What I've Been Reading

The interwebs have been abuzz over the past few weeks with all of the abolitionist animal rights blogging that's been going on, as well as with the discussions that often follow. No mention of the pieces that have been published and circulated widely this week could be made without bringing up the recent essays by Prof. Gary L. Francione on his Animal Rights: The Abolitionist Approach website. His most recent, just from today, is called "Creative, Non-Violent Vegan Education--Easy and Effective". It's a culmination of sorts of several pieces he's written on the topic over the past while, as well as of a request for input he issued using the social networking site Facebook to ask his fellow vegans what they do to engage and educate others about veganism. When there's so much frustrating misinformation being passed around by animal welfarists about how regulating the existing horrors inherent in animal agriculture is the only possible way to have any impact upon the status quo, it's heartening to see that vegan abolitionists who take the rights of nonhumans seriously are plugging away nonetheless, working hard with great energy and enthusiasm to change that status quo.

(ETA: Speaking of things that are heartening: I'd mentioned a few days ago that Vincent J. Guihan, abolitionist and soon-to-be published vegan cookbook author, has resurrected his We Other Animals blog. In the tradition of Twitter's generally well-intentioned #followfriday (or #ff) ritual, I'd like to point out that We Other Animals is a positive kick-in-the-pants blog that every serious vegan abolitionist should bookmark, add to their readers of choice, or at the very very least, visit frequently for updates. Check out today's "The Pseudo-Zen of Regulated Animal Use Activism" if you need convincing from the man, himself, that "thankfully, not everyone is taken in by the absence of thinking". Do it!)