Home / Weak arguments / The cause as a tool
"Veganism and environmentalism without class struggle is just gardening."
They use the animal movement for another purpose, or pretend two goals never conflict.
Why it is weak
The phrase comes from a widely repeated saying, "ecology without class struggle is gardening", often attributed to the Brazilian activist Chico Mendes. Applied to veganism, it mixes two different causes: environmentalism does not presuppose veganism as a moral position. At most, for technical and evidential reasons, it recommends reducing animal farming because of its impact.
Veganism has another foundation: animals feel, and exploiting them is unjust. It depends neither on the environment nor on a theory of social classes, and it doesn't become "gardening" for lacking either.
It is the same move as demanding that vegans be anti-capitalist: it turns another agenda into a condition for defending animals. Class analysis can help in understanding the industry, but it isn't a prerequisite for no longer exploiting animals.
How to say it better
Say what each cause stands for and why. If you think class struggle helps animals, show how, with evidence, without saying veganism without it is worthless.
This doesn't mean every current is equally good for animals. There may be a better path, and it should be sought in the evidence. People from different currents can become vegan and later revise their views in other areas.