• kaffiene@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I’m a meat-eater. The vegans are right - its more moral to not eat meat. Meat eaters getting outraged when people point out that meat is actually dead animals are hypocrites. Either accept that you’re in the wrong but doing it anyway (as I am) or change. Don’t complain when people point out your hypocrisy

    • oij2@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      It’s not the meat eating that’s immoral, it’s the industrialization of meat production that is - robbing an animal of all its freedom and all its chances to actually be alive. It kills evolution. It is anti-life.

      What is happening on these industrialized meat farms is utterly disgusting and will become a crime once synthetic meat production is economically viable. It’s existentially wrong beyond any morals.

      • XIIIesq@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Absolutely can’t wait for lab grown meat to reach industrial scale.

        Hunted meat is really ethical in the mean time, in my country that usually means pheasant (at the right time of year) or venison (which is unfortunately not cheap at all, I’d really like to see deer hunting for meat encouraged by the government).

        I do eat farmed meat, but I definitely eat less of it than I used to.

        • RaoulDook@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Hunting is also beneficial to the health of game animal herds, and is a fundamental part of wildlife conservation.

          So it can be ethical, healthy, and tasty to eat meat from killed animals.

          • Elric@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Not true they hunt the wrong ones. In nature the sick and weak are eaten by predators. We shoot the healthiest ones. Bad idea.

    • kookaloo@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Could you explain which part of eating meat is wrong? We have evolved to what we are today, thanks largely to our ancestors’ diets.

      • Kedly@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        One pretty consistent moral among societies is that needlessly causing harm is considered wrong. Outside of lab grown, its impossible to acquire meat without grievously harming an animal. Further, the vast majority of our meat is NOT gained by hunting but instead by factory, and the conditions of meat factories are appalling and horrific. So yes, if we CAN get the nutrients we need without the consumption of meat, that is the most moral way to get our nutrition met. All that being said, even today, being able to meet all nutritional needs without any form of animal cruelty is an incredibly privileged position to be in, and we arent quite at the stage where its fair to judge others for not doing so

        (edit: and I say this as a meat eater, meat is fuckin delicious and I dont want to give it up. I’m personally banking on lab grown meat becoming an economical option, at which point we have removed the ethical muddiness of it)

        (Edit 2: Lmao, I ruffled the feathers of a lot of meat eaters who’ve likely never actually had to kill any if the animals they’ve eaten. I have, I still eat meat. Reality is messy, fucking own it)

        • GladiusB@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Well hunting is a pain in the ass as it is. In an industrialized society we traded markets with shared goods to more specific specialties. Sure I can hunt for food because of licenses and availability but the trade off is most of the people have really good health care. At least objectively they have access to healthcare that can cure things that back in the 1500s would kill you within days.

          My point is that at some point someone said “Hey I can take care of the meat portion if you take care of (insert many specialists careers).” There was no morality involved. Choosing to be vegan is fine. I think that it’s easier to get certain things from animal sources. So does nature.

        • commie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          1 year ago

          One pretty consistent moral among societies is that needlessly causing harm is considered wrong.

          besides your total lack of specificity about ethical systems or societies in which they exist, your use of “needlessly” is doing a lot of work there. on the one hand it sets up a no-true-scotsman where you can always claim no need is great enough, but it also gives anyone challenging this claim a loophole the size of a walmart to walk through: just claim it’s necessary.

          i don’t think you really understand the claim you made. worse, if you do, that means you’re intentionally using vague language and intellectually dishonest tactics to persuade. this is called sophistry.

          • Kedly@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            Im kinda done arguing with dumbasses in good faith about whether or not killing an animal is less ethical than not killing one. I’m a meat eater, I find meat delicious, and I ALSO recognise that most of the world isnt in a privileged enough position to NOT eat meat in order to fulfill their dietary needs. None of this takes away from the fact that killing is less ethical than not killiing

            • Im kinda done arguing with dumbasses in good faith about whether or not killing an animal is less ethical than not killing one.

              Abso-fucking-lutely based. Sometimes it’s better to just call a dumbass, ‘a dumbass’ than engage with their bullshit sealioning.

            • commie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              1 year ago

              Im kinda done arguing with dumbasses in good faith about whether or not killing an animal is less ethical than not killing one.

              calling your interlocutors names is a great way to indicate you’re done arguing in good faith, but you just came out and said it. too bad you don’t seem capable of defending the claim you’re making.

