Greater good revisited

1666: 

I suppose I’m arguing that to ignore animal issues is dangerous. In body terms, it would be like being passive about an illness when a deadly virus is taking us over. We think we can ignore it and carry on as usual, doing what everyone else is doing, getting away with it, thinking we can live in the comfort of a consumer-istic atmosphere, without any ill effects.

If we want our society to be a strong force for good on the planet, then we have to set personal standards. We have to let our enthusiasm for the greater good move freely with the other great forces we recognise in life - altruism and optimism.

Altruism is probably not very much different to optimism since both deal with the combination of good intentions and satisfying outcomes. When you set out for good results and it works for you, you tend to feel optimistic; perhaps optimism is the result of setting standards for being unselfishly-useful. When it works it recharges our energy. We experience the pleasure of using energy for others’ benefit. Being involved with each other in that way often results in reciprocation and a beneficial mutual exchange.

Optimism shows up like a light. Others can’t help but see it, especially when we're not showing-off but simply acting in an unselfconscious way. And that needn’t be anything special, if only because we all enjoy habits which involve some self-discipline. Just as lifeguards love to be on the beach to save lives when people get into difficulties, we all like being useful and reliable. We like to be needed. Whole relationships can surely be based on this same pleasure-service principle.

As we develop new and sometimes not-so-easy-to-install habits, for example in setting up a vegan lifestyle, the main driver is usually optimism. We look forward to acquiring better, more pleasure-giving habits, adopting a more useful way of living based on give and take. When we act optimistically, good habits fall into place and selfish ones fall away. Maybe, like kids settling in on their first day at school, new habits are a bit shaky at first. It’s optimism that gets us over the hump of new-habit-building. We are, if we did but know it, preparing for the repair-journey ahead. Perhaps we instinctively know that new habits are preparing us for change, for what we will all have to get used to, soon enough.