I’m a big fan of the show. But we need to realize that we actually do have a responsibility to minimize the harm we cause when we’re able to. I wouldn’t accept “but you have a phone tho” or “no ethical consumption under capitalism” as justifications for buying a child-killing SUV, for example. It’s just kinda defeatist.

And even if my choices make literally zero difference, and the world is exactly the same with or without my actions (which is just not the case), I still sleep better knowing I’m not contributing to the extreme and obvious harms of animal agriculture.

Right, this is a very common mindset to have. There are two things to think about that come to mind for me:

First is that (almost) everyone thinks factory farming is bad, but around 75% of all land animals in animal agriculture are factory farmed. In the US, it’s around 99.7%. In particular it’s a very safe bet that if you eat a random chicken, while they were alive they were in abject misery.

Second is I think animals have an inherent right to life that we shouldn’t infringe upon. I wouldn’t suddenly think it’s ok if someone shot and instantly killed a dog, even if they were loved their entire life and only had “one bad day.” It also wouldn’t make it ok if someone ate the dog afterwards, because that doesn’t really matter to the dog. All animals want to live, and killing them unnecessarily is wrong.

It’s just sad seeing the dissonance between people who don’t make the connection (or lack thereof) between simultaneously thinking “I have a dead, tortured animal on my plate” and “I’m a good person,” especially when it’s so easy to just not hurt animals.

Once you see it, you can’t unsee it. These behaviors are so normal because that contradiction is so commonplace.