get out and do what you need to do.
Animal liberation awaits.
Your voice is just as important as that of others. You deserve to be heard and uplifted. While the fight will be harder for you and you will face many more obstacles, it is not something to fear.
Find strength in looking up to people who are a few steps higher than you. If they can do it, so can you.
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Tanja
