Home / Weak arguments / Purity and invented rules
V48
"On a desert island, I'd starve before eating an animal."
Purity and invented rules
They create demands veganism does not make and push away people who might join, without helping a single animal.
Why it is weak
The very definition of veganism speaks of avoiding exploitation "as far as is possible and practicable". In a real survival situation, not eating an animal may be beyond what is possible, and saying otherwise creates a demand veganism does not make.
The phrase makes veganism look like fanaticism and steers the conversation toward a case no one lives.
How to say it better
Maybe I would eat one, the way a starving person might steal food. That changes nothing in everyday life: none of us is on an island, and the question is what we do when we don't need to.