        • SCB@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          One pretty consistent moral among societies is that needlessly causing harm is considered wrong.

          The problem with this as your moral compass is that “needless” can mean whatever you want it to mean. It’s not actually a guideline to any specific behavior

          • Kedly@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            Thats a semantics arguement to a generalized statement which is special kind of stupid. I gave a detailed response to further explain why this applies to meat eating and even ended with saying we havent reached a point in society where its fair to judge others for not abandoning eating meat. Just because society has always done things a certain way, doesnt make it right or moral, slavery was the NORM until around the last couple 100 years, and now its near universally considered atrocious. Meat eating from once living animals will likely be the next once norm, now evil, societal concept. But we arent there yet

            • SCB@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              I gave a detailed response to further explain why this applies to meat eating

              Meat eating from once living animals will likely be the next once norm, now evil

              The subjectivity of these takes is my entire point.

              • Kedly@lemm.ee
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                1 year ago

                Damn near everything is subjective dumbass, its why theres so many societal problems that are still around even though they’ve plagued us for centuries

                • SCB@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  The entire purpose of a moral compass is to not be subjective. I didn’t make the claim that everyone should, or does, live by one set guideline. You did

                  • Kedly@lemm.ee
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                    1 year ago

                    Morality to some degree HAS to be subjective as its based on the time period it is formed. Society progresses for a reason

                  • ParsnipWitch@feddit.de
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                    1 year ago

                    The idea that morality is entirely based on subjectivity is your personal opinion. You can’t use it as if it was a fact and ground your argument upon it like you could do with an actual fact.

          • papertowels@lemmy.one
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            1 year ago

            Isn’t all morality subjective, rendering your comment moot?

            Generally accepted morals certainly can be guidelines for behaviors.

          • Kedly@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            Plants dont experience life the same way we do dumbass. Do you think its ok to torture a pet cat as fun? Probably not, if so, you already recognize that harming an animal is less ethical than harming one. Really not that hard a concept to grasp. Eat meat, meats fucking delicious, but dont fucking delude yourself into thinking NOT killing an animal isnt less ethical than killing one.

            • commie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              1 year ago

              Do you think its ok to torture a pet cat as fun? Probably not, if so, you already recognize that harming an animal is less ethical than harming one

              wrong. torture can be wrong while incidental harm may be totally amoral. one has nothing to do with the other.

              • Kedly@lemm.ee
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                1 year ago

                Counterpoint, something can be less moral than another thing WITHOUT being immoral. There are many MANY reasons to continue eating meat in this day and age, being just as moral as not, is NOT one of them

                • commie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                  1 year ago

                  There are many MANY reasons to continue eating meat in this day and age, being just as moral as not, is NOT one of them

                  most ethical systems, in fact, do support that position: meat eating in and of itself is amoral to nearly every ethical system i can think of (and i know a lot)

                • commie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                  1 year ago

                  i have a tendency to write very short comments, but i feel i’ve been misunderstood. let me try again:

                  you set up an claim that, if i’m reading it correctly, says “people believe torturing cats is wrong because they think harming an animal is less ethical than not harming an animal”

                  but that doesn’t necessarily follow. people may believe torturing cats is wrong, and that belief may have nothing to do with the other (that harming an animal is less ethical than not harming an animal). in fact, they can hold that belief without out believing the other at all.

                  • Kedly@lemm.ee
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                    1 year ago

                    Dude the level of semantics you are arguing is NOT important in the real world. The general reason torture is bad is because its harmful and inflicts pain. The fact that that translates to animals means that (non human) animals deserve to be considered in human morals. Therefor having to harm an animal to sustain oneself is LESS moral than not having to. Since you’ve been actually arguing with me in good faith, even though I feel like this is a semantics arguement, I do feel I need to point out that my stance was never that meat eating is Immoral, I don’t feel with society as it is today that it is. In the future, I think that will be likely, but right now we NEED meat, and far more people would be harmed by removing it as a food staple until we’ve reached a point where access to ethically untainted food has matured to a point that everyone has access to it.

        • orrk@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          problem is that only some well of westerners can reliably eat vegan and cover their nutrient intake, if you are worried about animal cruelty look into sustainable and ethical meet production

          Edit: well off western vegans be mad

      • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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        1 year ago

        And some civilisations practised human sacrifice. “We did it in the past” isn’t really an arguement.

