I support people’s right to make their own choices about how they want to live, that’s why I think the Women’s Right to Know Act is (in principle) a good idea**. Not only that, but I wish there were similar acts for our rights to know the animals we rear for food, the forests we replace by crops, the workers that manufacture our consumer goods, the people that are affected by the wars our countries wage, etc. I don’t think that knowing will stop abortions and make us all vegan pacifists, and also that’s not even my goal. For thousands of years people lived meters from the animals they ate, kept on going to war even if it involved stabbing people you’re basically face-to-face with, and (wtf?!) had slaves in their own house. I don’t think that given a choice people will make the right (?) choice, the nice (?) choice, or the choice I would make. But I still think they have the right to make a choice, and that should involve information and having a feel of the consequences of their actions. Informed, conscious choices are sometimes very hard, but they give us the chance to live up to our ideals and become better people, or alternatively to own up to our weaknesses and become better people. I think people have the right to that.

** I support first-hand contact with the consequences of our actions not sensationalism or indoctrination.

disclaimer: Sometimes I eat meat from animals reared in non-humane conditions and buy from retailers that use semi-slave labor (mostly IKEA, Apple and GAP). I do that because it’s cheaper and then I go use the money I saved to do fun stuff (mostly travel and buy books and magazine subscriptions). Every time I have to make a choice about this I struggle inside. Sometimes I make the right choice, the other times are humbling.