Dishonesty is the Second-Best Policy and Other Rules to Live By

At times of crisis and doubt, we crave certainty. I really envy everyone who’s certain that the best way of countering the threat of Islamist terrorism is definitely to bomb Isis. Equally, I envy everyone who’s certain that the best way of doing that is definitely not to bomb Isis. The two groups’ total certainty is all the more inspiring for the fact that they must surely know about each other.

Whether consciously or not, some healthy eaters’ healthy eating is primarily an expression of control, cleanliness and virtue. It doesn’t just make them feel better, it makes them feel better than other people. If eating steamed broccoli is suddenly no hardship, because it can be made to taste like baked Alaska, they’re going to be deeply offended. It would be like offering a devout order of self-flagellating monks an inexhaustible supply of local anaesthetic.

There’s a tiny bit of justice in that decision, but so tiny it insults the very concept. Only a homeopath could believe that such a microscopic quantity of justice could have any beneficial effect.