So today the National Review has posted a "rebuttal" to the NY Times article.
BTW, in case you don't know the National Review, it is a very conservative magazine.
The National Review is to the NYTimes as Fox News is to MSNBC. Well, maybe not that bad.
Honestly, I didn't realize what I was reading at first. The title of the story is "Is the Future Vegan?" So I thought it was going to be a complimentary article for the NYT article. Only when I finished the article did I look at the banner and see that it was the National Review. Which was one of those Aha! moments. But to my credit, even just 4 paragraphs in I was wondering if the author actually had met and spoken to a "real vegan".
The author starts off with a typical debate strategy, echoing some of the NY Times' best statements. But then quickly moves on the attack. For instance, he states:
They are mindful of how costly their choice is socially and financially; some practically envy the ignorant abandon with which others consume whatever is served to them.
Really? this statement is not something I have ever thought. and after a year participating in the Vegan Forum, I don't think I have ever heard a vegan express anything like this. At best its an exaggeration.
In the next paragraph, he quotes Rhys Southan, who as an author has written many articles opposing animal rights. Then goes on to say:
Perhaps the non-vegan will notice that a strict adherence to animal rights would require the abolition of agricultural techniques that the current vegan diet relies on, since these kill some animals (pests, animals caught in threshing machines, etc.) and steal and destroy the ecosystems on which yet more animals depend.
This is basically a common approach by trolls to bait vegans. Most vegans learn the counter-arguments to this as soon as they run into it. Again at best an exaggeration or misleading. At worst, lies.
I could go with examples of misleading or false statements in this article, but I just threw up a little in my mouth.
A few days ago I remarked that Vegan KFC might be the tipping point. And I was heartened by the NYT article. And I should keep in mind that this IS the National Review whose headlines have most recently included the "Amazon Scam" and the "Opioid Shakedown". Maybe the best take on this is that it's a bit of wake up call and that we still have a long way to go.
Oh. Almost forgot. Here is a link to the article. It's also behind a paywall. but you get three free articles a month.
Some of us do consider vegan arguments and find them unpersuasive.
www.nationalreview.com
