Furthermore

The only thing I hate about being labeled a vegan is that people immediately assume that I believe eating meat is 100% wrong. In other words, that I find no toleration for it whatsoever. But that isn't the case for me. I am 100% against eating meat depending on where you live and what resources are available to you. For example, ancient Native Americans roamed the Americas actively hunting and gathering, playing by the same rules as all the other creatures in the food chain. Today, however, this is not how most of us live.

Eating meat is a life style as old as time. For whatever reason we have predators on this earth, I will never understand it. But there is a respectful way of eating meat, and there is a disrespectful way of eating it. The only group of people I am aware of who still play by the same rules as the Native Americans did are the Eskimos. They live off the land. They hunt and gather their food. They live many months in harsh winter conditions. Growing vegetables is not a reality for them. However, they respect life, which means they do not waste any part of the animal they catch. They wear it, eat it, make utensils, and can even use whale blubber as oil for lanterns. 

The Eskimos do not buy food. They are active participants in the food chain that play by the rules of nature, not by rules of greed. They are not wearing seal skin because it is fashionable. They wear it because that is how they stay warm. It keeps them alive. It is the difference between freezing to death and not. Shamefully, the country I live in not only promotes wearing fur, but they support it. People buy it and see nothing wrong with killing an animal solely for it's fur because it is fashionable. Wearing fur is one of the most expensive options out there, and it is by far not the only option to keep us warm. So why buy it other than to exercise vanity? These animals are skinned alive. If I have to explain why the vanity in that is wrong, then I really will have lost all my faith in humanity. 

Since I am not an eskimo, I do not hunt or gather my food. I use money to get everything I need. I am not playing by the the laws of nature. I am playing by the laws of man, which only recognize the rights of human beings, not animals. Since I have a responsibility to care for the Earth, I should be mindful how I consume all things. Becoming vegan is really about going green. It's about being pro-earth in every sense. I respect the earth, and I respect all life in it. I do not eat meat because the way my money is used to get meat is disrespectful to the creature. To name a few things off the top of my head, cows are more often than not injected with hormones to grow faster than normal, overfed to get fat, and killed too soon in its life, which means, most steaks are a form of veal since they are killed from one week old to 16 months. Do I even need to mention how this is an act of greed? 

I have the resources available to me to be a responsible and respectful inhabitant of our planet. In a sense, I can live like the Eskimo when my money is used respectfully. I believe we are defined by the intention of our decisions. Knowing what I know now, my intentions would not be corrupted if I buy meat fully aware of the consequences my decisions have an impact on. Intentions are what make us who we are. Furthermore, I have been searching for ways to fight evil for most of my life, so this is a victory for me to have the opportunity to stand up for something simply by what I choose to consume. I enjoy the feeling of a personal victory against all the greed out there. There is really nothing quite like it.