1 00:00:00,510 --> 00:00:04,490 Hi it’s Emily from Bite Size Vegan and welcome to another vegan nugget. Today’s video is 2 00:00:04,490 --> 00:00:09,020 another installment of my interview with vegan activist Gary Yourofsky. Now, if you’re vegan 3 00:00:09,020 --> 00:00:13,749 or even considering being vegan, chances are you’ve come up against some anti-vegan 4 00:00:13,749 --> 00:00:17,950 arguments. Perhaps you’ve even posed some of them yourself in the time leading 5 00:00:17,950 --> 00:00:22,410 up to being vegan. While legitimate questions and concerns from non-vegans can serve as 6 00:00:22,410 --> 00:00:27,350 teaching moments and are valuable opportunities for education, some anti-vegan arguments are 7 00:00:27,350 --> 00:00:32,390 purely baseless and made only to provoke. In his vast experience working with non-vegans, 8 00:00:32,390 --> 00:00:36,670 Gary Yourofsky has probably heard every line of reasoning in the book. So, I decided to 9 00:00:36,670 --> 00:00:41,600 ask him what is the best anti-vegan argument. Let’s check out his answer and then I’ll 10 00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:45,449 jump back in with what I think is the strongest argument against veganism. 11 00:00:49,749 --> 00:00:53,099 Emily: So you would know more than anyone else that there are a lot of stupid arguments 12 00:00:53,099 --> 00:00:58,739 against veganism. What would you say is the best argument against veganism, if there is 13 00:00:58,739 --> 00:01:02,629 one? Gary: There’s not, honestly. I swear I racked 14 00:01:02,629 --> 00:01:08,860 my brain over this, there is none. In fact I had a professor down here, from university 15 00:01:08,860 --> 00:01:15,830 of central Florida, who once told me the only reason he became veg is because all the arguments 16 00:01:15,830 --> 00:01:20,740 he heard against it were stupid. That was his reason. He was a philosopher, he said: 17 00:01:20,740 --> 00:01:24,700 “I cannot continue to do this because everyone’s reason for eating meat, cheese, 18 00:01:24,700 --> 00:01:31,170 milk, eggs and honey is absolutely fucking stupid” I really don’t know of one good, 19 00:01:31,170 --> 00:01:37,050 logical argument. It doesn’t exist. But do¬n’t think that I’m exaggerating or being 20 00:01:37,050 --> 00:01:42,510 hyperbolic when I say this, because there is not one good argument for raping a child. 21 00:01:42,510 --> 00:01:48,920 There is not one good argument for murdering a homosexual in Uganda. There is none justifiable 22 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:52,890 argument for denying women the right to be quality in Afghanistan, to right to go to 23 00:01:52,890 --> 00:02:00,380 school, the right to vote in Middle Eastern countries. So there is not one logical reason 24 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:04,520 to enslave, murder and oppress the animals and consume their body parts. 25 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:08,818 Emily: I hope you enjoyed hearing Gary’s take on this matter. I have to say that my thinking 26 00:02:08,818 --> 00:02:13,230 is rather in line with what Gary shared. In my recent interview with the popular blog 27 00:02:13,230 --> 00:02:17,930 Vegan Street, when asked what I thought was the biggest strength of the vegan movement, 28 00:02:17,930 --> 00:02:22,620 I said it was that we have the truth on our side. There’s no way to logically justify 29 00:02:22,620 --> 00:02:27,829 what we do to animals for our food, fashion, medicine, and entertainment. All the facts 30 00:02:27,829 --> 00:02:32,079 and all the legitimate arguments are on our side. This is reflected in the absurdity that 31 00:02:32,079 --> 00:02:35,290 often arises when people try to justify their behaviors. 32 00:02:35,290 --> 00:02:39,840 You can read my answers to the other 9 questions in the interview on the Vegan Street blog, 33 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:42,150 which I’ve linked to in the video description below. 34 00:02:42,150 --> 00:02:46,849 Now all of that said, I do have to admit there is one argument someone can lay down for eating 35 00:02:46,849 --> 00:02:51,609 animal products that I have absolutely no defense against. And that is the statement 36 00:02:51,609 --> 00:02:56,950 “I don’t care.” If someone simply does not care what happens to the animals, the environment, 37 00:02:56,950 --> 00:03:02,060 or even their own health by the continued breeding, torturing, exploitation and slaughter 38 00:03:02,060 --> 00:03:07,040 of billions of animals, I certainly can’t say anything that's going to change that. Complete 39 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:09,769 and utter apathy cannot be argued away. 40 00:03:09,769 --> 00:03:15,109 Now of course it’s not an actual defeat of vegan principles. As Gary and I have said, 41 00:03:15,109 --> 00:03:20,489 veganism has logic on our side. All the arguments against it are shell games, admittedly by some 42 00:03:20,489 --> 00:03:25,889 honestly curious, well-intentioned individuals genuinely wanting to know if this way of life 43 00:03:25,889 --> 00:03:30,150 is possible. And for those people, I will always have time and patience 44 00:03:30,150 --> 00:03:34,209 Now I’d love to hear from you on this. Have you ever come up against a formidable argument 45 00:03:34,209 --> 00:03:40,589 against veganism? Perhaps you have one yourself? I’d love to hear it. …Unless it’s “bacon.” 46 00:03:41,329 --> 00:03:46,579 That’s a word, not an argument. But someone’s going to post it anyways. 47 00:03:47,049 --> 00:03:51,730 Oh YouTube's comments section, you are the bathroom wall of the internet. 48 00:03:51,730 --> 00:03:54,699 Anyways, let’s go close it out with Gary! 49 00:03:54,699 --> 00:03:58,809 Gary I just want to thank you so much for giving us your time and I've been asked on 50 00:03:58,809 --> 00:04:04,430 behalf of so many of my viewers to just thank you for everything that you do. So, thank 51 00:04:04,430 --> 00:04:06,760 you so much. Gary: Thank you. Keep on. Everybody, pass 52 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:11,219 her stuff around. It's tight stuff, honestly. BiteSizeVegan.com- share it! 53 00:04:11,219 --> 00:04:14,969 Give the video a thumbs up if you liked it and please share it around to spread the message. 54 00:04:14,969 --> 00:04:18,279 Stay tuned to the Bite Size Vegan channel for more installments of my interview with 55 00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:22,029 Gary. I’ll also be posting bonus footage and questions that didn’t make it to the 56 00:04:22,029 --> 00:04:26,900 channel in the ViV Area of BiteSizeVegan.com which you can access for free by clicking 57 00:04:26,900 --> 00:04:31,140 below. And for even more behind-the-scenes action and the best discussion of all things 58 00:04:31,140 --> 00:04:36,120 vegan, join us in the Nugget Army on Patreon. If you’re new here, be sure to hit that 59 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:40,810 big red subscribe button down there for more awesome vegan content every Monday and Wednesday and 60 00:04:40,810 --> 00:04:44,630 some Fridays. I would love to have you as a subscriber. Now go live vegan and I’ll 61 00:04:44,630 --> 00:04:45,370 see you soon 62 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:49,400 I thought you were gonna ask me what the dumbest was. 63 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:52,230 10 Questions: Vegan Rockstar Edition with Emily Moran Barwick of Bite Size Vegan