Oh pardon me. I assumed that we were talking about adult people who are conscious/awake and not suffering from some form of mental health issues, at the time that they make their decision. Does this mean that you include people who've been lying in a persistently vegetative state as well in your protestations that we are not or don't have to be responsible for our actions? Heck this changes everything. You should have explained how wide open your parameters are.

As for the rest of your reply, you are still focusing on your question, that I've answered very plainly. But since you apparently missed it, I'll repeat myself. I feel VERY BAD for the animals that are killed by other animals. I feel bad for the terror they experience and for the pain that they must suffer. And I feel horrible also for the terror and pain that farmed animals experience as a result of humanities belief that they don't have to care about the suffering and terror of the animals that they eat. And that lack of concern has been documentated ad nauseum. I am not inconsistent. Can you say the same?

Your allegation that veg'n people and spiritual people are the ones claiming 'superiority' is so bizarre as to be laughable and demonstrates that there is a failure in your personal 'education' and understanding. We veg'ns believe that animals have the same rights to life and freedom from human caused suffering, that you and I hope for. And as far as spiritual people, well, there are so many shades of 'grey' in that group that to make a blanket statement like you did doesn't make a lot of sense.

As a spiritual person, I believe that the earth and the universe and the animals and the stars and everything in between is a manifestation of the All. That we are all part of the One in the same way that my little toe is different than my spleen or my ear, but they are all part of my body and what hurts my spleen is also detrimental to my toe in a broad sense. I hope that example is clear enough.

So to cause injury to a creature is the equivelant of causing injury to myself. And yes, I know that you are going to throw carrots or some such thing into the mix and I would submit to you, that the reason that they weren' given brains and brain stems and nerve endings and a means to flee from danger is because they are the basic source of energy for all of us, including predators. So no, I'm not interested in getting into a tedious discussion about carrots feelings and how could I do that to them.

The balance that I speak of is what happens in nature. When there are too many of a species, either they are controlled by predation from other species, or they starve, or they die from disease. We struggle against death to the point where we are in the process of over-running a planet with finite capacity. Doctors keep babies alive that should be allowed to pass on, or adults hooked up to machines because their families won't let them go. We spend billions on research to beat every disease despite the fact that our numbers are increasing to the detriment of the planet. Doctors search endlessly for means to keep people alive or to create more, as though there should be no concern for the number of humans that are munching our way through everything that this planet provides. We have overthrown the balance.

And instead of living simply with the intentions of just meeting our needs, our greed, which in this era of bankers who've ruined the economy of countries, is especially obvious, propels us to accumulate and hoard even to the point of turning our backs on those who have nothing. That is how we have handled the notion of living in balance with the planet. We've thumbed our nose at it. Humanity in general lives outside the balance of nature. That is the balance that I was referring to.