Eating Meat

So in Ethics we're doing an applied topics unit of "Our Duties to Animals" and I understand some animal testing is rather cruel... or had been apparently... but I'm so enraged at the hippiness of it all...

Like we have to read a 33 page essay entitled "The Immortality of Eating Meat" and all day yesterday Dr. McBride (who I hope to god was playing devil's advocate) was all gung ho about the Animal Liberation essay... Where Singer suggested that animals being given equal consideration of humans... Singer himself was a vegan...

And I find this ruthlessly absurd. Look you don't want to eat meat that's fine... but to suggest that person who does is immoral is ridicilious. Singer said that the only reason we eat meat is for the taste and we can get nutrients from meat from soybeans...

Look if we weren't in nature suppose to eat meat then we would not have been given incisors either thru god or evolution or some wacky combination of both. And whether we give humans the status of animals or animals the status of humans then some trade off has to occur...

if we say all animals deserve equal consideration then that would suggest that we have to tell other carnivores that they can not eat meat... good luck getting that memo out... and ya know what... until an animal expresses to me a desire for equal rights... then I'm going to continue to treat it like an animal... and maybe that's a point animals have no voice so we must decide for them... well then there you go... if we have to decide what's best for them... then we are superior which gives us the right to use animals as means... trust... if there was a superior being on this earth capable of hunting and trapping us... they would have their right to do what they wanted... thus is the advantage of survival of the fittest.

Am I speciesist... Damn skippy I am... I'll be damned if I'm going to give equal consideration to a damn cow. Look... they don't want to die... well that's all fine and good... neither do i... and I want to eat that cow so my consideration and happiness is at stake... and that one cow could feed like 5 people... so if you're going to utlitarianize the argument then the happiness of 5 people is worth the suffering of one cow. Also... yeah mass meat farms are gross and a tad sketch... but I also have the equal consideration to not want to pay out the ass for meat... so that I can invest my money in a HUMAN ECONOMY... you know why? BECAUSE I AM A FUCKIN HUMAN.

Would I feel different if I was cow... probably... but on the other hand would I be self aware of my plight... probably not.. because I would be a FUCKIN COW.

Look I'm gonna go with Kant on this one... which I found Kant is my main man... if you had a shot of Kant with a splash of Utilitarianism over iced Aristotle that would be one damn fine philosophy.

Kant believes that because animals are not rational that we can use them as means to an end... but... that we shouldn't mistreat them unless out of necessity because how we treat animals is a reflection of how we treat humanity.... so with Kant it's alright to eat meat... the living conditions of livestock is necessary to keep meat at an affordable price... animal testing is alright (with in reason) if it helps us make scientific discoveries that will benefit human beings... and what wouldn't be alright is things like torturing animals, beating them or starving them, shooting them for sport (unless it's a population deterrent because allowing the animals to become over populated and starve is cruel)

See isn't Kant an agreeable sort of guy... granted he tells you if the nazis came to your house looking for Ann Frank you'd have to turn her over because you could never universalize lying.... but other than that... kudos to you Kant and your categorical imperative.

In conclusion I beginning to wonder if I had misjudged one of my groupmates as a Liberal Hippie... Since he has cut his hair, stopped drinking out of wooden cup, and apparently loves to eat meat as much as the next guy... He's dare I say... moderately bearable. (a bit godly for my taste) but on a whole... I feel perhaps my initial impression of him was wrong... tho he is always in my personal space... I guess it's important to remember you can't judge a person by appearances which I think Eric would agree with because so many people mistake him for Russian... but you know Eric I think that has nothing to do with your blue eyes and blond hair, but probably that half empty bottle of vodka your always carrying around ;)

Finally... since I'm sure I've ruffled a few feathers... let's end with a laugh... and keep in mind... I'm not THIS gung ho about eating meat... or am I???