IDA invites you to read this column on our Sustainable Activism Blog by guest blogger Veronique Perrot, reprinted with permission from her blog, “Vegan Empowerment: Empowering the Vegan Community Through Writing and Art.”

A fellow activist recently wrote her next outreach event was going to be her last. She was obviously experiencing burnout and despair. In essence, she decided to leave activism because, “I am tired of people who don’t care and don’t listen to us.” We’ve all experienced similar feelings. It’s important to recognize how burnout affects all of us.

We are constantly surrounded by a lot of oppressive forces in the world. Whether we talk about “religious” extremism, state sponsored terror, corporatism, government spying, social inequalities, and of course the plight and horror of what our animal friends go through, there is a lot to despair. Is it any wonder that so many justice activists (in many social movements) drop out? As vegans, we also face ridicule, incomprehension, and social pressure. There is nothing easy about fighting for any just cause and pushing for social progress against the mentality of the masses.

In fact, pressure is getting worse as we see a rise in extremist terror, government overreach, and corporate manipulation. For instance, we saw the terror attacks in Paris and Boko Haram, which were both horrific and linked to fanaticism. We see the spying of our governments on our privacy and their use of police brutality (whether we talk about innocent African Americans in the United States, environmental activists being killed in France and in South America, or whether I get tear-gassed by the police taking a stand against bullfighters.) We also see a war on women with damning statistics showing that “globally, 35% of women have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence” (UN Statistics). Of these, many women are forced into marriage as children or go through sexual mutilation.

All of this abuse, as Dr. Will Tuttle would say, has roots in our routine violence towards other animals and the constant suppression of the values of caring, compassion, and nurturing the Earth, the animals, and each other which are widely denigrated as “feminine” values. Extremism stems from a challenge to patriarchal rules wrapped in “religious” bigotry. Officials sanction government spying when justice activists challenge the status quo. Corporate domination happens when people expect governments to actually represent them by mandating the payment of decent wages, in spite of greedy corporations that are only concerned with the bottom line and which have a complete disregard for the future of our planet.

To me, this current unrest is a sign that positive change is underway behind the scenes. This may sound crazy, but please read on…

Let’s get back to social justice for animals. Why are corporations so determined to pressure politicians to enact laws to prevent filming of practices and conditions on factory farms? It is because animal activists are a threat to their bottom line. I don’t believe laws can be changed unless they come from grassroots efforts to put pressure on the puppet masters that seek to control us. When powerful elites feel threatened, like kings, they will try to turn us more and more into serfs until, like in the French or American Revolution, we finally have enough and more and more of us rise up against them.

For the past few months, I have been doing vegan education on the streets of Montpellier, France and before that in Los Angeles, California. What I find fascinating in France is the thirst to learn and more openness to animal rights and veganism, which is completely contrary to what I had expected since I considered Los Angeles the “headquarters” of veganism and animal rights thanks to the large number of activists and vegan restaurants, as compared to France. But my feeling is that French people are generally slightly less brainwashed and better educated (sorry Americans, it’s not to put you down as the good people that you are) and are therefore more critical of their government and what they are told in general. The difference to me is really striking. The reason we have so little vegan education in France is that vegans and vegetarians are extremely marginalized and that no government agencies recognize plant-based eating as a healthy diet (America has the American Dietetic Association’s position on plant-based diets.) We French also have our sacrosanct French cuisine recognized as “world heritage” which re-affirms the erroneous beliefs of French people that a plant-based diet is not healthy.

On January 31, I hosted my first AVF (French Vegetarian Association) event. Despite its vegetarian title, the AVF strongly promotes veganism and veganic agriculture. I became a delegate for my region a few months ago because it is one of the few non-profits that distributes vegan nutritional information to the public. I’ve met many people who thanked me for tabling and told me that they were vegetarian, already vegan, or trying to get there but didn’t know how (as there is not much education done in this country, except through the AVF and a few debates on television.) I distributed more business cards here in one day than in months of tabling in the United States. Of course, I met the usual naysayers, but at least most of them took the time to try to understand and see another perspective.

Now, let’s return to the issue of women. Is it surprising that there is an all time high of violence against women and suppression of their freedom around the world? No, it’s not, because women are starting to come into their own power. We can look at the incredible example set by the most recent Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai who, even though she was almost silenced by patriarchal religious extremists, never gave up and keeps fighting for girls’ rights to get an education. What a powerful example! Violence against women and denial of their reproductive rights is similar to the way females are being exploited in animal husbandry. We are dealing with a 10,000 year old patriarchal mindset, found in religious institutions (if you really look at them, they are patriarchal) in which women, like other animals, are still seen as inferior by much of the world’s society.

The same way vegan/animal rights activists are being repressed, women in general still can’t in many ways achieve gender equality because of rampant sexism, violence against them, work inequalities, religious bigotry, and so on. But the fact that both of these social justice movements, feminism and veganism, scare the hell out of the ones who seek to control us, means that violence on both sides is increasing.

I am reminded of these words from Gandhi: “When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it–always.”

Because we are getting stronger and there are more of us each day, these evil forces that seek to silence us and oppress us and other animals will eventually collapse like a house of cards. They are not built out of bricks, just out of sand, because they don’t stem from truth and that is not sustainable. I believe more and more people are becoming aware of the inner truth of our world and are rejecting the status quo. The reaction to the attack of cartoonists in Paris and seeing a historical four million people protesting in the streets (including myself) was powerful testimony that you can’t silence an idea when its time has come (whether you agree with Charlie’s work or not.)

