What do you wish EVERY VEGAN would wake up and realize?

Katia Luto - I would like to see vegans dropping all racism and sexism. Seeing disgusting racist and sexist comments from vegans on Facebook has been my greatest disappointment since becoming vegan. I still respect vegans for simply being vegan. But, some still need to make the connections between ALL forms of oppression.

Scott Kujak - That there is more than one way to promote and advocate veganism.

Ken Hopes - A vegan friend just Facebook'd an invitation to come out and enjoy free horse carriage rides! I wish all vegans understood that is is about rejecting exploitation.

Heidi Woodruff - You are making a difference just by living vegan.

Dian Hardy - That we are a tiny minority of the worldwide population, the majority of whom have not enough food to survive, lack housing and basic sanitation and see their children die young. That we, this tiny minority, may have right on our side, but what about those who struggle for the rights of minorities, of people of color, those in prison, those bullied for being gay or geeks. We need to reach out further and embrace other embattled groups, make common ground, coalition, and realize the truth of other struggles.

Mary Elizabeth Cianciolo - That we should quit squabbling amongst ourselves about minor issues and focus our energy on the big picture.

Maya Shlayen - That veganism is a moral obligation (and not just a lifestyle choice); that we have a vegan world, if we are willing to work for it and create it.

Doris Lin - That we are part of a larger social justice movement, and there is no place for racism, sexism, homophobia or any other oppression in our movement.

Grace Lorraine - That the single most important thing we can do is inspire others to embrace the vegan lifestyle. (Relatedly, how collecting signatures for bigger cages, passing out booklets equating veganism with "reducing suffering" (and other activities like that) not only squanders time, it generates the sense in people that they have "done enough already" for the animals--even though those people still are not vegan.)

Leah McKelvie - That non-vegans aren't "the enemy."

Danny VeganBatman Nichols - I wish every "vegan" would wake up and realize the true definition of the word vegan and truly understand why the word HAD to be created in the first place. I wish every vegan would wake up and realize oppression in ALL its forms; in work places, governments, religions, families, schools, doctor's offices, etc...I wish every vegan would wake up and realize that being vegan is to be non-speciesist, and that it's not enough to simply not to be speciesist, just as it wasn't enough to simply not be racist. Just as with rascism, people needed to speak up or act whenever they saw racism, and that's what brought real change; not people sitting comfortably in their homes happily not being racist. It takes pointing it out and shunning it. Social pressure is the single most effective tool for bringing about change, so until speciesists are made to feel as awkward as racists do now, we still have a long way to go.

Sos Orangutans - That being vegan is good, but that efforts don't stop there. It's more of a starting point for helping the planet. If you're going to be a vegan, don't chuck out lots of plastic for animals to choke on it. Don't be a gas guzzler that's going to burn them in oil spills, either. Killing animals is both direct and indirect. If you love the animals, be vegan, but also be a good environmentalist, because the animals also need clean, healthy habitats to live in, in order to survive.

Janice Stanger - Need to stop killing the planet with toxic chemicals, need to stop deforestation and any use of palm oil, need to stop consuming so much period.

Dale Hiebert - That promoting anything less than veganism is doing no one any favors and vegetarian is not a step towards being vegan. Also vegan is more than a diet. Oh, and vegan is love and violence doesn't belong there.

Debbie Basha - We can educate...every day...all day...by example, by sharing...by being!

Shane Andrews - That Vegans would understand that humans are also animals and are also deserving of Love and respect. It is not uncommon for Vegans to celebrate the deaths of meat process workers and hunters. It is not right, these people still have family, friends and animal companions. Veganism is Love, it is not hate.

Lai Sityar - That if we condone animal welfare and say that this and that is a "step in the right direction" instead of educating nonvegans about veganism and the aboilition of animal use from the get-go, we're never gonna be close to a vegan world. Also that we keep thinking of vegans as "superheroes" and promote veganism as a way of saving lives instead of it being the right thing to do. We are taking away the focus from the animal's plight when we make it about us and our vanities. It has always been about us which led to where the world and its inhabitants are now, so we have to elevate each of our consciousness in order to make real and permanent change because this worldwide insanity just keeps escalating.

Bonnie Shulman - That each of us is more powerful than we realize; that by being positive and gracious we can instantly undo years of prejudice against veganism and vegans.

Narelle Mavracic - I wish that vegans would realise that we are a global family united by the same cause, love, respect, honour and dignity towards all sentinet beings, including each other.

Mark Jordan - www.humanemyth.org, and the truths in the book: Speciesism by Dunayer

Melissa Vegan-Keller - I wish they would realize that it is about the animals and that we need to stick together and fight to win this.

Donna Anderson - There's no 'I' in vegan.

Sara M Plues - About how welfare reforms and single issue campaigning can be counterproductive and; not really helping long term. And I'm still realising this! The millions of animals are relying on us to stay clear headed.

Melissa Clem-Vegan - having an elitist attitude does the movement no good and only serves to alienate people who might otherwise be interested in veganism!

Susan Kate McKinstry - Try not get depressed because of all the cruelty in the world. Show everyone how doing your best to live ethically can make you a happy person.

Michelle Statham - If we all convince one person to be become Vegan and in turn they convert another we would have an epidemic. Hoorah

Anita Vegan-Mahdessian - that a silent vegan is an enabler and that just 'leading by example' is not good enough.

Debbie V Barnes - I wish that vegans would stop judging and condemning each other..... we are all different and none of us are perfect :-) If vegans can't get along then who the bloody hell can? I have seen both hard hitting and gentle approaches make a difference. Veganism is more in the spotlight than ever before so I wish we would all wake up, stop bickering and get on with making a difference. After all.....it's the animals that are important ♥

Kyle Krakow - I wish we would stop wishing. We need to understand that changing our diet is a good start, necessary start— but it is not enough. If we're not physically acting on the responsibility we have for the animals, we're not affecting any measurable changes that bring them closer to liberation. We need to realize that the agents of their enslavement and slaughter do not take seriously our demands (let alone call it quits) when our concerns don't transcend personal lifestyle choices and consciousness. We need to realize that while outreach and education can be crucial to building a compassionate movement, these approaches alone are very clearly insufficient. We don't have centuries to work with. And even if we did, the animals being effaced from existence right now don't have time for anything less than a real effort on our part to confront and dismantle the industries that profit from their misery. So should we continue educating and instilling empathy wherever and whenever the chance arises? Absolutely. But if we keep convincing ourselves that all the animals need is more vegan outreach, we are profoundly deluded. We've got to realize that while there may be cause for celebration and back-patting at times, the state of the planet is such that we can devote every waking minute to total liberation and still not be doing enough. Most of us may take the animal holocaust seriously, but it's not often enough that this urgency is reflected in our actions.