Mitchell on donkey sanctuary issues

David Mitchell nails the tendency of people to ignore difficult issues in favour of trivialities, like how long should the sons of celebrities spend in prison for public order offences:

Whatever side you take in these controversies, they're really only donkey sanctuary injustices. Like donkey cruelty, they're simple emotive causes that we can get behind instead of addressing more complex problems, which are also more important. Many people devote their lives to animal charities largely, in my view, because human pain is widespread and complicated and bottomless – it feels like you can never make a difference. But, in a bewildering world, you can cling to the certainty that it's wrong to be cruel to donkeys and nice to look after them properly. And then try to ignore what a small conclusion that is to have drawn.