1. They are normal people. Main issues are when they are disrespectful towards me, but in general its a choice they made and that's basically that
2. Not related to veganism
3. Ignore it. Especially online its easy to avoid the platforms/bubbles where that hate exists imo
4. Not really sure how this is different from question 1 tbh, but no I wouldn't inherently consider them to be bad people. If they are disrespectful towards others or if they are inconsistent between their statements and actions then it might be a bit different, but on a blanket level its just other people

1) I spend almost 0% of my time thinking about what the people around me eat or wear.

Veganism is superior to non-veganism. But all you can use that info to is to evaluate yourself. Myself as a vegan is better as myself as a non vegan. Humans have many qualities so it’s impossible to say compare two different persons. I might buy from Temu but be vegan. Another person might not buy from Temu but isn’t vegan. Now add a million points of comparison, it’s impossible. Only evaluate the same person as vegan or non-vegan.

2) I’m not lonely.

3) I smash vegan hate. It’s so easy. I welcome any attack on my vegan position.

4) Sure they are bad people. We all are.

1. I respect non-vegans; I was one for most of my life. I've come to learn that most people don't truly know how animals are treated. Many who find out still don't change, but that's because humans as a species aren't just led by logic... we're led a lot in part by tribalism and a need to fit in. Those willing to go against the grain are usually the first ones who adopt new technologies or stances, such as veganism.
2. I was WAY more lonely as a non-vegan than a vegan. Veganism has given me purpose and a community. I met my amazing vegan partner at an animal sanctuary. I have a group of local vegan activists that I do actions with, with is super purposeful and builds comradery. If you become vegan, just be sure to find a supportive community so you don't feel ostracized by all tribes (humans have evolved to be social creatures, so this is important).
3. I think it depends a lot based on the % time I spend with who. At this point, I spend most of my time with my vegan partner or my vegan friends. The most hate I get for my veganism is on Reddit, and I'm pretty sure Reddit trolls would hate me no matter what my ethics were. You can't please everyone so might as well do what you know is right.
4. I don't see non-vegans as bad people; I see humans as complex creatures that have complicated needs. I can tell my brother all the reasons to go vegan, but if he doesn't see himself as one, or has been convinced that veganism is not a good tribe to join, he won't do it. See the Diffusion of Innovations theory on how new ideas spread, especially regarding innovators vs. early adopters vs. laggards etc.

In summary: your questions are legit and one of the greatest hurdles people see with veganism. Just know that if you meet like-minded people online or in-person, it'll be much easier to go and stay vegan. <3

1. As humans.
2. No, I have awesome people in my life who are supportive of my decisions even if they are skeptical of them.
3. I listen to them and filter out the insults and look for anything they have to say which could be beneficial. At the end of the day, I don't particularly care if everyone on the face of this planet likes me. It's just something I am not going to achieve so to hell with that. All I care about is, being respectful to the individuals I am talking to and getting basic human respect from them and learning something from them.
4. No one is inherently bad. A person is generally deemed bad when their actions affect the society or an individual in the society negatively. However such kind of "bad"ness can quite often be fixed with compassion. Think about it this way, if a toddler takes something which isn't owned by them, would you hate the toddler? No. You would be compassionate and tell them that it's bad to take people's things without asking. If they throw a tantrum would you hit them? No. You would calm them down by waiting and help them work through their emotions by communicating with them. People need that kind of empathy to show them what is wrong vs right. A lot of people mistakenly assume that grown humans are better than toddlers in cognitive functioning, whereas we only know more than them. We still have the same default thought process unless someone comes up to us and tells us a different one, which we find better suited for our life. In the case of non-vegans, it's quite literally shown that way. Also this isn't a "holier than thou". I understand that I am susceptible to the same pattern, hence why I try to keep myself open to criticism.

1: How do you respect non vegans?

I was once like them, mostly I just pity them as they haven't managed to mentally get to the point where they can acknowledge their own abuses. Most would be vastly improved with a good couple months of meditation to help break through the ego, but they don't like it when you say that...

I have the feeling that I would always feel superior to non vegans when I'm vegan, even though I'm not vegan at the moment

Sure, that's part of the positive of being moral, you get to feel better about yourself because you're not doing the horrible shit many are. The key is to just keep it to yourself as less moral people do not want to hear about it. Unless you want to be an activist, then you can let everyone know, just be aware if you're loud around you rfriends in non-activist contexts, you'll likely, for better or worse, lose some friends.

It's up to you how you treat non-Vegans, so if you want more friends, just smile and hold your tongue when appropriate.

Are you lonely?

