Why a vegan diet may not be the revolutionary way forward

"Sure. Your parents got the property boom, but we've got vegan bacon that tastes like bacon"

This was a slogan remember seeing on a billboard at a bus stop advertising plant based bacon once. What they may have thought of as a genius marketing slogan set to appeal to a younger demographic struggling to find affordable housing, it came off to me as condescending and demeaning of the actual struggles that the UK's low income population have to face, and seemed to do little more than alienate them further from the interests set about through the establishment of a failing economic system which only sought to repress them further and exacerbate the disparities they face. In fact, it seemed like the perfect visual representation of capitalism: seeking to market a non-essential rarely recognised new product which many would buy purely for the novelty appeal of it, this appearing to further entice them to buy it by making its supposed environmental benefits and comparatively high protein content, making them convinced that they are doing themselves and the planet some good, and if they dared slip up and say they preferred a real bacon sandwich, be labelled as counterrevolutionary and to blame for contributing to excessive exploitation and overconsumption globally (when really all they're doing is dare say they dislike some overpriced ultra-processed flavoured cardboard). This seems to constitute greenwashing and the development of conditions by which eco-fascism could potentially flourish.

This culture of victim blaming and ensuring people take responsibility for their actions, and seeing this as the most effective means to bring about change seems to be one often adopted by liberals and those sympathetic towards current systems in place, aiming to merely advocate reforming them to support their needs better as opposed to bringing about any progress with dismantling the means by which they exploit us and our resources to further accelerate their capitalist aims further adds to this agenda of greenwashing. But above all, it ultimately functions as a rigid distraction from the failing capitalist society we are all being exploited under, considering its existence is either be too difficult or unsustainable for the time being, or that (most likely) it would go against their corporate greed mentality and hinder future enterprising opportunities that they could supposedly gain from. What would instead be a sensible revolutionary solution would be for more sustainable means of operating within society, along with a degrowth approach to the ever expanding economy. Through this, the collective wealth and assets could be equitably distributed amongst the people once again resolving the issues posed by rising disparity and poorly managed economic growth, along with reversing the impacts of the current significant environmental crises we face. This would in turn reduce the need for investment into new infrastructure and technology to mitigate for these situations of peak crisis- this having been largely influenced by globalisation and Westernisation on an international level. As a result, in relation to these principles, it seems illogical to blame something as natural as eating meat, which humans have done for thousands of years (evidenced through their anatomical features and anthropological evidence as to their environmental situation and the readily available foods they consumed) long before capitalism reached its peak. As a result, one can see veganism as a heavily westernised take (particularly notable considering marginalised groups in precarious socioeconomic systems or in societies in which few alternative sources of food than meat can be cheaply and easily accessed) developed at a point of comparative privilege built off of limited nuance and complexity, thus seeming to do little more than help capitalism flourish and become somewhat more palatable amongst a greater audience.