The word “Vegan” is a relatively new word to the language, and a very new word to many people’s vocabulary. Hence, it is not surprising to hear many people using the word attaching very different meanings.
We at Vegan Base Camp, like other vegans who have been vegan for many years, use the word vegan to describe the belief that all sentient beings should be treated with respect and not exploited by humans just 
because we have a power advantage over the other group. As such we also believe racism, slavery, and the exploitation of others are wrong. And this is regardless of what species, race, or religion the victim belongs to.
The farming industry is by and large the business of enslaving, exploiting, and slaughtering other sentient beings we share this planet with. Vegans are against farming because of this.
The racing industry is the business of over breeding (in captivity) enslaved animals which are then terrorized into running as fast as they can to escape that which they are scared of. As soon as they do not perform to their owner’s expectation, they are slaughtered. Most race horses and race dogs are slaughtered in the racing industry within a year or two of birth because they are not fast enough (in exactly the same way human slaves who cannot perform to expectations have been slaughtered throughout history). Vegans are against the racing industry because of this.
The egg industry (regardless of whether it is labeled Free Range or not) selectively breeds thousands of chicks especially for laying eggs. Half of those chicks are male and therefore of no use for laying eggs, so they are thrown alive into grinders when they about one day old in a process called “sexing”. The females are fed (usually in atrocious conditions) for a few years until their laying production slows down, at which point they too are slaughtered (because there is no economic value in feeding them beyond this point). Hence vegans do not eat eggs or anything made with eggs (like most cakes and pastries).
The dairy industry is the process of enslaving cows and impregnating them every year then removing their babies as soon as they are born before they start drinking the profits. If the babies are female they are raised to become replacements for their mothers (who will be slaughtered as soon as they slow down in their milk production). If the babies are male, most will be slaughtered very young and sold as veal. Milk, cream, and cheese are by-products of the mass breeding and slaughtering of baby calves. Vegans are therefore against the dairy industry.
If you are following me so far you will probably realize that I could go on and on about the many industries in modern society where animals are enslaved, tortured, and then slaughtered all in the name of making money. Other examples include the cotton, tea and sugar industries, all of which were built by our ancestors through breeding people in captivity, enslaving them, exploiting them, torturing them into compliance, and then slaughtering them when there was no economic reason to keep them alive.
Vegans are people who see this enslavement and exploitation of sentient beings as wrong, regardless of what species the victims belong to.
And of course we don’t eat animals. Eating someone after you have killed them is obscene. It was a practice common in ancient barbaric societies that in modern times we see as revolting.
This is the vegan lifestyle we follow and promote.
Many of us older vegans were told when we committed to a life of not eating animals that we would end up unhealthy because the medical profession spread the belief that you need to eat meat to be healthy. We committed to the way of life anyway because we believed it was right.
Nowadays it has become more and more apparent that “scientific proof” is largely a commodity that can be bought by paying scientists to “prove” the benefits of the products promoted by the funder of the scientific research. The meat industry, the dairy industry, the poultry industry, the sugar industry, the tobacco industry, and the alcohol industry spend billions of dollars a year to get scientists to produce “scientific proof” of the value of their products, or the negative effects of not consuming their products.
As science has started to become more transparent, there is mounting evidence being exposed to the public of the illnesses caused by these industries, and of the massive health benefits to people that observe “the vegan diet”. This has resulted in people saying they are “vegan” because they eat a “vegan diet”.
We promote the vegan lifestyle. We are motivated primarily from an animal rights point of view. We believe the abuse of animals is revolting, sinister, and completely wrong. Our mission is to convert others to our way of thinking in much the same way as we imagine abolitionists fought against slavery in the nineteenth century.
We also believe in celebrating small steps. We are happy when we see people becoming vegetarian because we see that as a step in the right direction and beneficial to many animals’ lives. We are even happier when people become vegan because that is beneficial to even more animals.
We choose not to criticize people for being vegetarian, or for claiming to be vegan when they still use certain animal products (like having woolen carpets in their house). Every step people take in their lives towards the non-exploitation of animals is great, and we hope these people will continue towards a full and complete commitment to the vegan way of life.
We also acknowledge that people predominantly come to the vegan lifestyle from three different motivations – some, like us, are motivated by animal rights, some are motivated by the vegan lifestyle having a lower carbon footprint and therefore better for the environment, and others are simply motivated selfishly by the health benefits the vegan diet offers them.
Unfortunately, the vegan lifestyle also attracts more than its share of argumentative people who seem to have no other motivation than to hang around vegans and tell them that they are doing it all wrong. And they know the only true way. We discourage this sort of behavior but are quite happy to receive arrogant opinionated comment from these people. If you are one of them and would like to comment on what is wrong with our stance please email us at: deadmail@some-where-else.com.
