Why I am not a vegan

[Diana]

Where exactly is "causing suffering" tallied? Where is "alleviating suffering" tallied? How can one ever truly know if they are causing or alleviating more suffering? How many have worked to alleviate suffering and inadvertently caused it, or vice versa?

That's true. In the case of humans, it would be a delicate consideration where one would want to help. Non-interference, and other things would be considered. The way I would help would probably be to bring art to children (which I already do in books). But it is tricky when you disturb a system, and the free will of the people in that system, and what you have done has the ripple effect. But if you see a hungry person, I say feed them. There are ways to help globally, I'm sure, that really do alleviate suffering. I find places to donate to that really seem to help, such as Best Friends (an animal sanctuary), and The Phoenix Rescue Mission (they directly help the homeless on the streets in Phoenix with food, clothing, and shelter).

But I don't see how it could be ambiguous to help animals that have been damaged and are suffering from an oil spill, by cleaning the birds' wings for example. We have a collective responsibility as humans, and I am part of that. Human folly dumps oil in the ocean, and people try to alleviate the suffering. How could that be construed as causing more suffering (unless we are referring to the bad press the oil companies might get)?