MentalPolyphonics
Where have all the plumbers gone?
One thing that was sad was people emphasizing...December 16, 2009 at 8:15 am
Tagged: ethics, Food, identity, psychology
When I argue that local/organic food is inethical, I am arguing against the status quo. Most people say that consuming these foods is an ethical act and that people who consume them are more good than people who do not.
According to psychologists, humans have a moral credential system. When you do something good, it changes the way you think so that you’re less likely to do good in the future. There are two possible explanations:
A study at UofT found that people who were forced to purchase green products then went on to share less, lie more and steal more than those forced to purchase non-green products. (Here’s the short paper, but you’re better off reading the Slate commentary.)
If you believe that buying local/organic food is good and you incorporate buying such food into your identity (and I believe it’s impossible not to), then you’re going to put less effort into doing other good works. By analogy, watch a grocery store parking lot as people load reusable bags into SUVs. Local/organic food is a positional good, so people fixate on consuming it to make themselves cool while ignoring all the less glamorous good things they could be doing.
tara
I think you’re misreading your sources here. The Slate writer herself says, “It would be foolish to draw conclusions about the real world from just one paper and from such an artificial scenario.” She effectively introduces this idea of moral accounting/licensing, but doesn’t come close to suggesting, as you do, that we should stop doing environmentally-friendly things like using reusable grocery bags and buying organic, local, or biodegradable products. Some people may feel like doing those things give them license to act like assholes; some people compound on what they see as good moral behaviour with more of it. Your source says that we should simply be aware of this possible psychological function and that is often enough to mitigate it. She doesn’t say we should just act like assholes all the time cause that’s where we’re going to end up anyway. “What’s the lesson here? Let’s stop congratulating each other—and ourselves—for using nontoxic cleaning products and compost bins. After all, it’s really the least we can do.”
Jared
My argument over these last few posts is not necessarily that you shouldn’t buy local/organic food – Jack has been chiming in with selfish reasons why doing so is a good idea – it’s that you shouldn’t be buying them to make the world a better place. This post is about the danger even if they do make the world slightly better.
Fred
@Tara, you make a good point with you comment about how good actions affect other peoples actions in a positive manor. I bet the study doesn’t talk about this, monkey see monkey do effect.
@Jared, I agree with your analysis. Most people off set the good with a little bad.
Jack
The crowd cheers the liberator and the dictator just the same.