One kind of reason to do both: It’s not a true tradeoff.
This argument comes up a lot in the EA/veganism debate, and I think it’s a “minds very different from our own” situation. Some people don’t find eating vegan to be costly, or find it cheap enough to not notice. Some people find it prohibitively costly, or so costly that it’s not worth considering. What I would ask is that people who find veganism cheap acknowledge that their experience is not universal, and for some people it really is that hard.
This isn’t a moral argument. Sometimes the morally correct thing to do is costly. But it doesn’t help anything to pretend it’s cheap.
This isn’t a “minds very different from our own” claim, though. It’s an empirical claim about how expensive a vegan diet needs to be to be nutritious. Cam stated: “But it’s also quite feasible to meet most people’s dietary requirements with vegan foods that cost just as much as, or even less than, animal-based foods.” What exactly in that statement do you dispute?
ETA: Even though there is a risk in overstating the case that veganism is universally “cheap,” at present it seems that case is far understated. I think the value of Cam’s comment is in noting that veganism is at the very least cheaper than most people suspect before trying it.
I don’t think “costly” here just refers to money. I think Elizabeth is talking about all kinds of costs, from time and money to emotions and social connections.
This argument comes up a lot in the EA/veganism debate, and I think it’s a “minds very different from our own” situation. Some people don’t find eating vegan to be costly, or find it cheap enough to not notice. Some people find it prohibitively costly, or so costly that it’s not worth considering. What I would ask is that people who find veganism cheap acknowledge that their experience is not universal, and for some people it really is that hard.
This isn’t a moral argument. Sometimes the morally correct thing to do is costly. But it doesn’t help anything to pretend it’s cheap.
This isn’t a “minds very different from our own” claim, though. It’s an empirical claim about how expensive a vegan diet needs to be to be nutritious. Cam stated: “But it’s also quite feasible to meet most people’s dietary requirements with vegan foods that cost just as much as, or even less than, animal-based foods.” What exactly in that statement do you dispute?
ETA: Even though there is a risk in overstating the case that veganism is universally “cheap,” at present it seems that case is far understated. I think the value of Cam’s comment is in noting that veganism is at the very least cheaper than most people suspect before trying it.
I don’t think “costly” here just refers to money. I think Elizabeth is talking about all kinds of costs, from time and money to emotions and social connections.