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This morning, on the way to school, I got into an argument with our daughter about the choices we make. Well, a semi-argument. I was putting my points across calmly and rationally; only she was raging against my nonsense. My contention: that ethical choices apply as much in hard times as in good.

It began with her pleading me to put in an order from Amazon. I told her she could buy the identical item locally, so that’s what we would do. I said it was a waste of the delivery driver’s time coming all this way just to deliver an item we could get in nearby shops. She said that’s their job; if they didn’t like it, they’d work somewhere else. I said you don’t choose your job; your job chooses you.

Anyway, I said, it’s not about delivery. It’s about supporting local businesses in hard times. And about peeling them away from screens, be it the computer or the television, to actually get out and see the non-virtual world. Go to town, visit a real shop, have a look at the item in person, carry it over to the till and pay for it. And if you’re lucky, dad will buy you a hot chocolate with cream on top while we’re at it.

I had the same discussion with my wife recently, when she expressed reluctance to eat out as a family. “We shouldn’t be extravagant,” she said, “when people are really struggling out there.” I look at it differently. If those that have money stop visiting cafes and restaurants, and stop spending, then the situation’s only going to get worse. Then someone who had a job will be out of work, and will likely be more dependent on food banks and emergency support.

In the end, they will likely end up having to get a job at Amazon, driving a van for deliveries, or fulfilling orders in a warehouse, foot soldiers of the global conglomerate, that very modern version of the British East India Company. A wage, we’d say. Yes sure, but not exactly a life. These are the hard choices we have to make in hard times.

Believe me, I’ve been though hard times myself, in the early 2000s when I couldn’t get a settled wage. It’s tough and humiliating. Now’s the time for compassion and virtuous action, not dog-eat-dog. Best to look beyond government propaganda blaming the most vulnerable for the problems of the nation as a mask for their own stupendous corruption. Hard times demand hard ethical choices.