Ⓥ Turning the Tide

It seems to me that, in our current society, the people whose opinions carry the most weight with the general public are those who are least concerned with making the world a better place. The people we hear from most often are not those with the most insight or wisdom, but simply with the most (often undeserved) fame. Like it or not, the people who show up on TV or magazine covers have a great deal more influence than people who spend their time trying to make a difference in the world.

I think a big part of the reason that animal rights is still such a controversial issue is that there aren't enough celebrities talking about it, and the ones who are tend to downplay it to seem less "extreme". Plus there's the fact that, since working for animal rights actually requires a lifestyle change (namely veganism), some of the famous people who openly support it later end up deciding that it's not worth the inconvenience. Then many of them publicly declare that they have gone back to their old ways, often presenting excuses for why they "couldn't" do it. I find this infuriating because, not only are they failing to adhere to a lifestyle that they have (at least for a while) realized is morally necessary, but they are actively undoing any good they my have done by promoting it in the first place.

On the other hand, there are tons of people out there who truly do care about animals, other humans, the planet as a whole, and want to help make things better. Many of them do whatever they can to get their ideas out there. Yet, no one cares to listen to these people because they spend their efforts trying to make the world a better place instead of trying to get famous.

I guess the point I'm trying to make here is that we, as a society, need to start placing more value on......well values than arbitrary popularity. Why do we spend so much time paying attention to the lives of people who aren't trying to do anything meaningful with them? The other point I'm trying to make is that we, the vegan community, need to work on getting famous. Just saying.

There are still a few good ones out there though.