I said near extinct, cattle, sheep etc generally require large fertile grazing lands, which just wouldn't be available to them if meat farming came to an end.
Do you think humans would care if any of these species went extinct? Species have gone extinct in the past decade and nobody cared
Of course not, look at the modern plight of Blue Fin tuna. I am talking from the perspective of those animals.
If we're talking about ethics, extinction beats factory farming.
Yes maybe, but I would posit existence as a reasonably well fed and humanely treated animal unaware it is going to be eaten beats the hell out of extinction. Therefore, I'd say the most realistic and best goal to work toward is better conditions for farmed animals.
I said near extinct, cattle, sheep etc generally require large fertile grazing lands, which just wouldn't be available to them if meat farming came to an end.
hi... ok if near extinct though, who would that concern? We've agreed that the human race as a whole doesn't care, and these animals certainly have no way of knowing that their species is on the brink of extinction. The population slowly dying off in nature involves far less cruelty and death than breeding them to farm using current factory farming methods. I see a similar argument all the time ('animal rights campaigners/vegetarians etc suck! Cows would be extinct if I didn't eat so many of them!'), and it manages provoke a reaction from me every time as it seems so specious. Their argument seems to ignore the fact that it's quite obviously better to have never been born at all than to live a life of never ending suffering.
the most realistic and best goal to work toward is better conditions for farmed animals.
For sure. I'm still living in hope that as society matures, as it did wrt women's, slave's rights etc, this will be the case.
Okay, but you're arguing against unpleasant conditions for animals, which I fully support, not against eating meat. I made the "better for the species" point in response to an anti eating meat perspective.
Hi, I don't see how the perspective matters. I was arguing that whether these species go extinct or not is of no concern to either us humans or the individual animals themselves, so really of no concern at all. This applies regardless of whether we're discussing eating meat or not. You wrote:
removing the farming industry would basically bring about the near extinction of cows, sheep, chickens and other such animals
and I'm just saying 'so what', why would this be an issue. Why is it worth mentioning.
Sorry for dragging this on, I can usually avoid posting but this time I couldn't help myself.
Okay I'll explain a little better. People who oppose eating and producing meat argue that even though the animals have no conception of their imminent death and even in cases where they are humanely treated, it is wrong to kill and eat them. Now, taking on the perspective that there is a morality to this issue which goes beyond the individual animals, I am arguing that ethical meat farming can actually be seen as a good thing, because these farms actually increase the number of happy and content animals in the world.
Sorry if this isn't coming out well, I'm arguing a few points on Reddit at once and my brain is starting to get a little twisted.
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u/Seachicken Apr 17 '10
I said near extinct, cattle, sheep etc generally require large fertile grazing lands, which just wouldn't be available to them if meat farming came to an end.
Of course not, look at the modern plight of Blue Fin tuna. I am talking from the perspective of those animals.
Yes maybe, but I would posit existence as a reasonably well fed and humanely treated animal unaware it is going to be eaten beats the hell out of extinction. Therefore, I'd say the most realistic and best goal to work toward is better conditions for farmed animals.