About Vegan Ethos

To me, being vegan is far more than diet. It is an ethos, an ethical way of living. At its heart is a valuing of all living beings. Part of the ethos of being vegan means being dedicated to not harming other sentient beings. Not just "not using animal products", but not harming mosquitoes, lizards, moths, snails. They are all sentient beings. They all count.
This dedication to not harming doesn't come from a rule, or a commandment, it comes from a recognition that all living living beings have equal intrinsic value. They all are equally born, equally here, equally value their own existence, equally have their own purpose.
Non-harming requires a discipline. Minimally, it means never to intentionally cause harm. Beyond that, it means noticing: noticing what beings are around me; noticing what I am doing; noticing where I step; noticing the consequences of minor actions, like leaving a water bucket uncovered (insects drown). It means actually feeling the bond with other forms of life, paying attention to the birds, the lizard on the stone, the spider building a web in the corner of the bathroom. We don't pay enough attention to our surroundings. Unless we are really amazing beings, no matter how much attention we pay, we can always be more attentive, more present.
Being vegan for me, means being attentive, and valuing the life I see. It means making an effort to not cause harm, making an effort in my life, not just not eating meat or dairy. It means feeling the commonality with life. It means caring. It means not being afraid of other beings. It means not giving other beings a reason to be afraid of me.

For me, the root of my ethos is mystical. That's a personal view. I don't believe that one needs to be religious to be vegan, but I do feel that some sense of an underlying spirit within all life is behind many vegan motivations. For me, that doesn't equate as having anything to do with a "god", but does imply at least a sense of the spirit within nature and life. By training I'm a scientist (a biologist and health specialist), and I don't see anything contradictory in feeling there is a spiritual dimension to life, any more than I feel there is a problem with being a scientist and teaching philosophy of science and environmental ethics. I certainly don't feel that belief in a spiritual aspect of life means I should follow any particular religion, or deny my reason, or take anything on faith. I just feel there is more than reason. There is something within us that we can touch and which connects us to the world, to all other life. Pure materialism seems empty to me, and very alone, but perhaps viewing all things as transitory might create a value for beings that exist, and sense of a sharing based on ephemeral existence, a dancing on the face of the void.

In any case, valuing, caring about life, means wanting to help end all the oppression faced by animals. It is not enough to try not to create harm in my own life. It also means opposing the exploitation and killing of animals. We are social animals. We largely define ourselves in relation to our communities. We are socially engaged, and our social actions and inactions, are equally things we do. I cannot feel like I'm really practicing non-harming if I do not oppose harm. I cannot honestly say I am just if I allow injustice to happen in front of me without raising my voice.
In relation to animal rights, I don't believe "less cruel" exploitation is any sort of answer. We need to stop exploitation. Making exploitation more palatable makes it more acceptable. The only answer is to create a movement that will make animal exploitation as unthinkable as slavery. Like abolition of slavery, there needs to be social change. It was not enough for people to not own slaves. It needed a movement to end slavery. Likewise, ending animal exploitation is not going to happen by some of us not using animal products. Animal exploitation will be abolished by a movement to end this abuse of other sentient beings.
What I consider a vegan ethos has a personal aspect, as a set of practices and an inward journey. It equally has an outer aspect, of acting to promote the abolition of all animal exploitation. Both require a certain change, a development of inner attitudes towards life and living beings, and a social metanoia, a profound "change of mind" in enough people that the normative values of humanity are transformed.