Whataboutism

“How can I care about animals when there are so many human rights issues in the world still? Wars being fought, poverty, inequality, and oppression are still everywhere. Global warming is increasing and clean water is running out!”

I thought about this a lot (and still think about it from time to time). Eating meat is normal and brings people together through cultural traditions, family meals, and social gatherings. There are so many human centric issues in the world what’s the point in focusing efforts on animal rights when I could be prioritising human concerns first?

This is actually known as Whataboutism: which is when we/or someone else deflects from the actual issue by pointing out a different problem.

Let’s explore why this line of thinking is flawed.

The Perfection Trap (Nirvana Fallacy)

I already covered this in The Perfectionist Fallacy.

To highlight the fallacy in this context, just because I’m not morally perfect and actively doing everything I can to solve human rights, social, and climate issues in the world, it doesn’t therefore mean I should ignore the suffering of animals that I can easily avoid by making simple lifestyle choices.

Active Contribution

The thing with other issues is I’m not consistently and directly contributing to them. By avoiding animal products, I’m directly reducing my contribution to the suffering of animals (of course not 100% eliminating it due to indirect contributions and systemic factors).

Why not both? 🤷🏾‍♂️

At the end of the day, being vegan for me is not so difficult that I can’t do it while still caring about and contributing to other important causes.