I don’t have an answer to the prompt. But I was thinking about this the other day. If I buy something like coffee, or chocolate, or meat, I am potentially supporting the exploitation or enslavement of people in the developing world. Am I part of the problem? I have at times chosen “fair trade” items at the supermarket, paying a little more for a — potentially illusory — feeling that I have made a positive contribution.
I’m conscious, naturally, of the way meat animals are raised. I don’t consciously add to the suffering of anyone if I can avoid it. I also know how much the local farmers charge for their pasture-raised, ethically slaughtered meat birds. I can’t afford it.
All that being said, I have in recent years reduced my meat consumption considerably. A fact that young me would have scoffed at. Today’s lunch was hummus and vegetables, topped with a spoonful of muffaletta and some olives on the side. Reducing my meat intake was more for health reasons than ethical ones, but it’s still far less meat than I used to buy. So maybe that reduces the suffering of others a little tiny bit?
But what if I strive to get the most that I can at the lowest price that I can? If I save five dollars on an item I need, but someone (or many someones) were enslaved or tortured or worse for me to save that five dollars, am I just as bad as the billionaires who literally finance mayhem and murder in order to make more billions? Or even a few tens of millions? Like many others, if I lose my job I’m just a few weeks away from homelessness. I’m certainly no billionaire. Am I evil or wicked if my ethics must be set aside every so often so that I can put food on the table? (I know the vegan answer to that last question).
As I said, no answer to the question. In fact, it raises more questions.