Many people say that choosing to eat/consume animal
products, or choosing to abstain from them (veganism) is a personal choice. But
what do we really mean by “personal choice”? In this context, it would infer
that engaging in animal use (or not) is inconsequential and simply comes down
to a matter of personal preference. As in if you enjoy it, you participate, if
you do not enjoy it, you don’t. Just like listening to a certain genre of
music, or playing a certain sport. “To each their own”. This appears to be a
common opinion on the matter and is often used as a reason to dismiss the issue
without giving it proper thought.
Everything we do in life, every decision we make and every
action we take, is of course ultimately personal choice. Nobody else makes our
choices or acts for us, we are responsible for everything we do. Accepting this, instead of using the term “personal
choice” to refer to all of our choices and actions in life, we generally
reserve it for issues where the outcome only affects ourselves, i.e
choices with consequences that are personal to us. The music we listen to, the books we read, the hairstyle
we choose, are all matters of personal preference that are pretty
inconsequential to anyone else. In that regard, we can define them as “personal
choices”.
But what about choices that do have
consequences for others? Actions that do
affect their lives in more than just trivial or minute ways? What about when
choosing to do something results in serious harm or injustice against someone
else? What about when there is a victim involved? In that instance, the choice can really no longer be defined as “personal” as such. It becomes a moral issue.
