Thursday, December 20, 2007

Straight Talk Express!!!!

The world needs more people like Robin, who are not afraid to speak the truth and stand up to those Veggie bullies that are out there. You know who you are.

http://hanson.gmu.edu/meat.html

2 comments:

Dan R said...

One large flaw in the author's argument is the false claim that if we avoid eating meat, the same amount of land or resources that would have been used to produce meat will be used to grow plant foods.

The vast majority of all grains produced in this country are fed to animals (I believe over 90%, although I should revisit the US Department of Agriculture's study). If meat eating were reduced, you would simply not need to grow as many crops. Furthermore, less forests would be cut down for grazing land, fewer resevoirs depleated, and less global desertification from over-grazing, less land erosion, water contamination from fertilizers, etc. So despite what the author wants us to believe, you don't simply replace a cow farm with an asparagus farm!

The author also grossly underestimates the degree of suffering that most animals in factory farms endure. To name one of many examples, chickens in such farms have their anuses glued shut and their beaks cut off without anesthesia. Many die from shock. They are kept in cages so small that their feet literally grow around the holes in the cage.

It is a silly argument for the author to claim "well, the animals certainly don't want to commit suicide, so their lives are valuable [sic]". Obviously a chicken doesn't have the sophistication to think on this level, and moreover, it is not as self-evident as the author thinks it is that any manner of existence is better than no existence.

If not buying meat is wrong because it leads to less animals being bred for slaughter (and thus less animals being alive), than it is certainly immoral for us humans to use contraception. Choosing not to buy a steak and enourage the birth of a future cow would be analogous to using a condom. Following this author's logic, every sperm must be sacred, or shame on you!

I wish this author had done her homework before accusing so many people of being immoral.

Helen Bennett Harvey said...

Nicely said dan r - so I won't repeat...except to say that amid the author's flawed and quite run on logic also appears to run a vein of some self-loathing and guilt.