There's a lot to admire with animal rights folks like Wayne who practice what they preach and truly care about animals. As someone who does consume meat and is a hunter, I do get all ethical concerns around taking another life. It is the paradox of living though. Death gives way to more life. I don't wish to cause unnecessary suffering when I take another animals life, but I can appreciate taking part in that cycle and knowing that their meat will go towards feeding myself and others. People who choose partake in the killing for meat are generally not numb, unthoughtful monsters, but actually very thoughtful in their practice and connected to what they do. I think factory farming perverts this process by allowing us to become numb to the animals suffering.
I agree; I'd much rather see widespread hunting and no factory farming than the reverse. The very scale and semi-automation of factory farming - a great trend in many other industries, producing more valuable stuff with less labor - scales up to atrocity when sentient beings are an input to the product.
Well said. I would much rather see lab grown meat put through this automation process than living beings. I think that is a trend in a positive direction
A very impressive interviewee. I find myself in agreement with almost everything he expressed. But he doesn't go far enough. I believe that the scope of our compassion extends to all living beings be they invertebrate or not. Legal protections are fine but we must change the public's attitude toward the taking of life, toward bondage and coercion in general. We are a slaver species. We must change that. Not only through litigation and direct actions but through the gentle transformation of hearts and minds.
I can agree with that sentiment to an extent. I agree we should have compassion for all living thing and as a culture we should be more attuned to the suffering of other creatures. I also think people participating in the cycle of life through killing for food is not immoral. I don't think it is something we can fully separate ourselves from. There will always be ethical considerations when choosing to do so, but I don't think we will evolve away from this reality as a species. I think in modern times we have been able to put our heads in the sand when it comes to this, but that has in many ways been to detriment of the animals we rely on for food. Not sure if that conflicts with your view.
Very thought provoking and important points. The animal personhood concept totally makes sense in the context of historical fights for women, blacks and gay rights. Alleviating the suffering of sentient beings is a noble societal goal.
You have gone off the deep end with this. "Factory farming" is nothing but a pejorative term used by someone who doesn't understand farming. A piglet may be cute, but it is not a person. This article is why progressives are held with such scorn by the majority of Americans.
I can appreciate your perspective; a piglet certainly isn't a human person, and I do agree with your implied statement that a piglet has less moral value than a human. But I do think a piglet has *some non-zero moral value*, akin to a puppy, and while we may disagree on how to weight that, I think we could perhaps agree that it is at least good to some extent to minimize their suffering when possible?
Part of the reason I still call myself a progressive (however twisted that name/movement can become) is because I think it still denotes at least an attempt to be more compassionate towards the helpless. I think there's a chance this century to provide delicious bacon 🥓 that does not originate in caged piglets, and I think that would be a good thing, for farmers as well as consumers.
There's a lot to admire with animal rights folks like Wayne who practice what they preach and truly care about animals. As someone who does consume meat and is a hunter, I do get all ethical concerns around taking another life. It is the paradox of living though. Death gives way to more life. I don't wish to cause unnecessary suffering when I take another animals life, but I can appreciate taking part in that cycle and knowing that their meat will go towards feeding myself and others. People who choose partake in the killing for meat are generally not numb, unthoughtful monsters, but actually very thoughtful in their practice and connected to what they do. I think factory farming perverts this process by allowing us to become numb to the animals suffering.
I agree; I'd much rather see widespread hunting and no factory farming than the reverse. The very scale and semi-automation of factory farming - a great trend in many other industries, producing more valuable stuff with less labor - scales up to atrocity when sentient beings are an input to the product.
Well said. I would much rather see lab grown meat put through this automation process than living beings. I think that is a trend in a positive direction
Absolutely! I'm really excited for lab-grown meat, and I wish more people would embrace it. https://sammatey.substack.com/p/if-something-new-seems-unnatural
A very impressive interviewee. I find myself in agreement with almost everything he expressed. But he doesn't go far enough. I believe that the scope of our compassion extends to all living beings be they invertebrate or not. Legal protections are fine but we must change the public's attitude toward the taking of life, toward bondage and coercion in general. We are a slaver species. We must change that. Not only through litigation and direct actions but through the gentle transformation of hearts and minds.
I can agree with that sentiment to an extent. I agree we should have compassion for all living thing and as a culture we should be more attuned to the suffering of other creatures. I also think people participating in the cycle of life through killing for food is not immoral. I don't think it is something we can fully separate ourselves from. There will always be ethical considerations when choosing to do so, but I don't think we will evolve away from this reality as a species. I think in modern times we have been able to put our heads in the sand when it comes to this, but that has in many ways been to detriment of the animals we rely on for food. Not sure if that conflicts with your view.
Very thought provoking and important points. The animal personhood concept totally makes sense in the context of historical fights for women, blacks and gay rights. Alleviating the suffering of sentient beings is a noble societal goal.
You have gone off the deep end with this. "Factory farming" is nothing but a pejorative term used by someone who doesn't understand farming. A piglet may be cute, but it is not a person. This article is why progressives are held with such scorn by the majority of Americans.
I can appreciate your perspective; a piglet certainly isn't a human person, and I do agree with your implied statement that a piglet has less moral value than a human. But I do think a piglet has *some non-zero moral value*, akin to a puppy, and while we may disagree on how to weight that, I think we could perhaps agree that it is at least good to some extent to minimize their suffering when possible?
Part of the reason I still call myself a progressive (however twisted that name/movement can become) is because I think it still denotes at least an attempt to be more compassionate towards the helpless. I think there's a chance this century to provide delicious bacon 🥓 that does not originate in caged piglets, and I think that would be a good thing, for farmers as well as consumers.