kicking puppies is bad

But I’m having a really hard time justifying your existence right now. I was having a discussion with a (slightly psychotic jesus-loving omnivorous) friend the other day who was surprised that I would date a carnivore (I’m pretty sure he meant omnivore?). I tried to explain my position on the matter:

I try to be a fantastic person. I volunteer, I’m vegetarian (except gummi bears), and I use energy efficient light bulbs. I subscribe to greendimes so that I’m not contributing to the 100 million trees that are ground up each year for unsolicited mail.

But there are lots of things that I don’t do. For example, I’m sure most of my clothes were produced in horrible fiery sweatshops by starving abused children with big sad puppy dog eyes. And I still eat gummi bears with gelatin (and I mostly don’t feel bad about it). I’m not perfect (or even close).

The people that I enjoy spending time with don’t have to choose the same causes as I do. They don’t have to tutor, rescue puppies, or be vegetarian. Some of my friends are actively involved in politics (I’m not really, and I realize I should be). Some take underpaid jobs that help society instead of rockstar jobs that pay well. But generally the people that I like try to have a net positive impact on the world.

Then I started thinking about what having a “net positive impact” means. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the average American generates about 4.5 pounds of trash per day, with just over 1 pound of that being diverted for recycling. And In a single year, the average American home uses about 84,000 cubic feet of natural gas for heating and cooling, heating water, cooking, and other purposes. There are countless atrocities that happen far away (and we are all vaguely aware of) that go into making our everyday lives as comfortable as they are. And while we all realize that all of our consumable goods have a horrible impact on the world, we generally ignore this.

I’m not so sure that tutoring one night a week, and fostering puppies, and avoiding meat, and mostly recycling, and stopping my junk mail, and fostering kids, and using energy efficient light bulbs can make up for that. I don’t think I have a net positive impact on the world. Perhaps it would be a better place without me?

I’m not saying I’m suicidal (or homicidal). But I am having a really hard time justifying my existence and I try really hard to be a good person. I’m having an even harder time justifying almost everyone else’s. At this point I don’t really think any of us have a net positive impact on the world. Do you?