First
of all, before I begin, I think that Merritt Clifton is the biggest obstructionist
that the animal rights movement as a whole faces. However, at least from my own
personal experience, the next biggest obstructionists I have faced are my parents.
I think that the majority of the readers of No Compromise are in their teens and
20's; this means that most of us are still somewhat dependent on our parents (some
of us may still live at home or we may need help paying for rent, college, etc).
Unfortunately, most of us weren't exactly "brought up" vegan
and that in and of itself might have caused some family tension but, from my own
experience, once I took my activism a step further and started "risking arrest",
my other problems seemed trivial in comparison. If we, as activists, are to go
ahead and defy our parents, we may face many obstacles. Our parents may no longer
help pay for our education, they may completely disown us or they may simply make
"coming home" a very unpleasant experience. From my own point
of view, I love my parents very much and I know they won't be around forever so
I don't want to cause them any pain, but at the same time how can I not "speak
up" for the animals? This is where the true obstructing comes into play.
We, as activists, often times have to choose between doing what we know is right
for the animals or upsetting our parents. It is by no means an easy decision to
make. Personally, I'm taking the easy way out of this situation and moving
away for awhile, but this obviously isn't an option for everyone. Unfortunately,
I don't think that I am alone in this struggle. If anyone else is experiencing
the same problems, please contact me (preferably via email), as I think it would
be great if those of us who are experiencing family problems because of our activism
and those people who have overcome these problems can network together and provide
moral support for each other because, after all, if we can overcome "this"
obstacle the real winners will, of course, be the animals. |
