Going vegan may give some benefits - health, and opting out of processed food come readily to mind. But I suspect for most people, the motivation is ethical. Industrialised animal rearing, transport and slaughter are considered cruel and ,abhorrent, so the vegan will not be adding to the suffering to animals' suffering, and his or her conscience will thereby be appeased.
The effect of a small number of people abstaining from animal products would seem very limited on the food industry and agriculture as a whole, so what is the good of going vegan, apart from knowing that you've done the right thing? In the long term, what hope can the vegan hope of changing the eating habits of society at large? I don't know the answer to this, but the prospects seem limited for the forseeable future. For most, the cheese/milk/croissants/Sunday joint/meat and two veg are a normal part of life and the idea of forgoing these is met with incredulity.
I guess the best way to proceed for now is to impress those around you with the quality of your life and food, to inspire curiosity in your friends, family and colleagues, in the hope that they'll be tempted to make the change. The practical argument for veganism may have to take pride of place over the ethical one, at first anyway.
I think the idea of Veganuary is brilliant as it offers a challenge to the status quo just at the right time of year, and am looking forward to becoming a vegan for a month very much. Whether it'll help achieve its longterm aim I don't know, but acting in accordance with your values is important and that's a good enough reason for taking part. I don't know how I'll feel about it all at the end of January, we'll see.
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