Poll: Why do you (not) eat meat?

[Soods]

They survive on their own. If one species, like pigs, can't survive in the wilds, I don't think it deserves to survive.

That seems like a bit of a leap to me. There are plenty of creatures that would have (and do have) difficulty surviving in the wild, but that doesn't necessarily mean they don't deserve to live and propagate. There are plenty of people that couldn't survive in the wild, either.

There are a number of species which are hanging on by a thread and are largely kept alive by conservation efforts. The giant panda is a good example. Do you think we should simply allow it to die out?

The way I see it is, that every species gets an equal chance. If a species is build to fail, then it will eventually fail, humans shouldn't intervene in the natural selection. But if we already have intervened, and as a result the species is dying, then we should do our best to fix the mess we've made. And no, I don't see humans as a part of the nature anymore.

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

Alright, here we go.

Firstly, if I see an argument that is preposterous to me, I'm sure to reply to it. In this case, I've seen this one pseudo-argument being repeated like a dozen times in this thread alone and you just happened to be the last one brining it up. You mentioned that it's your personal believes and while I don't question that you are entitled to them, I assumed that you by stating them wouldn't mind defending them as well. But if that's the case, leave this post unanswered and I shall bother you no more.

Still, your reasoning here just doesn't make sense to me. You are saying that human beings are omnivores and therefore, If we don't have the right to eat meat then no non-human animal omnivores should either? Why, because they are likely to do the same? Well that doesn't matter. Right now we are the ones with the meat industry and no other animal is doing the same. This is no a question of any deontological principles that all animals have. Human beings can be judged by how we treat those who cannot defend themselves. In this case, we are treating animals that cannot defend themselves horribly, which is unethical no matter how you look at it.

We're the ones with the industry because we're the ones with the capability to create said industry. If another species of omnivore out there one day achieved our level of intelligence and ability to create and utilize tools, it'd be naive to assume that they wouldn't use those gifts to get the food that they want. If they got as efficient at it as we have gotten with the many, many years of practice we've had, they'd likely have the same industry going that we currently have.

But they don't have that capability. We're using the gifts nature gave us to get what we want, and what we want is to not be hungry. We're using our gifts that nature gave us to ensure that we don't go hungry by having a ready supply of the things we want to eat. Saying that what we're doing is 'unnatural' is ridiculous. To say it's 'unethical' - fine, I'll give you that one, maybe it is unethical - but ethics are pretty subjective. Your ethics =/= my ethics, nor do our ethics = everyone's ethics. By my standard of ethics, when the day comes that a group of cows form a protest of their own volition, I'll consider it unethical. But projecting human emotions onto cows is ridiculous, and sadly something I see all the time from people who want me to feel bad for behaving in a manner appropriate for my species. Animals eat other animals who can't defend themselves all the time. Orcas are actually recorded playing with their prey before eating it. Are you going to try and explain to an Orca that its behavior is unethical? Weaver Ants harvest other weaker insects as a food source, are you going to tell a nest of weaver ants that their behavior is unethical?

 

[MrTub]

I eat meat since I still live at home and I cannot really force my family to change their diet simply cause I would prefer not to eat it. I do think meat is really tasty but I would really prefer to not eat it :/

 

[geK0]

meh, what is happiness to an animal aside from eating and not being mauled by wild wolves? : \

Besides, where would all those cows go if the demand for meat and leather just disappeared? I mean, they can't successfully breed without assistance, they have no natural food supply.... We'd just see a bunch of dead cow carcasses everywhere for a couple years, followed by their extinction.

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

Besides, where would all those cows go if the demand for meat and leater just disappeared?

They'd go to the wild, where they would be eaten by some other type of animal that doesn't care whether or not they can defend themselves.

Probably your aforementioned wild wolves.

 

[Croix Sinistre]

I eat meat because it's me doing my part to exert man's dominion over nature.

 

[Kriptonite]

I like meat and I am biologically designed for it. The only things I have problems with are mistreatment of animals, chemically altered meat and the fact that, for the most part, we have spared cute and cuddly animals because they are just that: cute and cuddly. It really doesn't seem all that fair.

 

[him over there]

One because I really really like it and two because animals are not people, therefore what happens to them is completely irrelevant so long as it doesn't come back to bite me in the ass. Seriously fuck animals.

