I know I’m treading on thin ice here because people can feel attacked about the slightest thing. Making principled choices is a grand and admirable way to go about life, but it seems that some people who do can be very defensive about the choices they make.

By the way, just so it is clear, I’m not singling out veganism or any other set of beliefs or behaviours, I’m just using it as an example. I could equally have said “Does wearing a cycle helmet make you a better person?” (Or becoming a non-smoker, adhering to a particular doctrine, saving toads,,, anything that people hold strong beliefs about).

I ask the question to draw attention to the way we (I include myself, naturally), can get a little smug about the ethical choices we make. I suppose that a consequence of making them is that we want to feel good about our decisions, and feeling good about our decisions could help us feel good about ourselves.

Is it then that feeling good about ourselves, leads to us believing that we are better than others who haven’t made the same choices?