I've always been happy with a few close friends so I'm very good.

The key for those who want more activity, is to go and find it. If you're in a decent sized city, find the others Vegans, start/join a meetup, start a hobby night (games/sports/etc) at a local place that is Vegan or has lots of Vegan options. If you're in a less populous area, you might need to use the internet to meet people, but join some discords or such and find people to talk to about Veganism.

The modern world is designed to make us lonely, the cure is to go out and create a community.

Also, you can still be friends with non-Vegans, just not the closed minded assholes who can't help insulting anyone "different" but those are not hte people you should be wanting to hang around anyway.

How do you cope with the hate against you? There is so much vegan hate irl and on social media.

Get off social media, the internet is filled with hate, but in reality most people are not. I started cutting out meat and dairy in the 90s in the middle of "Cattle Country", there was serious hate at that point, even got attacked twice becuase I didn't eat meat... weird time. Now it's more just the idiots will try and laugh at you, you can ignore them (I find "I thought Vegans were suppose to be the annoying ones..." any time someone wont shut up gets them to very quickly), or you can learn the replies to thier 10-15 repeated comments, it will make it awkward, but one night of awkwardness can lead to that person never acting that way again, which is great for all Vegans ;)

Whats your opinion on non vegans? Would you consider them bad people? Why (not)?

The vast majority of all humans are lazy, self indulgent, and very selfish. "Bad" is very vague, most Non-Vegans I know are good people in most cases. They just mostly intentionally blind themselves to the horrific abuse they cause to animals because 'everyone does it' and pleasure.

I used to too, so I can't really judge them that harshly to say they're "bad", but I do wish they'd stop wilfully denying reality...

1. Some people tend towards feeling superior to others and others don't. If you tend to notice feeling superior to others now over things, that's an indication that may carry over into how you would feel as a vegan. I don't respect anyone's decision to exploit animals unnecessarily, but some non-vegans are overall better people than me. So I don't feel superior to someone just because I'm vegan and they're not. I do think in one specific area I am making a more ethical choice in how to treat animals. But they could have something to teach me as well, some area where they are making a more ethical choice than I am. 

2. No, I am not lonely. 

3. I feel sorry for people who make anti-veganism their personality to the extent they feel the need to advocate against animals but it doesn't bother me if they hate me. I can spend my time with people who like me, I don't need those other people's approval to feel okay. 

4. I don't think it's good to reject veganism, but knowing whether someone is vegan or not isn't enough to know whether they are good or bad overall. There's some truly shitty vegans and some good non-vegans. 

It may help to know that there's plenty of vegans who have relationships with non-vegans - most of us have friends, family, and co-workers who are non-vegan and many of us don't have acrimony with them. You see some horror stories online and yeah, some people act like jerks to vegans. But in my experience, that's very much the exception. 

1. I get that we're all coming from different places and making choices for reasons, some of which people might not feel comfortable sharing. I only judge people's attitudes about it, like if they think it's ok to torture animals

2. I am alone a lot, but for many other reasons. Veganism is mostly isolating in non-social settings like work or school, where you don't have as much say in who you're around. People always manage to find out that I'm vegan and then get weird about it, or I just avoid people so they won't find out, and become isolated that way

3. I'm glad that I'm no longer in a situation where I can be outed against my will (in person workplace for example). I'm glad that no one needs to know unless I tell them

I also occasionally just use different words, like "plant based" or "I don't eat any animal products" and cite health reasons so people won't argue as much

1. Non vegans are a very diverse group of people. I wouldn't lump them all together and judge them

1. They are normal people and it's the norm to not be vegan. If i didn't respect people that weren't vegan I'd have 0 friends. I don't feel superior to them, people just care about different things. It sucks, but it is what it is. I want to be respected for my choice so if they respect me about it, i respect their choices too.

2. I am kinda lonely. I find it way harder to date (I date men unfortunately) and can be a little isolating at times.

3. Don't care about the hate. There's a lot of vegans that are annoying about it so I can kinda understand, but most of us aren't like that so it's kinda annoying to be clumped in to the stereotypes. At an age though where i don't care much what others think about my life choices. I know it's the right thing to do.

4. see answer 1.

If you like reading or can sit through an audiobook, i highly recommend "How to argue with a meat eater, and win every time" by ed winters.

Its a great book for vegans, non vegans, and people curious about veganism. It covers basically any argument for an against that ive heard.

Also being a vegan you learn, that outside of animal rights protests and vegan spaces online, everyone else is and will be way more vocal about you being vegan than you are.

My mum (bless her) always lets people know im vegan so than no one offers me anything i cant/wont eat. I normally just politely decline, and wont say unless im asked or it comes up.

