The community has grown steadily and now has more than 1000 subscribers. My approach so far was very laid back and I did not remove posts or ban many people, unless some very clear cases of spam and trolling.
In recent times, more user reports have reached me, which I did not act upon. This is also due to a lack of rules.
My original intention was to have a space for discussion, also with non-vegans. I see that the community is mostly passive with posts being links to external sites with few comments, also to sites of the posters. I personally don’t mind and the upvotes tend to be >80%, which is a sign that a large majority likes this kind of posts.
This is why I want to ask you:
- Would you like to see more regulation on this community?
- What rules should be applied?
- What would you specifically not like to see?
I’m also open to have more moderators than just me for this community and general ideas for improving this community.
Thank you for your input! 🌱
I mostly agree with this. I have zero interest in studies showing that consumption of such-and-such legume reduces the risk of heart disease or that such-and-such company has a new plant-based plastic-wrapped food-like substance available. I’m much more interested in practical tips for achieving animal liberation and overthrowing the capitalist oppressors. (The term “capital” actually comes from “capita” meaning “head” - wealth was once measured in how many head of cattle someone owned. The Sanskrit word for “war” literally means something like “the greed for more cattle” if I remember correctly.) Artistic or literary works with a strong vegan message that could be useful as propaganda are also something that I enjoy. I recently read The Word for World is Forest by Ursula Le Guin after seeing someone in another community on this site recommend it, and there is definitely a veganarchist message in there.
I would not make the focus hope or the climate crisis, however. Hope and faith are poor substitutes for direct action, and while the climate crisis is an extremely important issue in general, it is only relevant to veganism insofar as it affects non-consenting beings and is caused by their exploitation. The focus of veganism is animal liberation, and human health or environmentalist issues only distract from that. Something like “A place for solarpunks working toward a world without speciesism” would make more sense for this community. Solarpunk already implies ecological sustainability and addressing the climate crisis.
Also, grass is one of the many tools of the devil, widely employed by the animal exploitation industry as the cheapest possible feed, destroying vast amounts of forest in the process, so anything involving grass roots has got to go.
I’m with you, but I do stress the optimistic and hopeful part given the utopian nature of the solarpunk movement. I’m not talking about toxic positivity, that’s gross lol and leads to inaction. Moreso on replicable activities, collaboration, brainstorming, sharing successes, not dehumanizing others, and rejecting despair.
A lot of your posts are in line with what I mean about keeping the focus, like those about biodiversity loss and deforestation. Definitely not saying that’s all that fits here or all this place should be, but those do fit more than what feels like advertisements.
Maybe it’s because I’d like to see each vegan community on the fediverse have their own flavor… Like blahaj highlighting the intersections of queer and animal liberation, or lifting up queer activists. Or .ml discussing veganism through a communist lens, .ca focusing on Canadian concerns and movements. Right now, it feels so homogeneous.
Thank you for the last bit 😂 Killing your lawn is vegan!
So you mean integrating the ethical with the practical? “How to get shit done” rather than “I hope someone does something”? Less advertising, more wheatpaste-able propaganda? I agree! As a subversion tactic, eating a pre-packaged veggie burger is questionable at best.
Plant trees, grow your own banana, share with your neighbours, get a vasectomy/bisalp, cancel your credit cards, boycott taxation, organise and strategise, flip tables, rescue the imprisoned, sabotage cruelty, read Ecodefense,and of course, don’t do anything illegal. The last thing we’d want to do is offend someone.