I have not eaten meat for about 25-30 years. Nothing special about not eating it….I just don’t do it. Don’t mind what people eat, each to their own.
Do you class yourself as an animal lover ?
- Thread starter Ex Footy Legs
- Start date
I have not eaten meat for about 25-30 years. Nothing special about not eating it….I just don’t do it. Don’t mind what people eat, each to their own.
Big_Nothing
Well-known member
This is a philosophically and ethically tricky one.
Pets became pets because they had a purpose, we used them to achieve a goal. During that process they have become companions. They are usually cuddly and display personality, additionally we attribute human emotion to their behaviours, which only deepens the bond.
Then we also eat meat, we pretty much always have, because it has become increasingly available and demand for it is high (purely because it's delicious or whether we're somewhat brainwashed? Unsure), this creates a conundrum.
Whether the conundrum is contradictory or not, creating hypocrisy, is really tricky.
We are seemingly able to separate our fondness for animals and the eating of them because we've not postured on the contradiction before being vegetarian or vegan became so viable.
We believe strongly in the sanctity of life yet some people also believe that we should be able to remove it in certain circumstances. Is this hypocrisy or nuance?
Tony Bourdain talked about the privilege required to be vegan and many vegans' lack of awareness of it, and the disrespect it shows other cultures to reject their traditional dishes. I don't agree with that in as much as I think when we're a guest then the host should respect our beliefs also.
It is a privilege that many don't have though.
People advocate for experiencing the process involved with seeing our meat come to our plates, to get in touch with our food. Would this make us psychopaths?
I think social condition is probably it, we're able to separate the two things in our head.
To go further, a big question would be do animals have a soul? Do they have moral agency? Are they capable of rationality and depth of emotion or do we just place these things on them when they're our companions? Does it matter whether they do or not when we know they can suffer pain?
I think I am a hypocrite to eat meat. I wonder if I'd been born now if I would do it, I'm not sure I would. Saying it's not my fight feels like an excuse.
A lot of animals wouldn't be alive if we didn't eat meat. Is that better or worse?
I've tried dog and cat meat living out here because I don't draw lines between animals. I am more sentient than them and while their may be elements of increased sentience in some species of animal, even the most aware one's don't process information and emotions as humans do. Wild animals will kill you without every contemplating it again if they see you as a threat.
Does anyone have the answer? Not sure.
Pets became pets because they had a purpose, we used them to achieve a goal. During that process they have become companions. They are usually cuddly and display personality, additionally we attribute human emotion to their behaviours, which only deepens the bond.
Then we also eat meat, we pretty much always have, because it has become increasingly available and demand for it is high (purely because it's delicious or whether we're somewhat brainwashed? Unsure), this creates a conundrum.
Whether the conundrum is contradictory or not, creating hypocrisy, is really tricky.
We are seemingly able to separate our fondness for animals and the eating of them because we've not postured on the contradiction before being vegetarian or vegan became so viable.
We believe strongly in the sanctity of life yet some people also believe that we should be able to remove it in certain circumstances. Is this hypocrisy or nuance?
Tony Bourdain talked about the privilege required to be vegan and many vegans' lack of awareness of it, and the disrespect it shows other cultures to reject their traditional dishes. I don't agree with that in as much as I think when we're a guest then the host should respect our beliefs also.
It is a privilege that many don't have though.
People advocate for experiencing the process involved with seeing our meat come to our plates, to get in touch with our food. Would this make us psychopaths?
I think social condition is probably it, we're able to separate the two things in our head.
To go further, a big question would be do animals have a soul? Do they have moral agency? Are they capable of rationality and depth of emotion or do we just place these things on them when they're our companions? Does it matter whether they do or not when we know they can suffer pain?
I think I am a hypocrite to eat meat. I wonder if I'd been born now if I would do it, I'm not sure I would. Saying it's not my fight feels like an excuse.
A lot of animals wouldn't be alive if we didn't eat meat. Is that better or worse?
I've tried dog and cat meat living out here because I don't draw lines between animals. I am more sentient than them and while their may be elements of increased sentience in some species of animal, even the most aware one's don't process information and emotions as humans do. Wild animals will kill you without every contemplating it again if they see you as a threat.
Does anyone have the answer? Not sure.
Bernie's view
Active member
A bee only lives a month and some butterfly’s a few days, it’s all relative.
The rest of your post is totally false. You can’t grow soya and almonds on our marginal land. Our grassland is a carbon sink that is extremely efficient at turning inedible plants into edible protein. If everyone stopped producing meat the environment would be ruined and most of the worlds population would starve.
Talking to my missus about this thread. She was brought up in Africa and during her previous job worked in other countries, mainly India and the far East.
She pointed out, without malice or being judgmental, just as an observation.
We have just had a five page conversation about food preferences that could only take place in a rich, 21stC Western technological society. With an almost infinite selection of food types, from anywhere, and available at anytime of the year.
She pointed out, without malice or being judgmental, just as an observation.
We have just had a five page conversation about food preferences that could only take place in a rich, 21stC Western technological society. With an almost infinite selection of food types, from anywhere, and available at anytime of the year.