There are some really good answers here.

Just wanted to chuck in a link for The Vegan Society.

The Vegan Society is a charity based around spreading awareness of veganism. They don’t claim to speak for all of us, we’re a mixed bunch, but they take a compassionate stance and I personally found them to be a really helpful resource for when I wanted answers.

Quick Edit: Just wanted to say, they ask for donations but the information on the website isn’t paywalled, you don’t need to give any details or sign up, and you can access articles for free. No one will judge if you don’t donate, especially in this economy.

1. I don't really "respect" them in the sense of that word. But I can avoid conflict by not bringing it up with people whom I'm exposed to for extended periods of time.
   
2. No, I'm not lonely. I made quite a bunch of friends who are vegan too and we do things together. Basically in the 11 years I've been vegan for I replaced most of the non-vegan friends with vegan ones over time. But some of my prior friends I actually managed to "convert".
   
3. I don't think anyone actually hates me. Also I'm well versed in communication-psychology so stuff like that is quite easy for me to navigate. I can have calm and civilized talks with about everyone thanks to that.
   
4. It depends. I'd say there's 2 major types of non-vegans. Hypocrites and brutalized. I personally like the hypocrites better as they are more susceptible to outreach-conversations. People who, during a conversation turn out to be of the brutalized type, I will just avoid in the future or reduce my contact to them to an absolute minimum.

I don't think eating meat makes you a bad person, I just think many people were raised a certain way & perhaps haven't had enough influences. And many struggle with change & self-restraint.

One thing that helps I think is not parading around about it. And not preaching. Stay humble. Try to think how others might feel uncomfortable, thinking you might be judging them.

I often don't announce my food choices unless I've been directly asked.

And rather than self-identifying by saying "I'm vegan". I usually try to say "I eat vegan foods". I think it's more inclusive in a sense.

When you eat vegan foods & go to vegan restaurants, it's often easy to meet other vegans. And having some vegan friends helps quite a bit. We exhange recipes, cook for each other sometimes, try new places together, and often share many other values as well.

Being vegan for me has nothing to do with other peoples choices. Im not in this to be a campaign person for veganism. I ate meat for 26 years of my life and liked meat too. I cant judge meat eaters for doing and liking what I did and liked too. I just NOW for the past 8 years feel differently about consuming animal products. But again I absolutely have friends that are all meat eaters. My life partner eats meat. Its not a big deal if you dont want it to be. I know vegans that wont date a meat eater. And thats fine if thats how you want to live your experience of life. But It never mattered to me and I met my partner before I went vegan so Its just something that I could never judge him on nor would I want to. Thats his choice and life to do what he wants with his body and this is mine. He respects me and I respect him.

Which that kind of answers your next question about being lonely. Its really not. Its not like you wake up one day vegan and now you have to throw away all your friends that eat meat lol. Thats just silly and unrealistic and unfair. The real thing is focus on who is still in your corner. If they are truly your friend then it wont matter and they'll be there for you and support you even though the life style isn't for them. I absolutely lost a long term friend over it. She was for sure against it and I think she was really jealous because at the time I initially when vegan I lost some weight and was in the best shape of my life. And she was still struggling but also would NEVER go vegan so I resulted in her being rather rude about my life changes. That kind of stuff WILL SHOW ITSELF. It will. And you will see who is really your friend.

As for being bullied. I dont have a problem with it really ever. Except with that one friend but the transparency of it was so clear to me. She was jealous of my weight loss and didnt want to admit it was because I made this huge change. And Obviouly thats not the only answer to weight loss. But as long as you have a calm manor about yourself and stick to your convictions being bullied about it is really telling of that other person and where they are in their life. I dont mind having discussions with meat eaters and my boss is always asking me "well what are you going to eat this Christmas" lol and I will gladly tell him how easy it is to feed myself. I dont shove my life style in anyone's face but if they ask then lets talk about it. And anyone thats mean about is is below you. Period. If you have to try to make me feel bad about how I choose to live??? Thats says NOTING about me and everything about you. I simply just dont care what others think. Thats how I live with it. Its really easy actual. And I dont think Im better than any other person, meat eater or not. but if you wanna be rude and childish then yea I am better. Because I dont treat people like that over things like this.