 

[Active Schizophrenic]

Because I live in Alberta. Best beef in the world right here. Human's lived on mostly red meat full of saturated fat for most of our existence and we were tall, lean and muscular. It wasn't until agriculture that we got short and fat.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

We didn't spend millions of years climbing the food chain to eat lettuce.

Meat is the food of the brain, your brain enjoys steak, that's all your brain has ever wanted.

You would deny your brain such simple pleasures as the meat of another animal?

It's what Jesus would have wanted.

 

[Wushu Panda]

Well, 2 people have been enlightened according to the poll. There must have been something enlightening about the post.

You are claiming a lot, but please provide some sources.
This [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_meat_production] and this [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_vegetarianism] is why I believe meat production is bad for the environment.

"The world must create five billion vegans in the next several decades, or triple its total farm output without using more land."
-Dennis Avery, Director of the Centre for Global Food Issues

those people clearly have a low double digit IQ. you offered nothing intellectual on the table.

secondly, don't ask me to provide sources then link a couple of Wikipedia pages. it's insulting. Wikipedia is a good place for quickly looking up general facts, but an absolutely terrible thing to "source". I can only assume you're in grade school if you think Wiki is a respectable source.

Dennis Avery is an idiot. You and him are thinking about this problem the wrong way. You know how I said when an animal population gets too big they have to be reduced for the healthy continuation of the environment? Do you also remember how I pointed out that humans are animals just like any other on this planet?

As far as I'm concerned Humans have 2 options. Colonize other planets or reduce our population to a more sustainable number. And seeing as how we're still far away from option number 1 it's only logical for a genocide.

 

[CrimsonBlaze]

I eat meat because it tastes good. Sure, I've eaten plenty of dishes in which meat was not the star and are just as delicious as meat dishes, but I enjoy eating meat nonetheless. I do eat veggies and fruits, as well as dairy products, and I've never felt like I needed to cut back on any of my food group intake (unless I'm training or exercising).

To everyone who doesn't eat meat, I don't judge and respect their decision and dedication to a no meat lifestyle. It just means more meat for me.

 

[Smiley Face]

If humans didn't eat meat, we'd probably have driven all livestock animals into extinction by now. Think of it as environmentalism.

Meat's fine. It's not so much that I love it than that I'm a very picky eater and as such it inevitably winds up on my plate. I have no particular qualms about eating meat - I'm not a huge fan of animals, and while the way they're generally raised now is lamentable, I don't see how my doing anything different can have any real effect, nor do I think it's an important enough issue concern myself over. I mean, there's so much injustice and inequality being dished out to humans, let's deal with that before we concern ourselves with animal rights.

 

[MajorTomServo]

People who eat meat just havent learned enough about where it comes from. I find that no one is ever able to beat me in an argument about it. It usually comes down to "But it's tasty! D:" or "If you dont eat meat you're a queer-bag! D:<" or "REAL men eat meat! Carnivores ftw! Mighty hunters herp derp durr!"

Because nothing says mighty predator like buying pre-packed cuts of an animal someone else raised and slaughtered for you.

 

[SD-Fiend]

People who eat meat just havent learned enough about where it comes from. I find that no one is ever able to beat me in an argument about it. It usually comes down to "But it's tasty! D:" or "If you dont eat meat you're a queer-bag! D:<" or "REAL men eat meat! Carnivores ftw! Mighty hunters herp derp durr!"

Because nothing says mighty predator like buying pre-packed cuts of an animal someone else raised and slaughtered for you.

I know where meat comes from and I still eat it. it's already dead and not eating it won't help anything.

 

[brainslurper]

Your reason is that it is bad for the environment? Unless you are eating wild dolphins then no, no it isn't.

 

[imperialwar]

well as a body builder / weightlifter I eat four kinds of protein every day.
Beef, fish, Tofu and beans.

 

[Agayek]

I eat meat for one very obvious and clear reason: It's fucking delicious. And if you disagree, you are provably wrong.

Really, I don't need any other reason to eat it.

 

[ImperialSunlight]

I eat meat because humans are omnivores. It's natural. Any other omnivore or carnivore that considers humans as prospective prey would do the same to me. Of course, there are health benefits to being a vegetarian, but... honestly, meat is too good.

 

[xPixelatedx]

I eat meat because animals eat meat.

If there was something wrong with the concept then life wouldn't be designed this way.

And if one day something eats me, then awesome it came full circle. I hope I am delicious.