Vegetables are also alive.

And?

That was only if you answered "yes" to the previous question. You didn't, so never mind.

Stop being so condescending please. I'm doing both. I'm an effective altruist

Public posts are talking to the general audience, not just to you. Veganism seems more religious than rational (like politics), but I'll try to tone it down since you seem more reasonable and asked nicely. Assume good faith. Tone doesn't come through well in writing, and it's more on the reader than the writer.

If they aren't conscious, I'm not against it.

Then why not eat eggs? I don't mean the factory-farmed kind. If the hens were happy would it be okay? If yes, you should be funding the farms that treat their hens better with your food purchases, even if it's not perfect, to push the system in a good direction.

Vegans are constantly correcting people saying how its about minimizing suffering, not eliminating. Because there's no possible way I could be right, right? It'd have to be rationalizing, lol. that's silly. I'd push for plant foods.

Even if that were the more effective intervention? Forget about the diet thing. It's not that effective. Do what actually makes a difference. Use your buying power to push things in a good direction, even if that means eating meat in the short term. See http://slatestarcodex.com/2015/09/23/vegetarianism-for-meat-eaters/

Trophic levels.

It's relevant in some cases, but I don't entirely buy that argument. Efficiency, yes, but morality? On marginal land not fertile enough for farming, you can still raise livestock. No pesticides. What about wild-caught fish? Those are predators higher up the food chain, but they have a more natural life before they're caught.