        • kookaloo@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Congratulations, you’ve completely missed the point. Apples and oranges.

          Our bodies grew and developed thanks to the nutrients meat provided. What does that have to do with human sacrifices?

      • Sludgeyy@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Our ancestors hunted wild animals

        Industrialized meat production is horrible and wrong

        That’s the part that is wrong

        Let a pig have a happy life, then kill it. There is no need to force feed it in a coffin size pen for its whole life.

        • kookaloo@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I didn’t ask what is wrong with the current industrial approach to farming animals, I asked what is wrong with eating meat.

          • Sludgeyy@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Could you explain which part of eating meat is wrong?

            You said which part.

            That’s the part that is wrong

            When you go to the store and purchase meat from an animal that was kept in inhumane conditions, you are supporting the system.

      • tweeks@feddit.nl
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        1 year ago

        It’s only wrong if you believe hurting other living things is wrong, it depends on your upbringing / mental framework and how you relate those between different species.

        But I believe most people agree that the current way we mass produce meat and how we treat these animals is like a dystopian endgame. If humans were treated like that by a higher intelligence that would be extremely disturbing and cruel. We just accept it as we place the priority on a steak on our plate.

        It is how it is, everyone is ignorant or a hypocrite in some parts of life. Good or bad are only subjective perspectives. But if you look at the harm we cause to other beings with eating meat and in what mechanistic way, that might be one of the things in 100 years we look back at and just can’t fathom.

      • ParsnipWitch@feddit.de
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        1 year ago

        That’s an incredible weak argument. Our ancestors did all kinds of stuff which lead to societies prosperity. Doesn’t make all of it morally right.

    • SirStumps@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Circle of life. If I were in the wild and defenseless and animal wouldn’t hesitate to kill me, as it should be. It’s not wrong, it’s nature. Morality isn’t the same from person to person.

      • debil@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Quite an assumption. There’s nothing natural in factory farming. Circle of death, that is.

        • SirStumps@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          You are assuming now. I never said anything about factory farming, just that eating meat was natural. I agree the methods are detestable.

          • debil@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            You appealed to nature and threw a desert island scenario when the OP is clearly about animals raised in captivity and to be slaughtered way before their natural end of life. Also, eating meat is natural for carnivores. Us omnivores can do well (even better) without animal products.

            • SirStumps@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              There was no desert island scenario. There was a comparison to eating and being eaten, which is natural in both senses. As omnivores we developed to eat both meats and plants just like all other omnivores on the planet. To deny one part of our natural diet is unhealthy. You seem to have some kind of agenda which I will not be a part of.

              You are entitled to your opinions and I will respect that but I will no longer communicate with you on the subject. Have a good week.

      • WeirdGoesPro@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        1 year ago

        I agree with the people here calling out the cruelty of the industrialized meat industry, but eating meat in and of itself is not inherently wrong. The universe seems to consume itself by design—there is a reason Ouroboros (the serpent eating its own tail) is an ancient symbol for eternity. We are in an interlocked system that recycles matter and energy to sustain life.

        Moderation in all things. Don’t take more than you need, but don’t deny yourself either. If I had my druthers, I would much rather be eaten by a cool animal after I die than sit in a box embalmed. Live a good life, and at least the animals you eat will be part of that positive contribution too.

        • SirStumps@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I can completely agree the means to get to the end is indeed very cruel. We are all animals and I would not like to be treated so inhumanely just to die. However, eating meat is as natural as breathing.

          I agree that I would rather my body go back into the circle than decay in the ground.

      • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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        1 year ago

        Under literally any ethical system you choose.

        Forget harm to the animal for a moment.

        Breeding animals to slaughter is more water, land and time intensive than growing crops, and produces substantially fewer calories for even more land area. Breeding animals to slaughter also generates far more CO2 then crops, either from the animal directly or from transport and butchering processes.

        • commie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          1 year ago

          Under literally any ethical system you choose.

          deontological ethicists aren’t concerned with the consequences, only the action itself.

        • commie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          1 year ago

          Under literally any ethical system you choose.

          i don’t know of any divine command theory that says anything like that

        • LufyCZ@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          1 year ago

          If it’s pure calories you’re after, might I suggest Uranium? It’s pretty cheap considering what you can theoretically get out of it.