If you want to go vegan do it for you! You shouldn't live your life one way just because the majority does and to make them happy lol. Like what!

once you make a commitment to the animals, those small details don’t matter you find a way to make it work

1. I feel lucky that I have the empathy to respect all creatures on earth. This don’t necessarily make me better than them, but definitely more feeling and empathetic.
2. I’m not lonely, even though nobody I know is also vegan, the people around me are kind and often willing to understand and hear me out. It does feel sad sometimes, but there’s only so much I can do. It’s not my fault they won’t change.
3. Most hate reflects more about the person hating than you.
4. The majority aren’t, they’re just unaware

Well, once you understand that all that aggression non-vegans send our way is simply because they suffer envy and guilt. It is pretty lonely, but you have to find community. I found community online online with TikTok. Once you find a group of vegans online that you click with, it’s not so bad anymore. They give you strength they explain things they give advice about nutrition. And you can join with them to do online activism. As far as feeling superior to non-vegans. You will meet up with a lot of trolls, but they are usually children. And you will also meet up with a lot of Misogynistic bullies. They really love to try to get to the younger, pretty female vegans and try to steer them into what they think is correct behavior. It is just really something. The entitlement is incredible. Isn’t that so much feeling superior it is understanding that becoming vegan Has so many positive impacts. Animal agriculture is the number one cause of wildlife extinction and habitat destruction. Many meat eaters will try to tell you that vegans caused the most destruction. Of course that is physically impossible. They will try to tell you that plant based substitutes are full of chemicals and are processed. The chemical thing is just not true . Even though some of them are processed, they are actually better for you and better for the environment. You can find studies that prove this. And it is interesting to find out that plant-based meat substitutes were created for meat eaters not vegans. Our population is too small to attract any company to design products specifically for vegans. FYI, the largest consumer of those products are actually meat, eaters, and flexitarians. That is some shocking information for meat eaters. And of course that can be verified. So we will be waiting for you. I invite you to join us at WARA. It is a female based vegan panel. They discussed several topics beside veganism. They discussed misogyny and other topics that are important to women. Even if you’re not vegan yet come on in and listen and ask questions. It is Wednesday afternoon, Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoon 4 o’clock. I believe eastern standard time. I’ll give you a couple of TikTok names and that way you can maybe follow them! @Ingrid and @notyourmumnotyourmilk @speakerforthem. If you’re not ready for veganism, try a plant-based diet for a couple of weeks. See how it goes meanwhile, feel free to ask questions.

1) NO 2) Yes, desperately 3) We torture animals to make ourselves feel better 4) Very bad, bad people who will burn in hell (Satan loves human stew)

We aren't one person- Really, do you expect any kinda concensus?

Hi there! Welcome! 🤗

I’m from Portugal, and I first went vegan in 2019, while I was living in the UK.

1. I try to remember that the vast majority of people ople have been raised in a deeply speciesist and cruel culture, such as Portugal and the United Kingdom’s. They were brainwashed since babies to love dogs and cats and oppress farmed animals such as chickens, pigs ans cows. I myself was raised like this too by my parents. There are lots of people who simply have never even questioned wether they should or should not kill other animals for food.

2. In my first few years as a vegan I did feel lonely, but this year I joined a local Discord server full of Portuguese vegans and now we talk everyday and even have meetups irl in local vegan restaurants! So I don’t feel lonely as a vegan any more.

3. I don’t really receive much hate, defenitely not irl and not online. People keep their opinions to themselves. But if someone tries to debate with me, I will debate.

4. I’ve already talked about this in 1, but I see them as people who still haven’t made the connection that farmed animals should have the same rights as our pets such as dogs and cats. I think that the more people go vegan, more people (their friends and family) will question ther food choices, and there is a tresh-hold, like around 25% where the population will start to feel really uncomfortable with the vegan minority and will feel preassured to change in order to not be seen as a bad person or on the wrong side of history. I think that Lab-grown meat will be available in supermarkets by 2030, so when that happens lots of people will stop eating meat produced from traditional animal agriculture. We just need to wait a few years.

In India, 30% of all people are vegetarian, so change is possible. I think that in 2100, at least half of all Portuguese and Brits will eat a plant-based diet. I try to be hopeful by remembering the progress we’ve made in other social justice movements such as feminism and anti-racism. We just need to have hope and take action for a better future for all of Earth’s inhabitants.

Edit: I’m in no way a perfect consumer, nor do I demand other people to be perfect consumers, but I think that veganism is a really low hanging fruit in countries such as Portugal and the UK. If you have a Tesco or s Continente in your city, then you very likely can eat a plant-based diet. It’s the lowest hanging fruit in terms of ethical consumerism. And brits have canned baked beans in tomato sauce for 25p, which make veganism in the UK very easy.

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Everyone makes choices that are morally much worse than what they could have done, myself included. Spending money on luxuries rather than donating to save lives and prevent immense suffering falls into this category. (I find Singer's analogy from the child drowning in the shallow pond highly persuasive.)

