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ಕೃಷ್ಣ ಶಾಸ್ತ್ರಿ - Krishna Shastry
ಪ್ರಾಣಿ ಹಕ್ಕುಗಳು, ಶುದ್ಧ ಸಸ್ಯಾಹಾರ, ಪರಿಸರ, ಆರೋಗ್ಯ ಇವೆಲ್ಲವನ್ನೂ ಒಳಗೊಂಡ ವೀಗನಿಸಂ ಎಂಬ ತತ್ವದಲ್ಲಿ ನಂಬಿಕೆ ಇಟ್ಟಿರುವ ಒಬ್ಬ ಸರಳ ಕನ್ನಡಿಗ ನಾನು.
ನನ್ನ ಇತರ ಆಸಕ್ತಿಗಳೆಂದರೆ ನೀತಿಶಾಸ್ತ್ರ, ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ನೀತಿಸಂಹಿತೆಗಳು, ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ಆರೋಗ್ಯ, ಆವಿಷ್ಕಾರಗಳು, ವಿಜ್ಞಾನ, ಕನ್ನಡ ಭಾಷೆ, ಭಾಷಾನೀತಿಗಳು ಇತ್ಯಾದಿ.

I am a simple Kannadiga following veganism, that cares about animal rights, pure vegetarianism, environment and health.
My other interest include ethics, public healthcare, public policies, innovation, science & technology, Kannada language and linguistic policies.
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Sunday, April 20, 2014

"Vegan Tax" to accelerate vegan revolution

Number of pledges so far: 10
(Last updated on 24 Apr 2014)


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It is easy to tell people what not to eat, what not to consume etc. but it is very difficult to get into the system and provide them alternatives. But if we are able to crack this tough nut, then many people can easily be motivated to adopt vegan lifestyle.

Now, consider this:


500 people & just 500 rupees per month
= 1 successful vegan restaurant!

1000 people & just 1000 rupees per month
= A vegan revolution in entire India!!!

Does the above look unreasonable to you or something that can be realistically dreamed?


Now, think about this further:


How about you voluntarily sign up for a small 'Vegan Tax' on your earnings that goes towards a vegan fund which will be used to accelerate vegan revolution in your part of the world?


We already have many taxes that we cannot escape from

Income Tax, Sales Tax, Service Tax, Professional Tax - what not - whatever tax government imposes we silently pay. In addition, sometimes government identifies some special areas and imposes additional education cess etc. and we pay that also. Of course, government is a democratic system which is beyond the control of any individual - once decision is taken by the government, we don't have a choice but to abide by the same, and whether all these taxes are used in appropriate way or not, we have to give anyway.

But we cannot and generally do not turn away from additional (voluntary) donations
When it comes to other donations and contributions, we have a choice - we can give only if we wish to. It is easy to escape by saying 'I am already paying so much of taxes and it is government's duty to do all these, why should I pay more from pocket? If I pay then government will continue to do nothing'. But most of us think in a very different angle (of course the extent varies) - "Whether government does or not, we cannot stop continuous efforts towards xyz improvements. At one end I will try to see how I can continuously push/influence my government to spend my taxes in a wise fashion and on the matters that I find important, and on the other hand let me also stretch a little bit further and contribute towards positive establishments/activities which are clearly making a difference'. It is the 2nd set of people whose voluntary & selfless contributions accelerate any revolution.

Now, think about a 'Vegan Tax' which will be just 1% of one's earnings.

Let us see some hypothetical numbers:


What can we achieve with this?

Based on my experience in Carrots and various kinds of analysis, I can confidently say that we can realistically achieve all the following and more with this kind of fund.

1) Establish a chain* of fantastic vegan restaurants that focus on health, environment as well as animal rights
2) Each restaurant space to be attached with a great event space that can be utilized for documentary screening, vegan parties and what not
3) Wide variety of Healthy Vegan dine-in food as well as meat-dairy alternative take-away options to entire public at very affordable and competitive prices, so that general public also finds it irresistible
4) Regular vegan outreach programs of various kinds, which are boosted with vegan food also
5) Implementation of great concepts such as Seva Cafe on several occasions
6) Great and constant media coverage
* A new branch can be opened once every year or sooner!!!

Maybe we can also dream of having farms where food is grown with very low cruelty footprint :-)

How will the fund be managed? What will be the goals? Who will track them? How to ensure regular inflow of funds or compliance of pledges? All these questions are secondary. And no one has to disclose their earnings also - we are just looking at a steady stream of contributions being pledged to accelerate the vegan revolution, and consider it as a 'tax' that is all - whether you want to pledge 0.1% or 10% of your earnings, doesn't matter. But primary question is - how many people are even conceptually okay with this idea and this kind of commitment? If you are, please fill up this form and if the response is overwhelming, there is no reason to not dream big!

Pledge Now :-)

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1AfDWpcTGmQUmVh1BMJzWgzkPXCfXJ0a5JOpAUdwox5Y/viewform?usp=send_form

A short story to end with

Once upon a time, there was a wise man who was earning a modest money but still was very happy. Whenever asked, he used to say 'I follow a simple equation, and this keeps me very happy'

I divide my earnings into 4 equal parts:
- I give one part to government as taxes, and help run the country
- I give one part to my wife, and help run my family
- I save one part, considering emergency expenditure and oldage requirements
- I give one part to underprivileged, and try to bring smile on their faces
Of course, life equations need not be that simple always. However, think hard about the concept of 'Vegan Tax' proposed above - it is not that challenging if you consider it as 'just another tax' and make peace with it! But it can make the world much better place, much faster.

4 comments:

Veganosaurus said...

I think this is a brilliant idea! Supporting a vegan restaurant which can bring vegan food to non vegans is a great way to help veganism grow!

Anonymous said...

I endorse the idea emphatically, and am willing to pitch in with money as well as any administrative support I can provide. - Pulkit

k v rangan said...

I subscribe to this idea and I pledge part of my monthly salary to this!!

RadhaG said...

Wonderful idea! Completely endorse it.

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