Morrissey: "I See No Difference Between Eating Meat and Pedophilia" — Page 2

" A cow, like a chicken, is not meant to simply die of old age. To ignore the ways in which they are useful is insulting to the animal."

Wha?? I sorta could get behind the rest of your post, but this just throws me. I assume you mean "domesticated" animals, the same way someone would say dogs were "created" over years by people and owning one is different, than, say, grabbing a wolf from the wilds and putting him on a leash. But... I still can't wrap my head around this.

I admit I feel a bit guilty about my vegetarian. I became one when I was 11 or so after watching some meat expose on tv--much to the annoyance of my family (though honestly I think it got them to eat meat in the long run--they were much more annoyed with the fact that I wouldn't wear leather shoes, etc, and as an adult I understand that much more since as a kid it didn't really occur to me that these items were still all being bought for me, of course.)

In the past ten years or so I've become more of a pesco/ovotarian (if that's the term.) I still try to be conscientious in my choices--and it certainly helps that now I live on the West Coast and have a better income (I get my milk and eggs from a sorta post hippy farm owned by family friends)--as a student in Montreal that would have been much harder.

I do think it's a choice everyone has to make for themselves (as I think most on here are saying) and it doesn't bother me if someone is aware and tries to make good choices with where they get their meat, though I do think it's always hard to make those choices. (And that said, I would never lecture a friend who stops by at a fast food burger place when we are leaving the bar, or something. I've said this before on here, but while I certainly do know some annoying militant vegetarians who will lecture at a BBQ, I have encountered many more people at parties who somehow casually find out I'm a vegetarian and feel they have to explain to me why people are meant to eat meat, etc, and get defensive out of some sort of repressed guilt I can only imagine.)

I like Namo's comparison with the sweat shop situation actually, something I've never really thought about. I think there's no real way for even the most careful vegan to never purchase something that harms animals, etc. But I think it is good to be aware of these things.

(And no, it's not remotely the same as sexual abuse, rape, microwaving your children or whatever other nonsense Morrissey says. I like a lot of his music--though more The Smiths--but even with his protests and insistence that he simply turns and walks away when a carnivore talks to him or whatever, he must realize in some part of his brain that these deplorable people are still helping support his career and lifestyle.)

"as a student in Montreal that would have been much harder."

Le Comensal, mon frère!

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I remember when the ten dollars got you a REAL private dance at Campus!! Salut, Tars, wherever you are!!

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Seriously? They were put here for food? That's your argument? I don't even know where to start...

He would have made a lot more sense if he had said "Eating meat is like cannibalism."

But then he wouldn't be Morrissey.

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"I remember when the ten dollars got you a REAL private dance at Campus!! Salut, Tars, wherever you are!!"

Oh, Namo, how old ARE you? They were at least fifteen by the time I lived there. (Campus is, of course, still around and, umm, kicking.)

ultimately, the problem with eating meat is an ethical one. we are basically breeding intelligent creatures to kill them and consume them. if you wouldn't eat your dog, why is okay to eat a cow or a pig?

but there is a larger economical one that presses now, too. with 1 acre of land, you can feed only two people with meat. you can feed 20 with grain.

some of you are reading about the superbugs for which there are no antibiotics. a large portion of this problem stems from antibiotics being put into animal feed. this breeds resistance in their flora, and then gives it to you when you consume it. then there is a huge amount of animal fecal material that is being drained into the water supply from mass farming. between all of this, meat eating simply is not sustainable. many of you have probably heard how we are overfishing the oceans, as well. within a few decades, all that we may be able to get from the oceans are jellyfish. mmmmm.

but we can also admit that, at this time, the technology to totally replace meat is not yet there. perhaps in 50-100 years or so. in the meantime, each person can do their part. try to minimize the amount of meat you eat; we are all probably eating way too much meat anyway. try to eat organic to protest the use of antibiotics in animal feed. this is also why people have to be reasonable about it; as demonstrated by an earlier thread, eating organic is expensive, and if it's not in the budget, people should be understanding. if there is something that is being overfished/overharvested, don't eat it.

lastly, people on this board in particular, should avoid using the "natural" argument. the first fallacy of the "natural" argument is that it assumes that "natural" = "right." earthquakes, smallpox, and HIV are also "natural," but we don't need more of those.

oh, and if you have a scorpion or spider problem, chickens are a very green solution.

Updated On: 1/4/14 at 07:10 PM

" if you wouldn't eat your dog, why is okay to eat a cow or a pig? "

Because cows and pigs are delicious.

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Because cows and pigs are delicious.

so are dogs and cats, though i have not had the relevant gustatory experience. anything is good if you deep fat fry it. boiling puppies alive is considered a delicacy in some areas of china. the adrenaline enhances the taste of the meat, apparently.

if any of you decide to visit those areas of the world with your pet, do keep it on a short leash. your pets can and will be kidnapped to be fed to smiling diners.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2164353/Horrific-images-dogs-killed-cooked-served-meal-sick-Chinese-tradition.html

Updated On: 1/4/14 at 08:35 PM

Only if it's the carriage horses from nyc!

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I don't always live up to the standards. My shoes are leather. I don't avoid something that has gelatin in it. I can't afford much in the way of clothing not made in the developing world. I'm just happier knowing I'm not part of the chain of mechanized beheading machines that are supposed to pick up chickens by one leg and quickly lop off their heads, but since they are sentient beings they move their heads and aren't killed so they are boiled alive to remove their feathers. It's stuff like that there that I'm glad I'm not a part of. That and my great cholesterol.

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I bet ALF could.

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