Seen a lot of posts on Lemmy with vegan-adjacent sentiments but the comments are typically very critical of vegan ideas, even when they don’t come from vegans themselves. Why is this topic in particular so polarising on the internet? Especially since unlike politics for example, it seems like people don’t really get upset by it IRL

    • Bonehead
      3•8 months ago

      What if I can’t afford those things, still eat rice and beans, but I tell people I’m vegan to avoid awkward social interactions?

      But would you? Would you really turn down free food simply because you’re vegan? Would you really tell people you’re vegan to avoid an “awkward social interaction” when offered free food? If so, that makes you privileged. Being able to pick and choose food makes you privileged, whether it’s vegan or not. That’s the difference.

        • Bonehead
          3•8 months ago

          Wow…so you’ve been so poor that you can only afford rice and beans, and you’ve been offered free food that you turned down because it wasn’t vegan? Really? See, that’s the kind of smugness OP was talking about. You put your veganism above securing food, and you’re proud of it. You willingly sacrificed your self-preservation for your principles. And now you’re advertising it.

            • Bonehead
              2•8 months ago

              You literally asked me the question and are now chastising me for my answer.

              Yes, because you claim to be poor yet still call being vegan a lifestyle choice. And you chastise others in your position for not making that choice. Poor people don’t get to make those choices. Poor people do whatever it takes to survive. Poor people live on that desert island every single day and have to make difficult decisions. Poor take whatever they can get and are greatful for it. Poor people don’t have the privilege to turn down food.

              Maybe begin to recognize your own privilege before telling other people what to do.

                • Bonehead
                  2•8 months ago

                  I pointed out self-preservation to point out that vegans don’t go around attacking poor people and don’t expect people to keep their principles in those situations. I made a choice I don’t expect other people to make.

                  Then literally the very next sentence, you contradict yourself.

                  I point my criticisms at the people I know in real life who shop at the exact same stores I do and make similar amounts of money, but still use poor people as an excuse not to change their own behavior.

                  You claim to be poor, claim to not attack people who are poor, then chastise people who are poor for not making the same choices that you do. You are a hypocrite. Have a nice day.