Friday, December 07, 2007

vegan socks?

so i'm all happy because we are getting bicycle socks made with our logo on them. when i ordered them i paid more for them to be a wool blend, i did this because as rider i know wool is really functional, it doesn't absorb oder and will wick away moisture, all which sounds great in a sock right? well i put on our myspace that we were coming out with these socks and i get a reply saying we should make vegan ones...what? why do most vegans have to be so "im vegan" all the time? these socks are going to be good for riding your bike. if you want to sweat away in your cotton of synthetic socks feel free.


cole

7 comments:

Unknown said...

woop woop, 'sock' it to em.

Anonymous said...

you should make some vegan socks for those people. "i'm so vegan!" on one foot, and "all of the time!" on the other. you would think you just announced the introduction of baby seal-skin moccasins.

seveneight said...

baby seal-skin moccasins sound really comfortable. i bet they're soft.

nogodude said...

I couldn't help but notice on your front page the article about the vegan socks. Your comment about "wool socks being good for riding your bike" made me stop and think. The same could be said about your car. It's good for getting you to work. I thought you were about improving the environment by cycling. Factory livestock farming is one of the largest contributors to pollution that there is. But then again maybe your not about the environmen

jake said...

Why do most vegans have to be so "im vegan" all the time?

Why do most people who ride bikes have to be so "I ride a bike" all the time?


Both of those phrases sound pretty stupid don't they?

Anonymous said...

it's worth noting that cole is a vegetarian.

--micah

Anonymous said...

Cole,

Being vegan isn't about identity politics or hipster cred. It's a social justice issue, and it's simply about staying away from animal exploitation, to the greatest extent possible. And it's REALLY easy, once you educate yourself about the ridiculous extent to which humans exploit animals (as well as other humans and the earth) for food, clothing, entertainment, etc.

People (including many vegans) make veganism seem like some impossible task or heroic sacrifice, but it's really the bare minimum we can do if we care about justice for the weakest creatures.

The wool industry is part of the larger sheep industry, which is part of the even larger animal exploitation industry, which sees animals primarily as private property and commodities. And that is part of industrial capitalism, which ultimately sees all life as a commodity. So seemingly innocent products like wool, fur, leather, eggs, and milk are all connected to a level of routine cruelty and slavery that humans aren't even subjected to.

See here for some industry propaganda:
http://www.sheepusa.org/

And see this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsVpV0qsEns

Even if they used so-called "humane" methods of exploiting animals ("organic" milk and "free range" eggs), it would still be exploitation, and vegans would still oppose it.

And besides, it's totally possible and relatively easy to wear good, non-wool, vegan, non-sweatshop-made socks and be comfortable.

And it's also possible to support multiple causes: I can be anti-war, anti-capitalist, anti-sexist, anti-racist, AND anti-animal-exploitation, because in the end they're all really about fighting domination & privilege and supporting equality & liberation.


-Minku