Stoid, well, I think it’s great that you eat organic vegetables and eat free range eggs. I hope you’re a positive role model to those around you, and that you will one day “take the plunge” and commit yourself to vegan lifestyle.
Your argument, on the otherhand, I find uninspiring. First, you said you weren’t setting me up. But it’s quite obvious that you were leading me into your whole “you’re projecting your fear of death onto animals” spiel. Which is well and good. I’ll comment on that in a moment.
Well, no I don’t have a close loving relationship with every animal that’s slaughtered for meat. But I do, however, have an intense love of life itself, and care for every living creature. I feel awful for every singe one of the billions of animals that get killed for meat, every year. I feel bad for animals that get hit by cars, and those that get eaten by other animals. I also feel just terrible for the billion starving people, most of whom are children, on the planet. I feel bad for the homeless, and for the innocent victems of crimes.
See what I’m getting at? As these animals and people die, I feel a continual loss. Every innocent death is a wrong that can’t be undone. Sure, the cow is dead, and s/he doesn’t have many thoughts on the subject. But, don’t you find it sad and appaling that you are part of, and actively give money to, a system that thrives off of and promotes agony and suffering? If that doesn’t bother you, then frankly you’re either a scary person, or in some serious denial.
Death is natural. Go to a slaughterhouse. That’s not natural. There are 1.2 billion overfed people in the world. There are also 1.2 underfed people in the world. This is not natural. People overlooking these facts and going on buying Happy Meals? Not natural.
As for my “it’s unnecessary,” answer, well, you said it yourself. It’s true. Sure, everything is necessary. But don’t you think that unecessary things that promote suffering, waste valuable food when there are billions] underfed, and destory natural resources beyond sustainability are a little worse than (your examples) watching the news, or going out to eat? (At a vegan restaurant, of course.) C’mon, you’re the one who really needs to think about what you’re doing, and not doing, and the effects of your decisions. If you have children, and you buy them hamburgers, you don’t think that there’s anything wierd about feeding death, pain, misery, hormones, poop, and toxins to the people you love most in the world? It’s all about denial.
And sure, the the findamental idea of naturally raising animals for food is great. I would still be a vegan, if that were the case, but I would definietly not be as vocal about it. But, this is just fluffy masterbatory nonsense.
Because, these things terrible really do happen. And they will continue happening until people (you) do something about it. It’s not going to go away on its own. We, as privledged Americans, Brits, Japanese, and whoever else, need to do something about it. And really, there’s only one thing to do: vote with our hard-won money.
Cows are skinned alive, and castrated without pain killers. Chickens have their beaks cut off, without pain killer. Pigs have their tails cut off, without pain killers. These things are reality, Something most people unfortunately don’t care all to much about.
And you know what, in about 100 years, when there’s a gizillion people on the planet, no rainforests, and about 5 square acres of arible land left, people aren’t going to have a choice whether or not to become vegetarian. They won’t have a choice to do anything but starve and die, cursing their grandparents for being so damn greedy and blind.
Lastly, I think identifying with animals is fine. What’s the problem with that? If you think it’s so silly, then you pretty much called yourself an idiot when you talked about your affection for Maggie.
And, my only “angle” isn’t the animal angle. I’ve talked about the environmental and health angles, as well. Those are both well documented problems, though, so most people on the board just dismiss (rather: deny) them, and focus on the really important stuff like my theoretical cat and the fact that I’ve killed spiders.
Yes, my main motivation and my main “reasoning” behind going vegetarian all of those years ago was for health, and because I really loved animals.
My main reason for going vegan, was for environmental reasons. There’s countless people starving in the world, and I just saw some greasy, fat-as-hell man throw out half of a Big Mac because there was too much mustard on it.
He didn’t just throw away a buger. He threw away life! He threw away a cow’s life, a squeare acre of rainforest, and a chance to feed a starving child. That’s so very pathetic, and so very infuriating.
But, as I said, it’s easy to argue against us “animals rights” folk. The real battle is the environmental question. But when you think about it, all of these huge problems have one simple answer: stop eating meat. It’s so, so obvious, and so, so simple. But, people, as we’ve seen on this board, just go apeshit, move beyond rude, and just get downright mean when someone suggests that maybe they haven’t thought about something as quite carefully as they should.
But, anyway, like I said, I think it’s great that you support organic agriculture. You’ve obviously thought things through, and made an intelligent decision. My beef (pun intended) is not with you. My argument is with those who havnen’t thought about these issues, and those who continue to deny the obvious clues.
-TGD