Sorry fellow vegans, the state won't solve the world's problems

I am of a rare species – a vegan Tory. I am rather isolated in this camp. In fact, I can’t think of a single other vegan Tory that I know. Those who know me to be a vegan, are shocked when they find out I’m a Tory; those who know me to be a Tory, are equally shocked when they hear I am a vegan. It’s not the case that vegans are too preoccupied with eating lettuce leaves to get involved in politics – they are here, but they all seem to gather in flocks on the left of the political spectrum. I am often asked the question: how can you possibly be a Tory if you’re vegan? It is not the case that I’m vegan in spite of the fact I’m a Tory – the two qualities are compatible. The right is in fact better for the vegan and environmentalist cause, and they should change their approach if they really want to save the animals and the planet. So why is it that we find the vegans and environmentalists on the left? Why are they in the wrong place? 

I often find myself hiding the fact I’m vegan because announcing this makes others envisage you to be of a certain type, a type I am extremely embarrassed to be associated with. In fact, I more often than not find myself giving a disclaimer when people ask “Are you vegan?” when they notice I am eating the vegan option.  I usually respond with “Yes, but don’t worry, I’m not a hippy, raging, left-wing social justice warrior”. I struggle to make vegan friends, because as soon as a vegan realises my politics, they think I am an intolerable Satanist of some sort. I distinctly remember one debating competition where a girl I was chatting with at lunch noticed that I was eating the vegan option and exclaimed “Oh, you’re vegan! You should make friends with those guys over there – all the vegans are on that table.” I looked over and saw a group of the most left-wing debaters at the event with ripped coloured fishnet tights, neon coloured hair, Doc Martins, nose rings, tattoos, you name it! If I tried to make friends with them, I doubt they would welcome me considering my political views: in the previous debate, one of them was practically screaming at me for advocating freer markets, as if there were no greater evil in the world than the free market economy that produced the vegan sandwich that she ate for lunch.  

So why are they all so left-wing, and why aren’t I? There are several reasons why: a misunderstanding of the values that the right believes in and delivers on, and the poor judgement that if you can’t solve a problem alone, only the state can resolve the matter. I’m sure the age demographics of the Tory party have something to do with the lack of numbers (as vegans tend to be young people), but nevertheless even in a room full of young Conservatives I am always the only vegan, so age demographics can’t be the only reason for a lack of vegan Tories. There still seems to persist a misunderstanding that the right are selfish profit-makers and the left are caring, and that these two things are mutually exclusive. This misconception probably springs from different attitudes to welfare: wealth redistribution seems like the most direct, obvious and guaranteed way of helping the most vulnerable in society. Less wealth redistribution is viewed as less care for the poor and vulnerable, but the reality is that the wealthy, prosperous society created from freer markets and lower taxes improves the safety and quality of life for the worst-off far more than a socialist, redistributive society ever will – care for the poorest of society can be one of the strongest values of Conservatism, but this often goes unrecognised. Those who align themselves with caring values – a willingness to sacrifice for the benefit of the less fortunate – are the people who are likely to be more caring of the welfare of animals and the environment, and hence are willing to make sacrifices in their eating choices. The right do support profit-making and the self-interest of individuals and businesses (which is what often gives us the poor reputation), but they recognise that the existence of profit-motives in the economy is not mutually exclusive with but in fact promotes caring values. The lack of recognition of the compatibility of freedom and profit-motives with care for others is thus a reason why vegans and environmentalists align with the left.  

The second reason is this idea that if you can’t solve a problem as an individual, the state must come to the rescue. My choice to eradicate meat and dairy consumption from my diet, and to engage in a more environmentally friendly lifestyle is unfortunately, not going to save the planet or stop animal cruelty altogether. My actions do make a difference but change on a grand scale is needed to effectively combat the evils of climate change and animal cruelty. Unfortunately, the top-down approach – government intervention – is often seen as the only solution to problems like these, and hence we see vegans and environmentalists advocating political regimes with more state interference.  

So why are they wrong? Why should an individual who cares for animal welfare and the planet move to the right-wing? Firstly, the free market has proven itself to be far more effective than any state intervention at promoting and accommodating veganism. Just because profit-motives have previously led people to harm animals and the environment, doesn’t mean that the solution cannot lie in the profit-motive: as long as consumers change their demands, the profit-motive will work in favour of veganism and environmentalism. I’ve seen the market evolve enormously in the 3 ½ years that I have been vegan – I’ve gone from only being able to eat chips and salad in every restaurant to finding an enormous range of exciting vegan options in almost every restaurant or shop I walk into. Not only has the free market’s response to the increasing demand for vegan products made being a vegan far more exciting and interesting, but it has had a great multiplier effect for the movement: as more vegan products emerge on the shelves and on menus, more and more people see vegan foods and are tempted to try them, giving more exposure to the movement. Just take a look in shop windows this ‘Veganuary’. The emergence of a wide range of vegan products that replicate non-vegan products – increasingly realistic vegan burgers, vegan cake, vegan mac & cheese, vegan ice cream (anything you name, there is a vegan version of it out there) – has made it significantly easier to transition into veganism because there are substitutes for everything for those first few weeks when you still crave old foods. Also, becoming vegan is a lot less daunting knowing that there is a vegan version for everything – in the past going vegan meant committing yourself to never eating cake, ice cream and many other tasty foods ever again for the rest of your life. Most of the firms providing an increasing range of vegan products have little care for the vegan movement (they are just providing vegan profits because changing demand means they can make more profit by doing so), but who cares if it makes both the vegans and the company owners happy? Everybody wins. The story is the same for provision of environmentally friendly products. Therefore, vegans and environmentalists are out of their minds to be damning big businesses and supporting policies that put big tax burdens on the businesses that are helping them – they should rather be supporting ingenuity and growth in business. 

Secondly, vegans and environmentalists are wrong to be putting all of the pressure on the government to solve the problems that they can’t solve on an individual level. Sure, government policy can play a role in combatting climate change and animal cruelty – the 5p plastic bag charge and recent improvements in provision of animal rights have been positive changes in my opinion – but trying to put all the blood on the hands of the government is counterproductive.  As has been explained, consumer trends play a massive role in these matters, far more than any government initiatives ever will. The consumers are the ones making up the billions of people living on this planet who choose what they put in their mouths, how they transport themselves around etc and they are the ones with the power to decide what products businesses sell and how they produce them. The government has the power to implement some regulations, taxes etc that can cause some change, but do you really think the government would ever have the power to, say, ban the sale of meat? I don’t think so, especially considering the government is dependent on the support of meat and dairy farmers that they subsidise. Vegans and environmentalists shouldn’t be putting all responsibility on the government saying “we could solve the world’s problems, but we have to wait until government starts taking action” but rather be putting more pressure on the public to change their views and habits now as that is the most effective way to make change.  

For these reasons, I welcome vegans and environmentalists to recognise the power of free consumers and businesses to better their cause, and to move to the right. I hope one day I can attend a Tory dinner party where I am not the only vegan Tory at the table.  

Chloe Dobbs (Publications Editor) is a first year reading Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Pembroke College.