I find a vegan chocolate and carefully check the ingredients. No milk or other dairy. Good. Is it okay to buy? No - the company sources it’s cocoa from The Ivory Coast where child slavery is used to harvest the cocoa beans. So I keep looking until I find a chocolate bar that doesn’t hurt animals OR humans. I find one - Fair trade or organic. My wallet hurts a little. A little less chocolate for me overall, but that’s okay. I can always snack on something else if I need to.
I decide to make my spending dollar go a little farther by purchasing some goods through a charitable site. I’m discouraged by the fact that many (if not most) of the goods sold use leather, silk, or other animal products. Why can’t sites that see the evil of human slavery make the connection that killing an animal for his skin is wrong too? I keep searching. There are other purchases I can make from those sites to support the cause without compromising my principles.
At times, I’m inclined to agree with Mark Twain’s view of a conscience. It’s like an anvil that weighs me down, inconvenient, a nuisance. Life would be so much easier without it. But I doubt the world would be the kind of place I’d like to live in anymore. No - Give me my conscience any day. It’s worth reading a few extra labels to work toward a better world.
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