No justifications for survival, pleasure or desire invalidate moral principles. Moral principles are valid even if we ignore them and choose to behave in contradiction to them.
Even if we choose to take the life of a human animal to survive, it never makes it moral. We could be faced with imminent death and the only way to survive would be to murder and eat another human. Doing so wouldn't make our choice for survival moral.
Choice does not dictate what is moral. Morality should be what dictates our choices.
Survival does not dictate what is moral. Morality should stand above survival in motivating our choices.
Taking the life of an innocent free being who did you no harm is not moral. If another consciousness being (i.e. an animal) did nothing to harm or violate you, then you can't justify a reciprocal force as self-defense or retaliation.
To initiate aggression or violence is to become the violator and immoral agent, regardless of the choice to do so or what justifications are motivating your behavior. The non-aggression principle applies to all our actions, not only actions directed at other human animals. The actions directed at other animals beings is either moral or immoral, regardless of who they are.
Veganism is a moral way of life based on moral comprehension.
Veganism excludes the animal kingdom from being exploited, enslaved, harmed, violated or murdered.
Veganism includes eating only from the other 5 kingdoms of life that don't have a psychological dimension or expression arising from their biological state:
- plants
- fungi
- protists
- eubacteria
- archaebacteria
Leave the animal kingdom off the menu!
*Note that veganism is at it's core an ethical and moral position, which includes a diet of plant-based eating. You can be a plant-based dieter and not have moral concern for other animals. Being vegan requires plant-based eating, while plant-based eating doesn't require being vegan.
In the past we may not have been able to survive in certain climates or regions without engaging in exploitation, enslavement or violence against other animals. Regardless, doing something even if it was for the survival of our lives never makes something immoral become moral. But we aren't living in those times. We can not only live, but thrive and be healthier by only eating plants, fungi, etc.
We can rise above a lower modality of consciousness that focuses on survival at the expense of morality. We can choose to live by what is right over what is wrong because we have developed and progressed technologically to be able to do so. Transportation allows us to bring in food, supplements allow us to get any nutrients we are lacking. A variety of plant foods provide everything we need, except for B12 which is a bacteria that is no longer found on plants due to the soil quality and our pesticide and fungicide use.
We can put moral thinking and living above mere survival thinking and living.
We can live in greater alignment with moral principles.