WEBVTT 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 00:00:04.490 --> 00:00:09.020 another installment of my interview with vegan activist Gary Yourofsky. Now, if you’re vegan 00:00:09.020 --> 00:00:13.749 or even considering being vegan, chances are you’ve come up against some anti-vegan 00:00:13.749 --> 00:00:17.950 arguments. Perhaps you’ve even posed some of them yourself in the time leading 00:00:17.950 --> 00:00:22.410 up to being vegan. While legitimate questions and concerns from non-vegans can serve as 00:00:22.410 --> 00:00:27.350 teaching moments and are valuable opportunities for education, some anti-vegan arguments are 00:00:27.350 --> 00:00:32.390 purely baseless and made only to provoke. In his vast experience working with non-vegans, 00:00:32.390 --> 00:00:36.670 Gary Yourofsky has probably heard every line of reasoning in the book. So, I decided to 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 00:00:41.600 --> 00:00:45.449 jump back in with what I think is the strongest argument against veganism. 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 00:00:53.099 --> 00:00:58.739 against veganism. What would you say is the best argument against veganism, if there is 00:00:58.739 --> 00:01:02.629 one? Gary: There’s not, honestly. I swear I racked 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 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 00:01:15.830 --> 00:01:20.740 he heard against it were stupid. That was his reason. He was a philosopher, he said: 00:01:20.740 --> 00:01:24.700 “I cannot continue to do this because everyone’s reason for eating meat, cheese, 00:01:24.700 --> 00:01:31.170 milk, eggs and honey is absolutely fucking stupid” I really don’t know of one good, 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 00:01:37.050 --> 00:01:42.510 hyperbolic when I say this, because there is not one good argument for raping a child. 00:01:42.510 --> 00:01:48.920 There is not one good argument for murdering a homosexual in Uganda. There is none justifiable 00:01:48.920 --> 00:01:52.890 argument for denying women the right to be quality in Afghanistan, to right to go to 00:01:52.890 --> 00:02:00.380 school, the right to vote in Middle Eastern countries. So there is not one logical reason 00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:04.520 to enslave, murder and oppress the animals and consume their body parts. 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 00:02:08.818 --> 00:02:13.230 is rather in line with what Gary shared. In my recent interview with the popular blog 00:02:13.230 --> 00:02:17.930 Vegan Street, when asked what I thought was the biggest strength of the vegan movement, 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 00:02:22.620 --> 00:02:27.829 what we do to animals for our food, fashion, medicine, and entertainment. All the facts 00:02:27.829 --> 00:02:32.079 and all the legitimate arguments are on our side. This is reflected in the absurdity that 00:02:32.079 --> 00:02:35.290 often arises when people try to justify their behaviors. 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, 00:02:39.840 --> 00:02:42.150 which I’ve linked to in the video description below. 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 00:02:46.849 --> 00:02:51.609 animal products that I have absolutely no defense against. And that is the statement 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, 00:02:56.950 --> 00:03:02.060 or even their own health by the continued breeding, torturing, exploitation and slaughter 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 00:03:07.040 --> 00:03:09.769 and utter apathy cannot be argued away. 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, 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 00:03:20.489 --> 00:03:25.889 honestly curious, well-intentioned individuals genuinely wanting to know if this way of life 00:03:25.889 --> 00:03:30.150 is possible. And for those people, I will always have time and patience 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 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.” 00:03:41.329 --> 00:03:46.579 That’s a word, not an argument. But someone’s going to post it anyways. 00:03:47.049 --> 00:03:51.730 Oh YouTube's comments section, you are the bathroom wall of the internet. 00:03:51.730 --> 00:03:54.699 Anyways, let’s go close it out with Gary! 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 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 00:04:04.430 --> 00:04:06.760 you so much. Gary: Thank you. Keep on. Everybody, pass 00:04:06.760 --> 00:04:11.219 her stuff around. It's tight stuff, honestly. BiteSizeVegan.com- share it! 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. 00:04:14.969 --> 00:04:18.279 Stay tuned to the Bite Size Vegan channel for more installments of my interview with 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 00:04:22.029 --> 00:04:26.900 channel in the ViV Area of BiteSizeVegan.com which you can access for free by clicking 00:04:26.900 --> 00:04:31.140 below. And for even more behind-the-scenes action and the best discussion of all things 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 00:04:36.120 --> 00:04:40.810 big red subscribe button down there for more awesome vegan content every Monday and Wednesday and 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 00:04:44.630 --> 00:04:45.370 see you soon 00:04:46.440 --> 00:04:49.400 I thought you were gonna ask me what the dumbest was. 00:04:49.400 --> 00:04:52.230 10 Questions: Vegan Rockstar Edition with Emily Moran Barwick of Bite Size Vegan