Iâm not involved in animal welfare, so I wonât comment on whether broadening the tent and bringing in meat-eaters is a good thing. That said, if we take that as a given, I still find this solution of tabooing âveganâ rather strange. One direct comparison we could make here would be the 10% pledge. It seems like the community orients to the 10% pledge in much the same way youâd like people to orient towards veganism? Itâs a large commitment to your values. Itâs to be celebrated. People talk about it openly. But you arenât expected to have to sign the pledge in order to identify as EA, attend a meeting, post on the Forum, etc.
I would say it would be a very large mistake to taboo the 10% pledge entirely, and avoid mentioning it in polite company. Thereâs a lot of gap between âEveryone must sign the 10% pledge, or youâre not a real EA and should feel unwelcome hereâ and âNobody should ever mention the 10% pledge in public, for fear of driving away newcomersâ. EA already seems to handle this well with how the 10% pledge is used. Why shouldnât that be the model for how to handle other large commitments that should be celebrated but not demanded?
Iâm not involved in animal welfare, so I wonât comment on whether broadening the tent and bringing in meat-eaters is a good thing. That said, if we take that as a given, I still find this solution of tabooing âveganâ rather strange. One direct comparison we could make here would be the 10% pledge. It seems like the community orients to the 10% pledge in much the same way youâd like people to orient towards veganism? Itâs a large commitment to your values. Itâs to be celebrated. People talk about it openly. But you arenât expected to have to sign the pledge in order to identify as EA, attend a meeting, post on the Forum, etc.
I would say it would be a very large mistake to taboo the 10% pledge entirely, and avoid mentioning it in polite company. Thereâs a lot of gap between âEveryone must sign the 10% pledge, or youâre not a real EA and should feel unwelcome hereâ and âNobody should ever mention the 10% pledge in public, for fear of driving away newcomersâ. EA already seems to handle this well with how the 10% pledge is used. Why shouldnât that be the model for how to handle other large commitments that should be celebrated but not demanded?