"Basically, the reason I'm vegan is because when I was about 16 or 17 years old, I began to understand that we don't need to contribute to the killing and exploitation of animals to feed our bodies correctly"
About this Quote
Johns frames veganism less like a lifestyle badge and more like an ethical upgrade you make once the evidence clicks. The tell is his opening word: "Basically". It’s a disarming hedge, the sound of someone refusing to sermonize while still drawing a hard moral line. He’s not trying to win a debate; he’s trying to make his own origin story feel ordinary and replicable. If a teenager can grasp it, the implication goes, what’s everyone else’s excuse?
The quote hinges on a quiet but potent pivot: from taste to necessity. "We don't need to contribute" recasts meat-eating as participation in a system, not an isolated personal choice. That "contribute" matters. It pulls the listener into complicity without calling them a monster, a rhetorical sweet spot for a public figure who has to keep fans while challenging them. Then he tacks on "killing and exploitation", pairing blunt violence with industrial harm. It’s not just about slaughter; it’s about the machinery around it.
The other strategic phrase is "feed our bodies correctly". Johns doesn’t lean on purity, spirituality, or aesthetics. He goes for functionality and sufficiency: you can be healthy without the harm. That’s aimed at the most common escape hatch people use to avoid ethical discomfort: the belief that animal products are required. Coming from a musician, the subtext is also about agency. This is the age when identity hardens, and he’s presenting veganism as a clear-eyed act of authorship: choosing not to be carried along by default culture.
The quote hinges on a quiet but potent pivot: from taste to necessity. "We don't need to contribute" recasts meat-eating as participation in a system, not an isolated personal choice. That "contribute" matters. It pulls the listener into complicity without calling them a monster, a rhetorical sweet spot for a public figure who has to keep fans while challenging them. Then he tacks on "killing and exploitation", pairing blunt violence with industrial harm. It’s not just about slaughter; it’s about the machinery around it.
The other strategic phrase is "feed our bodies correctly". Johns doesn’t lean on purity, spirituality, or aesthetics. He goes for functionality and sufficiency: you can be healthy without the harm. That’s aimed at the most common escape hatch people use to avoid ethical discomfort: the belief that animal products are required. Coming from a musician, the subtext is also about agency. This is the age when identity hardens, and he’s presenting veganism as a clear-eyed act of authorship: choosing not to be carried along by default culture.
Quote Details
| Topic | Ethics & Morality |
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