[split] "Some people eat animals, some don't."

[Jade]

Re: polarization... again that depends on the receiving entity. If you truly, deeply, honestly believe you are offering the best service possible in the moment by choosing to consume animals, then you are polarization STO. If you have twinges of guilt, they are there for a reason. "I try to tell the animals their suffering was not in vain" is hardly a staunch stand that what you are doing is the right thing. The pleasure we receive from eating food is so fleeting, and the suffering of the animal is often long-standing. We truly could live off of beans and water, but we continue to justify consuming certain things for the pleasure we receive. I don't think consuming, say, heroin is necessary STS - unless you weep for the poor poppy seeds - but eating a meal that caused the death of another for the pleasure you receive is IMO where the distinction in polarizing choices is made. If you really believe you need that meal, and the death is truly justified, then I say all the power to you. But, in my opinion, this is where the line of polarity can be drawn, albeit of course arbitrarily. Was the consumption for the pleasure centers that were activated in your mouth and brain? Or was the consumption done as a service to others/all? It is not black and white. But I don't think it's often justifiable as an STO action.

Of course, the gray area is suppression of the catalyst. We don't have to be actively polarizing all the time, but we do (very) slowly polarize passively regardless. To each is own.