It seems to me that when people complain about how selfish and ableist and classist vegans are because obviously “poor people” can’t afford to go vegan they are saying two things:

1. That “poor people” do not care about their health (or are somehow not in a position to care about their health), that they will always choose fast food, that “poor people” cannot and do not enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables and wouldn’t choose these options when presented, that there is no such thing as “poor” vegan, that “poor people” need someone else to talk for them that sometimes (but not always) “poor people” means someone of color, that “poor people” can only show compassion for humans. This all goes for people with disabilities too no matter what they are, how long they have been disabled, how much money they have, what the color of their skin is, and where they are located.

2. That when talking about vegans and non-vegans the only people who matter live in a “first world”, “Western” country, mostly (but not always) having assumed the other person involved lives in the United States. That not one person in a “third world” nation eats a vegan diet willingly or otherwise, that they are not capable of making this decision, that they generally do not exist.

That the people who grow the animals for slaughter often do not get to eat those animals because they cannot afford it is mostly (if not completely) ignored.

By the standards of the majority of the world, every person in a “first world”, “Western” country (even the homeless) live in far better conditions than many will ever see. Neither you, nor I grew up shifting through garbage instead of going to school. Neither you, nor I have been forced into prostitution by our parents, sold into a circus, had acid poured on our face, been born into and are currently living in a war zone &c. &c. Not one of us has any right to call the other a classist or an ableist when we are all sitting pretty.

A great many backlash responses from people who eat meat on this website will say something along the lines of, “if caring about my life more than baby cows makes me a monster then so be it.” I wonder why the hell these same people get upset when a vegan calls them selfish.

I think it’s great that we can live in a society where everyone, even the disenfranchised, the chastised and the “poor” are living pretty comfortably by the standards of almost entire contents. I wish that the whole world could have it as bad as some people think they have it.

It is just plain ridiculous, ignorant and blind to make accusations about people however when you are a)making negative assumptions about a group of people and b) completely ignore how good you have it and then get upset about what you perceive to be us doing the exact same thing.