          ^/s

        • commie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          1 year ago

          letting a cow graze a field and killing it next year takes way less time than tilling and planting and fertilizing and watering and harvesting.

          • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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            1 year ago

            Not relevant. The field that is used to grow food stock for animals could have been used to grow food stock for humans. Potatoes have a high calorie count and are not particularly difficult to grow.

            You’ll get far more calories out of the field of potatoes than a field of cows, unless you’re packing them in at the same density as the potato plants which I’m assuming you’re not.

            • commie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              1 year ago

              You’ll get far more calories out of the field of potatoes than a field of cows,

              if the land is unsuitable for crop production, you can often still raise cattle on it.

              • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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                1 year ago

                You still need to grow food to feed the cattle, if only for winter stock, so you have to find a fertile field to grow food stock, so that field could be used for growing crops and the field that’s unsuitable for anything else could just be, well not used. There’s absolutely no scenario where cattle are going to be more sustainable than crops.

            • commie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              1 year ago

              The field that is used to grow food stock for animals could have been used to grow food stock for humans.

              often, it is. as i said, most of the crops fed to animals are parts of plants people can’t or won’t eat.

        • DaBPunkt@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Much more land can be used for growing animals than for growing crops. And without animals there would be no dung so the only way to let crops grow would be chemical fertilizer (which is made of oil).

          • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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            1 year ago

            You’re talking about a different issue which is food shortages.

            There is absolutely no shortage of arable land on earth, the problem is it isn’t evenly distributed but that’s an easy enough problem to solve if we actually wanted to solve it. The solution isn’t cattle.

            It’s obviously not the solution because if it was the solution there wouldn’t be world hunger, you can’t feed millions of people on cow.

    • SCB@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Either accept that you’re in the wrong but doing it anyway (as I am) or change

      Lmao “you don’t get to actually disagree and the only options are you being wrong.”

      Nah. Animals are lesser than people, and it’s fine to eat them

        • Speiser0@feddit.de
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          No. I also wouldn’t be fine if you ate other stuff that I have for purposes other than eating, like a chocolate sculpture.

          Edit: Misread. My answer is yes.

          • UraniumBlazer@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            Who said I would eat YOUR stuff? What if I purchased a puppy from a breeder (hence, my property), raised it till it was three, slaughtered it one day, marinated its meat, stuffed its ass with some of those noice spices, chucked it in the oven and served it to my kids for Thanksgiving? Would that be animal abuse?

            Let’s go a step further. Let’s start a breeding farm for kittens.

            “Meow”

            “Shut the fuck up u furball! Now get into my fryer you! Gotta keep our Kentucky Fried Kittens profitable, don’t we?”

            Would that be animal abuse? Would I be allowed to start my KFC alternative- KFK?

            “KFK- Tasty, Cute, Meow meow”

            • Speiser0@feddit.de
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              1 year ago

              Oh, sorry, I somehow misread your comment as “if I killed and ate your puppies and kittens”. I gotta read more careful next time.

              Now get into my fryer you!

              (That kinda sounds like you’d want to fry the animal without killing it before, which would obviously be animal abuse.)

              If you don’t abuse the animal, it’s ok that you eat kittens and puppies.

              That being said, I myself would still not want eat cat meat, because cats resemble humans too much, and because we interact with them a bit like they were human. For similar reasons I also wouldn’t want to eat ape meat, for example.

              What sort of meat someone wants to eat can’t only be as rigid as either anything but human or anything but animal. One could for example decide not to eat any mammal meat, but still eat fish and bird. Or one could not want to eat the meat of any life-form, nor exploit any life-form for their needs (how gross of you to hold trees in masses and rip off their unborn offspring!), though living like that would be super difficult as of now. It just so happens to be that many people decide that lamb meat is ok for them to eat.

        • SCB@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Sure? I don’t think they’d taste very good, but some cultures eat dogs. There’s definitely a hungry enough that I’d eat dog, and it’s way before shit like shoe leather

      • Smk@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        Yea, animal are basically slaves. They feed us and keep the ecosystem going. They are property, not individual.

        • SCB@lemmy.world
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          Slavery was bad because it was people treating people like animals, so no they’re not like slaves, slaves were like them.

          Important distinction