So I'm not somehow a morally "clean" person now that I'm vegan and an activist; I'm just doing one huge thing that's morally better than what I was doing before, but there are countless ways I can continue to improve my impact on the world.

A way to stay grounded as an active vegan in a carnist culture is to spend some time looking into communities that have made other major positive changes you haven't made yet.

1. Just think about how almost all vegans were a non-vegan once. Many if not most people haven't really thought deeply about veganism and don't know the realities of factory farming etc. That was me for most of my life - that didn't make me a bad person. This answers number 4 too. Those who are rude to vegans or have little empathy for animals or mock their extreme suffering, I can't say I respect very much. But I don't think that's most people

2. No def not. But if everyone around actively expressed their dislike for me being vegan than I would probably be. There's always online communities and youtube channels like Earthling Ed though - could help

3. ignore that bullshit. People usually wouldn't be that rude in person (as someone - I think mike tyson - said, the internet has made people too comfortable with saying rude stuff and not getting punched in the face for it). Think through the arguments yourself, learn about what happens to the animals (seems maybe you already have but idk). Harding than dealing with hate possibly is the weight of how much suffering the animals go through. But after a while, that intense weight I felt from that isn't there as much luckily, although I still believe in the cause just as much

4. 1 basically answered it

1. I don’t respect their choices but I don’t tell them that. I’m civil because I’m forced to exist within society. Not because I want to be civil. That said I also know I was there at one point too so I remind myself they can change.

2. Around my family — I am sad that they’re not vegan and that I have to fight just for them to respect my boundaries. Friends it’s easier because they understand it’s a moral and ethical obligation. So they’re more willing to work within my boundaries. That said when I’ve been around vegan friends that are good friends or I’m at a vegan event it’s less lonely because I feel community even if I’m not directly friends with anyone. I know I’m making the right choices. Plus one of my vegan friends lives in another country. So it’s hard to get together.

3. Why do I care about a bunch of morons and jackals that hate me for doing the right thing? I’m more sad for the animals than I am for how they feel about me. If they threatened my life or forced me to eat dead rotting flesh of a formerly alive animal, a person, that would be truly awful and I would be devastated. That said I’m in a place that’s safer than most so I don’t have to worry about that. I’m also a part of a marginalized community far more hated right now than vegans so it also helps for me to be scared more of assholes from that are bigoted towards that part of me than veganism.

4. I don’t think every person who isn’t vegan is a bad person. I do think every person who isn’t vegan is an idiot. Like it’s pretty obvious animals are people if you have one. You say that they’re your family if you describe it that way or that they have a personality. Well if they’re family they’re a person automatically. If they’ve got a personality then you have to acknowledge they’re a person because it’s literally the first part of the word. And then you have to extrapolate from there if your animal family member isn’t just an automaton that’s designed to please you with their body then neither is the one that you’re eating the dead flesh of for a meal. And that right there should be enough to get them to stop eating animals but for many it isn’t. And for those that are anti-vegan I do hate them because they’ll never change and they’re causing the world to be worse. If I had it my way they’d either be forced to be vegan by laws or they’d be gone

take b12 supplement.

1: I don’t feel superior. People are imperfect whether vegan or not. I accept where people are at in their life 2: I’m not lonely. I’ve felt lonely in my life but it had nothing to do with veganism.
3: I don’t really get hate. I don’t make this my personality and don’t really preach. People have also become more accepting as time goes on. I became a vegetarian in like 2012ish and i got more remarks at that time than i did after going full vegan in 2020 4: most people I care about are non vegan. I judge people based on how they are as a whole, not as a part. I’d obviously wish they would choose veganism but we live in a culture where eating meat is very ingrained into our heads from a very young age. I think it’s difficult to change your perspective and behavior because of that. I think “bad” people are those who have more negative traits than positive. “Good” have more positive.

I think a lot of your questions have to do with black and white thinking but most of life is different shades of grey. When I was younger I was more of a black and white thinker but that actually made me more miserable. You will find most irl vegans aren’t the stereotypes you see online. Most of us are normal people that just don’t consume/wear/etc animal products.

1) you will feel superior. Just don’t act on it. Remember you weren’t always vegan

2) I’m a loner. It can be awkward in social circles initially… you can build confidence over time.

3) any news is good news. Bring on the hate anything that draws attention to veganism.

4) non-vegans have yet to be enlightened. They need to find veganism for themselves. No one likes preaching and being told what to do.

Best is if you can carry the compassion without the identity.