nico is an activist and a scholar. They completed their M.A. in Animal Studies from New York University, and has led grassroots animal rights and environmental protection campaigns in Colombia, Colorado, New York, and California. Their work focuses on addressing Big Meat’s devastating harms with the urgency they demand, and is currently working working on a book, “Ban Meat? A Not-So-Radical Policy Proposal.”
The past year nico has worked on Animal Law and Policy with Harvard Law School, Richman Law & Policy, the Cambridge Centre for Animal Rights Law, and Compassionate Bay. During this time, they have published articles and chapters with the Journal for Critical Animals Studies, Routledge [forthcoming], Lantern Publishing [forthcoming], and Sentient Media.
hey Pablo. thanks for taking the time to share this constructive feedback. a few thoughts (in the order presented):
i don’t see convincing people to go vegan as the end goal, per se. rather, i view convincing people to understand veganism not as a value-neutral personal choice—but as one carrying deep ethical implications—to be the purpose.
i agree that the majority of people are not [yet] ready to quickly make big personal changes after listening to a compelling argument (i do, however, think many members of the EA Forum might be, which is why I wanted to share this idea here). that said, i do believe that practicing the Pledge plants a much stronger seed in the minds of others regarding the need to change, and consequently expedites the process of changing. it also helps to clarify the purpose of changing (doing the right thing, morally).
by practicing the Liberation Pledge we aren’t asking others to follow the Liberation Pledge, just to eat vegan around us.. as such, i don’t think the Liberation Pledge makes veganism look any more challenging… on the contrary, it shifts the overton window to make veganism seem more accessible and moderate by comparison. and by [hopefully] getting them to share a vegan meal with us, we help them to see how feasible [and tasty] it can be.
100%. by refusing to eat around those eating animal-based foods we signal that eating animal-based foods is morally wrong. that’s the central power of the Pledge.