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Notes -
I think the same instinct drove people to attack mask wearers in the early COVID days. It's also why people are intolerant of cultural practices which don't obviously affect them, like women wearing hijabs. It's harder for something to become mandatory if it remains rare.
Basically "what is not mandatory is forbidden," I take it?
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It’s also a lot harder to make it common if you’re not willing to start small. I think the flexitarians will move the needle toward reduced demand for meat simply by forming the habit of eating less meat. And as more people are choosing to eat meat less and trying out vegetarian and vegan recipes and asking for those options in restaurants, then it’s going to be much more mainstream. And in fact I see it happening n grocery stores alongside keto and gluten free. People trying it out and doing it every once in a while was more than enough to put enough options in grocery stores that even in Missouri, I could easily get the kinds of foods that I want in any one of those diets. As time goes on, I expect that even more people will be willing to try black bean burgers or fake meat nuggets and never look back.
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