I disagree on this point. It's convenient for a vegan, vegetarian or just someone who is trying to eat less meat to be able to make a substitution in a recipe. Tempeh is a great protein, but you have to know how to prepare it and what dishes it will work best in, whereas vegan "chicken" or plant based "beef" can be easily substituted 1:1 in recipes. As you get more comfortable, you can start substituting things like ground tofu, lentils or seitan, but having the culinary shorthand is helpful for lots of people.
I've had the opposite experience. Most of the vegan recipes I've found online use clever plant based substitutions that aren't processed meat alternatives. A good exercise is to take your favorite dish and Google "vegan [that dish]" and see what ingredients are in those recipes. Many of the recipes you find will likely have whole food ingredients!
I don't think vegan food brands are trying to change hearts and minds necessarily. I think they're just providing easily substitutable alternatives for people who have already decided to eat fewer animal products.
I suppose my intent for this question was a little more nuanced than what I posted, so my bad. Generative AI wowed me initially, but it very quickly lost its appeal to me the more it became anti-consumer. As I learned more about the models and saw how it just aggregates and plagiarizes human created content it all really soured on me. I suppose it's still technically impressive, but I really struggle to see how the benefits outweigh the cost.
The first time it was a tragedy,
The second time it's a farce.
Outside it's 1933,
So I am hitting the bars.
And I don't know what's going on anymore.
The world outside is burning with a brand new light,
But it isn't one that makes me feel warm.
Don't go mistaking your house burning down for the dawn.
Members of the DNC were emailing each other about how best to undermine Sanders' presidential campaign after promising to remain neutral. Democrats, if you want to inspire voters, let them pick the fucking candidate!
The average voter is living paycheck to paycheck, just trying to make ends meet. They see executives making billions while the US government is spending trillions on military equipment, and meanwhile, they're seeing the prices of basic necessities skyrocket and they're just trying to figure out how to live.
This person may vote for Trump, or just sit out the election because they don't think either candidate cares about them. It's not about whether you're progressive enough or centrist enough, it's about speaking to the biggest problem: wealth inequality.
Will the Democrats figure this out? I guess we'll see in 3 years.
This is what immediately popped into my head: https://youtu.be/H5PxjpW0fuc