veganism: Is it for spiritual/moral/ethical/humane reasons?|||For me, it was purely for humane reasons. But I recently went to the doctor and my cholesterol has dropped immensely as well as my weight. [I have a long family history of both.] My doctor said this might actually be a healthier diet for me. Plus, I don't feel as heavy and lethargic as I did when I ate meat.|||for me it was humane i guess im not too sure! but you should go vegan! its good for the world|||Poverty.|||The motivation is to make your hair shiny blonde because it is soo funny and cool. Sunshine butterflies and broccoli rabe. One time i turned on a lamp in my laboratory and i was so flabbergasted oh my gosh it was so prominant and joyous.|||Veganism implies moral concern for animals first and foremost. The health and environmental aspects are just bonuses.|||For many people, yes. "Moral," "Ethical," and "Humane" all cover a lot of ground, you know.|||I was originally motivated by undercover videos of factory farms. Dairy and eggs are just as intrusive as meat, if not moreso; the female animals are kept as slaves, their fertility exploited until they can produce no more, at which point they are killed and sold as meat. No retirement, no justice, no pasture, no babies, no free-range. I was vegetarian for a few years and mostly vegan. It was difficult for me to give up cheese. I finally started visualizing dirty sickly hens when I'd look at an egg, and a bloody, puss-y nipple and a hungry calf when I'd see cheese. It totally spoiled my appetite. I'm very health-conscious, and I believe as a species we're meant to be herbivores. We are evolved to take on a variety of foods, and we can digest animal products and chemicals, but for the most part they are difficult on our bodies and cause many modern health dilemmas. The last time I had cheese, I also had severely embarrassing gas. I realized I had become lactose intolerant. I ate so much cheese and drank milk every day as a child. If you stop eating bananas or carrots for a few months, then eat one, you won't have bad gas because it's more natural for our bodies to absorb properties of bananas and carrots than another mammal's milk. Those are just a few clues that motivate me to be vegan. Plus, I love the food. I feel better, I look better, and I am a nicer person as a vegan.|||Veganism is an ethical and political statement that rejects the exploitation and commodification of animals for human consumption. It is philosophically and ethically different in every way from vegetarianism in that vegetarians still participate in animal exploitation, some forms of which are even more cruel than raising animals for meat. To vegans, the issue is not treatment. It is use. Veganism is the application of the theory of abolition to one's daily life - the theory that as long as any sentient beings are human property and a means to human ends, nothing will change no matter how big you make the cages and that sentience should the only requirement for entry into the full moral community. Animal rights is concerned about abolishing all animal exploitation. It is the right for an animal to be left alone (thus it is a "negative right") and not become property - This means not breeding animals in the first place for human consumption, companionship, vivisection, entertainment and clothing as all of those things require the commodification of a sentient other. Because animals are the property of humans, laws that supposedly require their “humane” treatment and prohibit the infliction of “unnecessary” harm do not provide any significant level of protection for animal interests. For the most part, these laws and regulations require only that animals receive that level of protection that is required for their use as human property. Animals only have values as commodities and their interests do no matter in any moral sense. As a result, despite having laws that supposedly protect animals, we treat animals in ways that would be regarded as torture if humans were involved. We could provide greater protection to animals even if they remain our property, but legal, social, and economic forces militate strongly against recognizing animal interests unless there is an economic benefit for humans. Animal-rights is not animal welfare. Animal wefarism seeks to regulate animal exploitation in order to make it more "humane". The abolitionist position is that we cannot justify our use of nonhumans however “humanely” we treat animals; the regulationist position is that animal use is justifiable and that only issues of treatment are relevant. Examples of welfarism: HSUS, PETA* (yes, PETA), ASPCA, RSPCA. Put simply, you can not be an animal-rights person without being vegan. *PeTA is welfarist because they promote "happy meat" and even gave an award to a slaughterhouse designer (TEMPLE GRANDIN). PS. One who does not consume animals but wears animals or consumes animals in other ways, or does the above for health reasons is not a vegan, but a strict vegetarian. Veganism is about ethics.|||It is different for everyone.|||People can eat a vegan diet for any reason. Actual veganism is motivated by the suffering and well-being of other people and animals. http://www.veganoutreach.org/whyvegan