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> Charlie Winter, a London-based terrorism researcher, was dining with friends one recent evening when the conversation turned to whether it is ethical to eat m
by deogeo 7y ago
> Charlie Winter, a London-based terrorism researcher, was dining with friends one recent evening when the conversation turned to whether it is ethical to eat meat. Someone brought up slaughterhouse conditions, Winter said, and he instantly grew uneasy. He stayed for a while longer, squirming, and then finally left the room. That word — "slaughterhouse" — had conjured images of one of the most gruesome ISIS videos he'd come across. The militants had filmed a mass execution in a slaughterhouse, casting their prisoners as the animals.
I wonder if watching gruesome animal slaughter videos would eventually produce the same reaction. Given how much the industry wants to keep their treatment of animals secret [1], I can't imagine the effect is benign.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ag-gag https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ag-gag "Supporters of ag-gag laws have argued that they serve to protect the agriculture industry from the negative repercussions of exposés by whistleblowers."
- claudeganon 7y ago“As often as Herman had witnessed the slaughter of animals and fish, he always had the same thought: in their behaviour towards creatures, all men were Nazis. The smugness with which man could do with other species as he pleased exemplified the most extreme racist theories, the principle that might is right.” Isaac Bashevis Singer
- psychoslave 7y agoArticles that seem relevant to the topic: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L214 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L214 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_Treblinka https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_Treblinka
- asterix_pano 7y ago“As long as Man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of lower living beings, he will never know health or peace. For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love.” Pythagoras
- whenchamenia 7y agoSource? Because pythagoras never wrote anything down. That was kinda his thing. This is fake, unless it is from the greek pythagoras who was a athletic trainer, in which case your attribution is still dodgy. My source: the pythagoren sourcebook.
- edflsafoiewq 7y agoIt's attributed to Pythagoras through Ovid but I couldn't find exactly where. It doesn't seem to be in the Metamorphoses.
- leetcrew 7y agoFor the laymen, note that Ovid lived about 500 years after Pythagoras, so you can still be skeptical about this attribution.
- tux1968 7y agoTigers and bears don't seem to have any emotional strife about their position in the food chain. Don't think we should feel too bad about it either. There are real concerns to address about sustainability though.
- deogeo 7y agoBears also don't have any emotional strife about killing cubs to increase their odds of mating. Perhaps looking to them for moral guidance is not the best idea.
- 7y ago
- Merrill 7y agoMost people would be rapidly desensitized. Recall that not too many decades ago, people routinely butchered their own animals, and many still do in much of the world.
- lallysingh 7y agoSure, but there's a difference between how the animals are/were kept, killed, and butchered in small farms vs a dedicated meat factory.
- mieseratte 7y agoThat's about the fairest argument, and I say this as an unrepentant meat eater, hunter, and fisher. It's not just that the animal is dead, it's that the animal spent its entire existence in terrible conditions.
- throwaway5752 7y agoThanks for saying this. "Repentant" meat eater here. Every time I eat meat, it came from an animal that enjoyed being alive and didn't want to die. More people should hunt and fish, and know what it's like to take the life that you're going to eat. I think people would feel a sense of obligation to the animal's quality of life, in light of the sacrifice they are making. Sorry it's slightly off topic, but wanted to thank you for creating common ground. If I try to make it topical, I think conversations like this between different points of view overall reduce extremism.
- greggman2 7y agoMaybe but ... my grandfather use to raise 3 cows a year. One for him, one for my family and one for my mom's sister's family. I got to see them kill the cow. Cut it open and remove the gut sack and then later got to see them process it at the butcher. I still eat meat.
- brosinante 7y agoI guess that's the same as witnessing it on an industrial level, day after day.
- mikelyons 7y agoIt takes a certain level of awareness to even be capable of making that distinction though.
- tryitnow 7y agoIt depends. I don't think seeing animals killed would affect me too much. I do think seeing animals suffer would definitely help to change my behavior.