It can be hard arguing with carnists day in and day out and yet when I finally get the chance to hangout with other vegans irl some of them also find the need to give me a rough time for not doing activism their way. Its so exhausting, as communities should save energy when being in them.
The vegan community needs to support one another more often to prevent burnout in the movement as the main reason why people quit is the lack of support as it is daunting facing social exclusion.
All forms are activism are valid, I don’t mind being given advice if I ask what is the best form of activism but when I do activism my own way I should be encouraged as going against the grain is difficult enough. The bare minimum for being vegan should be someone who doesn’t eat or use animal products for the sake of the animals and the extra stuff should be optional as everyone has different circumstances. You want to encourage protests, volunteering for animal sanctuaries, signing petitions, writing campaigns, building vegan organizations, participating in direct action, cooking lessons, doing boycotts, creating guides and informing others? That’s great!
We should celebrate one another for placing the animals first and for making the world a kinder place.
There are surely more options than causing burnout and encouraging everyone regardless of what they’re doing. If someone creates yet another veganism organization with conditions conducive to abuse and oppression, obviously they should be criticized regardless of whether they ask for it or whatever. Like if someone is stomping on someone else, it makes no sense to let them because they don’t consent to you stopping them.
Be supportive, yes. Show solidarity, yes. But never if it is only reinforcing and instantiating dominance structures.
It’s hard to say much more without a concrete example of what you mean, but there are surely ways to be supportive of your peers without uncritically supporting literally anything they do. Sometimes you need to let a friend know they’re doing something fucked up and they need to cut it out. At some point you have to look at the fact that every Food not Bombs chapter is run by abusers and think, maybe aversion to criticism makes like no sense. Not to mention that many of the things you should criticize and resist would themselves cause burnout for more vulnerable activists if they aren’t.