I definitely see "speciesism" or hypocrisy as you put it in our treatment of animals. We keep dogs, cats and horses as pets, and the idea of eating any is revolting to most US citizens. Why do we think it is okay to eat pigs but not dogs? Pigs are at least as smart as dogs, if not smarter, and they also make good pets.
When you ask yourself why you would not eat a dog. You might say "because they're smart", but that obviously doesn't hold water when you compare them to pigs. If you say it's "gross" or "not right", you have to explain why, when you still eat other animals. If it's because dogs have a right to live, or because you don't want to subject them to the pain of being raised and slaughtered for food, then you must ask yourself why you still eat pigs and cows.
Personally, I would love to see a future where the idea of eating any animals is repulsive to humans. Of course a part of reaching that future is developing an larger variety of protein-rich foods and foods rich in nutrients it's harder to take in without eating meat like iron and B12. But with science on our side, I believe it can be done, and I think our culture is moving, ever so slowly, towards the notion that we can and /should/ learn to survive without using animals for food.
With food, though, there's some gray area, and there are people who have a lot of trouble getting protein if they don't eat meat - not everyone, it varies from person to person, of course.
But it appalls me in our society that anyone still thinks it's okay to use animals for their skin or fur or for sport, when we have so many alternatives available as far as clothing materials and entertainment. We don't need leather or fur or bullfights to survive the way we need food. I hope an end is put to these things very soon.
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Date: 10/8/11 20:37 (UTC)I definitely see "speciesism" or hypocrisy as you put it in our treatment of animals. We keep dogs, cats and horses as pets, and the idea of eating any is revolting to most US citizens. Why do we think it is okay to eat pigs but not dogs? Pigs are at least as smart as dogs, if not smarter, and they also make good pets.
When you ask yourself why you would not eat a dog. You might say "because they're smart", but that obviously doesn't hold water when you compare them to pigs. If you say it's "gross" or "not right", you have to explain why, when you still eat other animals. If it's because dogs have a right to live, or because you don't want to subject them to the pain of being raised and slaughtered for food, then you must ask yourself why you still eat pigs and cows.
Personally, I would love to see a future where the idea of eating any animals is repulsive to humans. Of course a part of reaching that future is developing an larger variety of protein-rich foods and foods rich in nutrients it's harder to take in without eating meat like iron and B12. But with science on our side, I believe it can be done, and I think our culture is moving, ever so slowly, towards the notion that we can and /should/ learn to survive without using animals for food.
With food, though, there's some gray area, and there are people who have a lot of trouble getting protein if they don't eat meat - not everyone, it varies from person to person, of course.
But it appalls me in our society that anyone still thinks it's okay to use animals for their skin or fur or for sport, when we have so many alternatives available as far as clothing materials and entertainment. We don't need leather or fur or bullfights to survive the way we need food. I hope an end is put to these things very soon.