Just in case anyone was on the fence about whether vegans are insane...

[Monty92]

We have some awareness, sure. But we also have our instincts. And, as endless examples show, a few missed meals and our 'morality' disappears like an ice lolly on a hot day. Does that make us evil? Or does it just make us animals like everyone else?

The irony, in fact, is that our coveted moral sense is a luxury we have acquired only by ruthlessly exploiting other people, animals and our environment in order to ensure a constant supply of food, water, warmth and shelter. Only the acquisition of those things has given us the luxury to construct a moral universe. Take those things away and morality disappears. Or, if you prefer, we return to a state of 'innocence' in which 'morality' is neither here nor there.

The point is that that we are just animals and only as 'innocent' or 'guilty' as other animals. Also, every aspect of civilised life is tainted by 'immorality' at some point or another. Just because we don't participate directly doesn't make us any less complicit. And, in that context, I find singling out animals for especial concern over humans distinctly odd and not a little distasteful.

There is some justification in singling out animals for especial concern. Yes, by acquiring modern luxuries we are complicit in the suffering of other humans. But everyone agrees that this is sub-optimal and it would be better if we could have such luxuries without any human suffering - and significant efforts (both intentional and inadvertent) are made to move closer to this ambition (see the numbers who have been pulled out of poverty by capitalism over the past 100 years). This consensus is far more ingrained than, say, the belief that it would be better if we could enjoy a KFC without some chickens having suffered a horrific existence, even if we all know that to also be true.

So there is some requirement to redress the balance. Not to shift focus away from humans to animals, or to make us believe it's just as bad for animals to suffer as humans (which it obviously isn't), but to shift the dial on our ethical framework to *some extent* in order to reduce suffering among animals.