Some thoughts on the ethics of meat eating...
Now before I start this thread, I want to notify you all that I'm an vorocious meat eater and have always been a voracious meat eater. That being said this little insight has given me good reason to quit as soon as I get the time and willpower.
One of the most prevalent measures of whether an animal is worthy of not being eaten or not is their intelligence. Eg. Dolphins, primates and humans are worthy but chickens, sheep and cows are not.
Why is it though that people feel that an intelligent animal does not deserve suffering as much as a stupid one? After all pain is a very primeval sensation in animals. One justification is that intelligent animals suffer more emotionally. This is also false as all mammals possess the limbic system in their brains that enable them to feel emotions. Where do we draw the line of what can be eaten or not? Isn't it simply better to just turn vegetarian or vegan?
Another one is that through the killing and eating of animals, man is keeping the natural equilibrium running. This is also false as the vast majority of meat we eat comes from domesticsized animals that live in largly enclosed conditions with little interaction with the ecosystem. The few animals we hunt, we hunt in a completly unsubstainable way that disrupts the ecosystem more then"preserves" it.
Since we can get all of our nutrients from plants or supplements I have to come to the conclusion that the only reason why people are so resistant to veganism is because it represents a severe break from tradition.
Thoughts?