“Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.”
Marcus Aurelius
Veganism is in trouble.
Not because the movement failed.
But because it got popular — and in the process, it got diluted.
These days, “vegan” means everything and nothing.
It’s a label slapped on fast food, a filter for Instagram, a checkbox for trend-chasers. And somewhere along the way, the ethic behind it got lost.
Let’s be clear: Veganism isn’t a diet.
It’s not about weight loss.
It’s not about aesthetics.
It’s not about saving the environment.
It’s a moral stance — one that refuses to participate in exploitation when other choices exist.
But in the race to make veganism “mainstream,” we watered it down.
We replaced philosophy with packaging.
We stopped talking about why it matters and started selling it as if it were just another commodity.
If we want to save veganism, we need to return to the roots — and I don’t mean the edible kind.
We need to bring back the why.
We need to say the word animal again.
We need to talk about their use.
About justice.
About the kind of people we want to be.
It’s uncomfortable, sure.
But the Stoics never promised comfort.
They promised clarity.
Marcus didn’t avoid hard truths.
Epictetus didn’t sugarcoat injustice.
Neither should we.
Saving veganism means standing up — even when it’s inconvenient.
It means saying “no”, even when it’s profitable.
It means refusing to hide behind soft branding and watered-down slogans.
It means living the values out loud — not just in how we eat, but how we act.
You want to save veganism?
Be the person who doesn’t flinch when the truth is hard.
Be the one who lives by ethics, not ego.
Be the example you wish you’d seen before you got here.
That’s how you save veganism.
Not with ads.
Not with influencers.
With integrity.
Photo by Myicahel Tamburini: