I wonder why the only points discussed are about animal ethics. The strongest point for going vegan is simply enviromental (and thereby more about human ethics). The UN did a study on the enviromental effects of livestock called 'Livestock's Long Shadow'. When I do out myself as a vegan, I try to steer the discussion away from animal ethics (unless I can make a few points there) since with the denialists this turns way too philosophical and tedious.
"Warren Buffet thinks that in order to be successful, you should focus on doing just a few things well." -xccf
Yea, fuck ethics. No seriously what? You can't change a cultural habit because other things you're doing will suffer? E.g. if you wanna be a successful investment banker don't leave your sect, cause managing two things in your life is too difficult. Sorry, that's just plain laziness. Though if you are not living in a larger city, your point might just be valid. In the larger german city I live in it was fairly easy to find vegan supplements.
I think it's just a matter of time, there are some interesting startups tackling meat like products and as soon as they'll beat the price of "real meat" (which is very likely given the effort animal products take) change will come and I speculate that we will enter the era of hindsight ethics in which everyone will be pro-animal rights. And if you allow the Schadenfreude, I'll be glad to tell my grandkids that I was on the right side of the fence.
So am I, I just don't see the big cost in ressources while I do think the cost in ressources livestock has is proven.
I admit, the analogy wasn't as clear as I hoped it would be. My point was that we have the capacity to solve multiple problems in our lives. Peter Dinklage is an awesome actor while being vegan... so yeah.. Not my strongest argument maybe :D
A good way to bring development forward in an open market is to generate demand and from my personal experience (excuse the irrationality, or not) vegans tend to generate a higher demand for such products. So why the false dichotomy?