Some Cube of Truth Strategies
From All-Creatures.org Animal Rights/Vegan Activist Strategies Articles Archive

FROM Randy Shields
May 2019

At the end of a Cube of Truth event we give our tallies about how many people we believe are sincerely going to look further into veganism.

I wanted to share this with all other Cube of Truthers. At the end of a Cube we give our tallies about how many people we believe are sincerely going to look further into veganism.

Here are my three criteria...

1) I want to see some emotion. I want to see some crying, some anger at what's happening on the screens, some disbelief that all of this is legal and actually going on, I want to see them transfixed or hiding the eyes of someone with them (usually a child) because they can see it's horrible, that this is wrong, etc. People who are not cut off from their emotions are already heading in the right direction, they just need a catalyst.

2) There needs to be a verbal acknowledgement that they understand their part in the animals suffering and killing, i.e., "animals are dying because you're buying." If they offer up a bunch of delusions and bullshit excuses, they are not getting it. If they stay long enough, you can sometimes walk them through this process. Every time we approach someone, treat them like they are ready to change at that moment. Most people aren't ready but we don't know that until we're engaging them. SO TREAT EVERYONE LIKE THEY'RE READY. If you've determined that they aren't ready, don't argue, don't waste time, your ego shouldn't be involved, just have confidence, because there will be many more people who are open to the message during a Cube. The goal should be that nobody walks away without being talked with. A Cube is generally only 3 hours long. Everyone of us can turn up our salesmanship to level 10 for 3 hours a week, we can be "on," we can perform, we can be sharp, we can be on our game. No carnists should ever get the best of us, anytime, anywhere.

3) They have to make a verbal commitment to going to the websites on the card and looking further into veganism and changing their lives. When all 3 of these things happen, I put that person in the "looking further into veganism" tally.

BTW, I go much further than this if given the time. I tell them that we (them and me) are doing something very important today. It's an opportunity to learn about something, to lead a more authentic life, to match up actions (not good) with our values (generally good.) To not mindlessly go along with atrocities just because others are. To stop and think and question. I put it in their heads that they are going to look back a few weeks, a few months, maybe a couple of years from now and understand that this conversation changed their lives and that this is how change happens—a video, a book, a confrontation/conversation.

Remember, we are trying to break down a wall of insensitivity and conditioning that has been built up over many years. It may be a 12" wall and we knocked down 10 inches of it and someone else, later, broke through that last 2 inches. The cruelty and complacency of carnists don't rub off on us, we rub off on them. Whether in the streets, grocery stores, restaurants or food delivery, we vegans set the pace, we clarify the issues, we push the envelope.

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