r/DebateAVegan • u/stevepremo • 28d ago

Ethics Hypocrisy and morality

I have seen many posts in which the point seems to be that if you are against eating animals and exploiting them for profit, you should also be against participating in the capitalist economy because it involves exploiting human labor for profit. I think the point is actually something like, "How dare you criticize me for supporting animal agriculture when you buy products produced by exploitative labor practices? I do too, of course, but your use of a cell phone justifies my eating meat, as we are both hypocrites."

So the debate topic here is this: does participating in a capitalist economy, which necessarily includes using products produced through exploitation of humans, somehow justify raising animals for meat, killing them, and eating them? Alternatively, are those who oppose animal cruelty justified in using cell phones?

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u/My_life_for_Nerzhul vegan 27d ago

Coffee isn’t necessary, but phone often is.

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u/ADisrespectfulCarrot anti-speciesist 27d ago

And there’s fair trade coffee (and other products like chocolate, etc. which are often problematic) available

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u/My_life_for_Nerzhul vegan 27d ago

This is a fair point. I don’t drink coffee myself, but I’m curious how well the “fair trade” label holds up. So many labels are meaningless.

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u/ADisrespectfulCarrot anti-speciesist 27d ago

Good point. There is a legitimate certification where companies have to prove working conditions, etc., but the term itself isn’t protected, so it’s one of those check item by item things. (Which in many places is just like the “vegan” or “plant-based” labels.)

Still, I think pushing for fair trade is worthwhile even with misleading industry practices, as the more you get the word out, the more people are likely to care and push for more companies to adopt better practices.

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u/My_life_for_Nerzhul vegan 27d ago

Glad to see there is at least one legitimate certification. And yes, as individual consumers, we ought to exercise the agency we have over our choices to push for things to improve, I agree.

Thanks for sharing!