Let’s not forget what history teaches us. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was declared enemy #1 and called the “most dangerous negro in the United States” by the FBI. Cesar Chavez (himself a vegan), who connected the dots between oppression of humans and other animals, was also threatened multiple times. French environmental activists, like Rémi Fraisse, are murdered by the police for defending the land and biodiversity. Peruvian environmentalists are being murdered for defending their ancestral lands. Vegans are put in jail as well as other animal liberators and human rights activists. Yes, it is a tough world when you are on the side of justice, but in the end justice always prevails. The civil rights act was passed, women got the right to vote (at least in western countries), women are starting to rise up in Arabic countries where they are horribly oppressed, men are getting in touch with their feelings, and let’s not forget: more and more people are connecting the dots and going vegan.

So this is how I responded to my friend who decided to leave animal activism:

“I understand where you’re coming from, but we can never be sure of the impact we can have on other people. I have been an animal activist for almost ten years (in the United States and now in France) and have seen great progress. Although it is difficult to quantify our impact on others, we do have one! Here are several examples:

• In the United States, almost all the non-vegans who approached me directly have become vegans and are now animal activists themselves.
• In France, at an anti-foie gras event, a young woman asked me to help her go vegan because she was disgusted by the violence towards animals.

The problem is not that we don’t make any difference; we do! It is that we are still a minority. If we persevere (I saw major changes in the United States in only a few years), we can encourage others to become vegan, who will in turn influence others around them. It’s that simple.

If the suffragettes had given up because they were being ridiculed when they were a minority, women would probably not have received the right to vote until much later. If African Americans had not persevered, racism would still be a legal institution. Of course, racism and sexism still exist, but now there are laws against these forms of discrimination.

The animal struggle (even though Greek philosophers already had positions in favor of animals and vegetarianism) is still in its infancy. The end of racial segregation in the United States took over 200 years (although economic segregation continues.) We are not the ones who will see changes for the animals; we are the pioneers. Our job is to plant the seeds which will grow in the future.

The way to combat burnout is simple: stop for a while. It doesn’t mean giving up completely. We are not machines. We have responsibilities, pressure, and feel down whenever we see cruelty. As vegans, we are especially sensitive to the pain of others. That’s what sets us apart from the masses. We also face family and social pressure. Sometimes it’s best to take a break to renew ourselves. How can a burned-out activist teach people? It doesn’t work. I would rather work with activists who are energized, passionate (passion mellowed with a little bit of wisdom), and committed to the goal of animal liberation, than those who are too depressed to advocate for animals.

It’s important to balance all the cruelty we see by seeing the other side. Animal photographer Jo-Anne McArthur is an example of someone who constantly takes horrific pictures of animal cruelty, and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) because of it, but renews herself by going to Farm Sanctuary on a regular basis to take pictures of happy animals, free of exploitation. We have to strike a balance in order to have the strength to keep going. Animal sanctuaries are a fantastic way of reminding ourselves why we advocate for animals. Seeing happy animals is totally uplifting.

Not everyone can visit a nearby sanctuary. I like watching uplifting videos to remind me of why I am an animal activist, such as this one from French animal rights group, United Forces for Animal Rights (FUDA), called FUDA Together or this wonderful video from Evolve! Campaigns called Why Vegan? You can also do something as simple ad spend time in nature or attend a retreat. The important thing is to come back stronger and a better advocate.

Giving up completely is not an option, because I know that we are slowly winning. By the way, my friend is back in action.

Sources:
- “The World Peace Diet” by Dr. Will Tuttle.
- The story of Malala Yousafzai.
– UN Report on violence against women.
– Article about 7 ridiculous restrictions against women around the world.
– Article from Arab News about the e-book “Arab Women Rising.”
– Facts and Figures from the UN about violence against women.
– Martin Luther King Jr.’s inspiring forgotten speech “Beyond Vietnam” on the military industrial complex, corporate and government power, war and why we need to keep on struggling for justice in a non-violent way on Breaking The Set.
– Jo-Anne McArthur’s extraordinary work can be seen in the movie “The Ghosts in Our Machine,” which can be purchased for viewing online through Amazon.com and her book “We Animals” is a must read.

Veronique Perrot received her training as a Health Coach from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition’s cutting-edge Health Coach Training Program. During her training, she studied over one hundred dietary theories, practical lifestyle management techniques, and innovative coaching methods with some of the world’s top health and wellness experts. Her teachers included Dr. Andrew Weil, Director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine; Dr. Deepak Chopra, leader in the field of mind-body medicine; Dr. David Katz, Director of Yale University’s Prevention Research Center; Dr. Walter Willett, Chair of Nutrition at Harvard University; Geneen Roth, bestselling author and expert on emotional eating; and many other leading researchers and nutrition authorities including T. Colin Campbell, Howard Lyman, Dr. Neal Barnard, and Joel Fuhrman. She has extensive knowledge in holistic nutrition, health coaching, and preventive health, helping her clients to achieve maximum health. As a World Peace Diet Facilitator, she teaches the interconnectedness of all life and helps others to reconnect with their true being.

She received a plant-based certificate from Cornell through The T. Colin Campbell Foundation and is a trained Toastmaster, helping clients to develop their communication and leadership skills. For more information, read Veronique’s blog and visit her website, www.yourveglife.com.