3 ms·

I can't eat the grass growing in the pastures on the hills around me, but some animals can. Then it's just a question who eats those animals, either us human or

by nec4b 2mo ago

I can't eat the grass growing in the pastures on the hills around me, but some animals can. Then it's just a question who eats those animals, either us human or other predators. I think it's unhealthy when people start to anthropomorphize their pets and map that to every other animal in existence. It's very similar to when bored rich kids pretend to be representatives of the working class.

alpineman 2mo ago
Sure, but the cold reality is that 99% of meat consumption in the US is from factory farms, not from animals roaming freely on grass. It's not like these animals are all roaming free, naturally reproducing, and we or other predators are hunting them. We are breeding them, bringing them into existence to meet the demand for meat, keeping them in small cages, and then killing them. It's not about anthropomorphizing. But if you love animals, it's hard to justify conditions where they can't even turn around, give birth in their own feces, and are then gassed. I'm sure, even without anthropomorphizing, you know that animals have emotions, memories, bonds, etc. They feel these horrible conditions intensely. Ultimately consuming meat is causing those animals to be raised, kept in poor conditions, and killed. Those conditions are deliberately hidden from the public as the meat industry knows that demand would suffer massively if they weren't. Anyway, thanks for engaging on the subject and for the discussion. That's much more than most people do and I appreciate it.
- nec4b 2mo ago
  I'm happy our ancestors domesticated animals, therefore we don't really have to hunt them as savagely as other predators do and we can instead bread them for our consumption. I'm all for having better condition for factory farmed animals and I'm fine with closing down those that mistreat animals and even punish or jails people doing it, but that is a completely another kind of argument compared to the initial question how are animals and humans different. Trying to equate animals with people and blanket ban all meat consumption and trying make make people feel bad for eating the meet is not going to achieve a better world.
  - alpineman 2mo ago
    I agree with you on that. I wouldn't personally eat meat but I don't have a problem with someone eating meat if they are sure where it came from and the animal lived a good life (until the end, of course). The hard reality is that 99% of meat in the US and a similar amount in Europe comes from factory farms. Those Factory farms are not prosecuted for the way they mistreat animals. The meat industry is simply too economically important, and animals end up suffering.

by nec4b 2mo ago

alpineman 2mo ago

Sure, but the cold reality is that 99% of meat consumption in the US is from factory farms, not from animals roaming freely on grass. It's not like these animals are all roaming free, naturally reproducing, and we or other predators are hunting them. We are breeding them, bringing them into existence to meet the demand for meat, keeping them in small cages, and then killing them. It's not about anthropomorphizing. But if you love animals, it's hard to justify conditions where they can't even turn around, give birth in their own feces, and are then gassed. I'm sure, even without anthropomorphizing, you know that animals have emotions, memories, bonds, etc. They feel these horrible conditions intensely. Ultimately consuming meat is causing those animals to be raised, kept in poor conditions, and killed. Those conditions are deliberately hidden from the public as the meat industry knows that demand would suffer massively if they weren't. Anyway, thanks for engaging on the subject and for the discussion. That's much more than most people do and I appreciate it.

nec4b 2mo ago
I'm happy our ancestors domesticated animals, therefore we don't really have to hunt them as savagely as other predators do and we can instead bread them for our consumption. I'm all for having better condition for factory farmed animals and I'm fine with closing down those that mistreat animals and even punish or jails people doing it, but that is a completely another kind of argument compared to the initial question how are animals and humans different. Trying to equate animals with people and blanket ban all meat consumption and trying make make people feel bad for eating the meet is not going to achieve a better world.
- alpineman 2mo ago
  I agree with you on that. I wouldn't personally eat meat but I don't have a problem with someone eating meat if they are sure where it came from and the animal lived a good life (until the end, of course). The hard reality is that 99% of meat in the US and a similar amount in Europe comes from factory farms. Those Factory farms are not prosecuted for the way they mistreat animals. The meat industry is simply too economically important, and animals end up suffering.