Let me be clear, I get the whole non animals thing, but if they reason you do that is because animals with a nervous system are theoretically sentient, why not eat the countless animals that don’t have them? Gets you proper dietary needs without having to medicate yourself, still doesn’t harm a creature with a nervous system.
Or in other words, are the arguments in favor of vegetarianism contigent upon humans being omnivores instead of say obligated carnivores?
One issue that's stopping me from going Vegan is how most Vegans feel about things unrelated to food. One of them is having pets. What's the big deal? I mean, I have a Pitbull, a ball python snake, and a tarantula. I see nothing wrong with having companion animals and I'm not giving mine up. Now nor in the future.
My dog is also my semi-retired service dog. (Semi-retired bc he only assists me at home now.)
Anyone here have animals? How do you feel about people (Veg. or non-Veg.) having pets (domestic or exotic)?
I'm a vegan for about a year, but I have lately been struggling to argue against the idea that veganism as it is usually practiced is an arbitrary line when I consider the rise of cultivated meat and precision fermentation. Why? Because the same argument for continuing to buy food from non-veganic farms can be used to justify the consumption of animal products that can be lab-grown. Most of these animal foods aren't on the market yet, but a few already are, so this is not just theoretical tech hype, and it is absolutely going to become a very important thing for us to figure out as these products become more popular.
Let's consider the ethical implications of eating field-grown tomatoes vs those of eating a bag of sunchips with whey powder in it. Vegans say a hard no to the chips, despite the fact that the whey powder is just a cheap byproduct, but eat the insect genocide tomatoes. Why? Because whey can't be produced without exploiting animals and tomatoes theoretically can. The mass gassing of insects is excusable as a necessary but unfortunate side effect of agriculture.
Except there's a problem. Whey can and IS being produced in vats by microbes. This is not far-off tech. Vegan whey powder is on the market NOW and you can buy it. On the other hand, tomatoes grown in controlled greenhouses exist and are even more available than field-grown year-round depending on where you live. So, isn't it wrong to eat a field grown tomato? When someone serves pico de gallo at a party, do you ask about where the tomatoes came from? Why not? If we're going to argue that pesticide use isn't morally relevant to our food choices because crops can be veganically produced, then it's on us to avoid crops grown using pesticides when possible and practical, just like we avoid lipstick that was tested on animals. Not doing so is simply being lazy or kicking the can down the road.
I think a common issue a lot of people have with vegans is how they think they are morally superior, and I agree in that aspect that being vegan is more moral than not being vegan. My issue with it is that it gives them no right to talk down to people as much as they do and put themselves on such a high pedestal. You might not eat meat, but there are many other immoral things you take part in. A great example is child slavery and the exploitation of people in third-world countries. It’s very expensive and takes a lot of effort and research to buy and use products that are made without child slavery and exploitation, but I think it’s ridiculous to call someone a terrible person for eating meat and act like it’s the only logical moral choice while still taking part in things that require child slavery and exploitation. You don’t get to pick one thing to be super moral about and then trash everyone else because there is one thing you are doing better.
I don't eat animals or their products, support animal testing, buy products containing animal products etc but I do not consider myself vegan because I like to indulge in all of these things and they're not necessary to staying alive. They're all for my pleasure and involve the unnecessary crop deaths of animals/bugs. I also don't consider overeating or bodybuilding to be vegan because, again, needless suffering for indulgence. I don't consume animal ag products because I don't find torturing animals from birth to death to be ethical but I am willing to financially support the needless killing of animals/bugs through crop deaths since they lived their whole lives free but died due to harvesting and my selfishness supersedes their lives. Where do you land on this subject?
For the longest time masculinity has always been associated with hunting violence and fighting. Man hunting fish and bugs as trophies of how manly they are.
Recently which is the last 5 years. I think there's been a Push by people like Jordan peel. To make vegan as a look like it's not fit for men where it's bad because real men eat meat