Would it be ok if....?!
ok i know you vegan/vegetarians are probably getting a little impatient with me but...oh well.
see i understand everything, and everyone tells me it is the only logical thing to do (become vegetarian). and no one told me this, but from my answers i am assuming it also means that i am hypocritical for trying to defend animals and still eat meat (even if it is not that much.)
what if you raise your own animals? my grandpa used to own a farm and we would get eggs and chicken from there.
like...i know it sounds stupid but i don't see anything wrong with eating meat, i just don't believe in the methods used to get meat.
like i said before:
i like drinking water. does that mean that if the demand is great enough, it is just for the government to allow water supplying companies to kill a person for every ton of water they supply?
Answers: ok well i posted two questions last night on the whole vegetarian topic, about the whole animal cruelty, is vegerianism the only way type of thing.
ok i know you vegan/vegetarians are probably getting a little impatient with me but...oh well.
see i understand everything, and everyone tells me it is the only logical thing to do (become vegetarian). and no one told me this, but from my answers i am assuming it also means that i am hypocritical for trying to defend animals and still eat meat (even if it is not that much.)
what if you raise your own animals? my grandpa used to own a farm and we would get eggs and chicken from there.
like...i know it sounds stupid but i don't see anything wrong with eating meat, i just don't believe in the methods used to get meat.
like i said before:
i like drinking water. does that mean that if the demand is great enough, it is just for the government to allow water supplying companies to kill a person for every ton of water they supply?
I see your point. (I didn't understand the water analogy, can you explain that again?).
I think all it proves though, is that everyone is a hypocrite, but to varying degrees.
I'm glad you're defending animals. It would be yet another good step (but not an absolute step) to go vegetarian or vegan, but if you don't want to, I'm not going to judge you and call you a hypocrite. It's just that that particular aspect would puzzle me a bit. It's not so much the # animals saved, but the emotions of the people that I find hard to believe. If they really love animals, how can they eat the flesh of them? It baffles me, but like I said, I'm not going to say you're a complete hypocrite.
I've also met the opposite kind of people (vegetarians or vegans but completely apathetic and cruel to animals on the street) and they baffle me as well.
there is a grace spot in the middle of all of this.. i have 3 dogs and 4 cats.. does that mean i would put them outside and not care for them? no.. do i like zoos?? yes... do i like the way they treat animals in a circus.. no.. I think your going SO much the other way to the extreme that you need to calm down a little bit, and meet in the middle.. if you choose to eat meat.. then do it.. i know Michael on here i think he eats eggs that his chickens produce.. (not sure) and he's not hated around here.. (except Adam T.. LOL..) so yeah.. come on back to the middle and love life.. if your happy eating meat then do it.. if your happy not eating meat then do that too..
EDIT: i am for animal rights.. however i know i can't change the world.. all i can do is change myself.. It is up to you.. I don't scream if horror when my husband wants meat.. i don't make a scene at any restaurants when people get a burger.. just not who i am.. SORRY!
Raising meat to feed yourself is far more ethical that buying into the modern commercial farming practices.
If you don't agree with the methods used to get meat, then don't buy it. reducing demand is the only real way to change things.
Its the false perception that people are entitled to cheap meat ( since the 1950's ) that has driven the meat industry to the state its in. People that buy cheap meat are responsible for the state of the industry.
I know many farmers ( i live in the middle of the beef and dairy community ). They are decent people, they are sickened by the price they get for thier animals and I know they would much rather the animals be worth more so they could put more effort into looking after them.
Farmers are not inherently cruel people, they are driven to it by price.
Once you understand that, choices become very simple.
well cared animals is zoo, are not ideal, but they are serving as education. Plus some zoo's help in breed programs. for animals that have been destroyed int he wold, - panda's
Pets, - as long as we treat them with love and care and do not eat them, i do not see the problem. Plus for dogs and cats, we have domesticated them for thousands of years. we are not hurting them by loving and caring for them.
I do not think it's fair that we live in like super luxury while there are millions of people starving else where, and surely I would like to change it, however people are all the same, if we can have something, we will. I don't think many of us will want to give up all their luxuries any time soon, if we can have air conditioning we will use it, it's not like we will say no to air conditioning to help starving people. However I believe we should do our part in trying to help them, even if it's just a little.
To the food thing. Buy kosher food or something, or free range meat, I don't know. Animal cruelty might be horrible, but you know what, there are far more important and horrible things that should be seen to first. Eat your meat girl! You need it.
If you don't want to eat meat don't eat meat. If you want to eat meat eat meat.
Large scale animal production is hard on the animals and the environment so raising your own chickens would be great. It's not practical for everyone though.
You can indeed be for better animal husbandry and still eat meat. That is a valid viewpoint.
I don't think it is so much about that it is not good to try to advocate better conditions for animals but that this sentiment would be more perfected if you were also to not eat these animals which contributes to the overall support of the industry.
I agree animals raised on smaller free range farms have a potential to be treated more humanely however unless you are doing the slaughtering as well there is little guarantee that these same animals will not be brutalized when taken off for the slaughter. In fact I can argue it might actually be more traumatizing as their relatively good life will be a stark contrast to the nightmare their lives will be ended with.
As for you air-condition comment, yes there is a relation between what we consume energy or otherwise and the welfare of the rest of the world. The countries most likely to suffer the most from the adverse effects of global warming are the poorest and least likely to be deal with the cascade of tragedies that will ensue.
Your drinking water question is completely beyond me. You might have to clarify in order for me to answer. But in short, no the government should not be killing its people for any reason. If water is an issue simple create better laws that will encourage environmentally better rationing and use.
i think you should stop worrying about this and just live your life however you see fit. let other people do the same.
It seems that you are not so much for animal *rights* as you are for animal *welfare*. There’s a difference there, it will be useful for you to figure out which side you identify with more in forming your views about things like this. As an abolitionist I personally believe in animals’ rights, that is, their right to not be the property of humans and exploited for food, clothing, entertainment, companionship, etc. On the other hand an animals welfareist, which sounds closer to your thinking, would be ok with the exploitation of animals for human gain so long as the animals are treated “nicely”.
As for the question regarding domesticated animals and captive wild animals that cannot be rehabilitated for life in the wild, we have a responsibility to those animals to look after their well being since we have taken away their ability to survive without human intervention. However I believe we should not breed more of the dependant animals than already exist.
"what if you raise your own animals? my grandpa used to own a farm and we would get eggs and chicken from there."
The operative phrase you used here is "own animals." The perpetuation of the attitude that animals are property is what drives all animal-exploitation, and it is THE barrier between animal welfarism and animal rights.
Welfarism:
"i don't see anything wrong with eating meat, i just don't believe in the methods used to get meat."
Animal rights:
Animals are not commodities. They are sentient living beings. They have awareness. They have needs and desires. They understand the world they live in. Their own lives are as important to them as your life is to you. That is more than reason enough not to kill them.