4 ms·
FYI, you really undermine a decent point with a loaded phrase like "Privileged westerners".
by endtime 16y ago
FYI, you really undermine a decent point with a loaded phrase like "Privileged westerners".
- ced 16y agoIt seems apt to me. What is it "loaded" with?
- steveklabnik 16y agoIt's needless rhetoric. Many people who aren't privileged nor Western would think that that video was ... wrong. Also, many people do think about the cows on their local farm. Maybe the grandparent wasn't around for the "Ohio cow abuse" video, but there was equal, if not more, outrage.
- avar 16y agoI actually found it difficult to pick something that better described this phenomena. These are obviously people whose compassion for animals is a function of their cuteness. I don't see them organizing lynch mobs for similar but much more inhumane acts against farm animals happening in their own communities. Would people care if this was a litter of pigs? Or a litter of rats? And leaving aside this specific example, most people on this planet in rural communities don't have the economic means to employ a dedicated medical professional to put down their excess cats and dogs. For those people drowning the animals is a perfectly legitimate option, it sure beats watching them starve to death. Ignoring all of this and going straight to "oh those poor puppies, what a horrible person" as most people seem to respond is, I think, a privileged western viewpoint.
- mrcharles 16y agoIt is a false equivalence to compare companion animals to food or pests.
- loup-vaillant 16y agoI' not sure what you mean. Anyway, rats can make fine companions, and the taste of meat is a direct consequence of the treatment of beasts. So, I say we should care, even for purely selfish reasons.