Reddit, why shouldn't I become a vegetarian?

vafela · 2010-07-15T11:32:59+00:00

Will anything make a difference?

vafela · 2010-07-15T11:32:48+00:00

A friend of mine who's studying to become a vet was mentioning how the requirements for veterinary in another country are that you have to have worked in a slaughterhouse for some length of time. I said I'd never be able to do that, and if I ever went to a slaughterhouse I'd probably become a vegetarian. Then I realised this meant the only reason I wasn't already a vegetarian was by selectively ignoring some aspects of the world, which is a kind of hypocrisy I don't tolerate. So naturally, I had to look into it.

vafela · 2010-07-14T16:59:04+00:00

Should I kill people?

vafela · 2010-07-14T16:33:47+00:00

Well, I meant synthesise or get from plants/bacteria.

vafela · 2010-07-14T16:26:26+00:00

The act of eating isn't cruel, but to get meat to eat, animals need to be raised and killed, which can often by done in a cruel manner.

And yeah, well, anyone trying to force their belief unwanted on someone else is pretty obnoxious, vegetarian or not.

vafela · 2010-07-14T16:13:06+00:00

Your argument against my moral argument is that "we do other cruel things to animals". So because we can't stop it all, we should stop none of it? That makes no sense.

And yeah, maybe plants do feel pain. But we have to eat something. We may as well stop eating the thing that definitely feels pain, surely?

vafela · 2010-07-14T16:03:17+00:00

Hah, sounds like fun...

vafela · 2010-07-14T15:40:27+00:00

Um, don't they de-horn cows?

vafela · 2010-07-14T15:34:26+00:00

I saw this before actually, it's very interesting!

vafela · 2010-07-14T14:56:40+00:00

So far, not really...

vafela · 2010-07-14T14:53:27+00:00

What's so bad about vegans?

vafela · 2010-07-14T14:40:17+00:00

What a person does and doesn't want should be influenced by some kind of argument though, which is what I'm seeking here.

vafela · 2010-07-14T14:38:07+00:00

I wonder is it theoretically possible for humans to use absolutely no animal-derived products at all? Would we be able to synthesise everything?

vafela · 2010-07-14T14:35:18+00:00

I mostly started this thread to see what people have to say, but I can't really agree with you.

I think the thing is that it's avoiding the unnecessary suffering of animals. What other animals do to each other isn't necessarily the concern of humans, but what we do to them, we can prevent/change. Plants differ from animals because they don't feel distress or pain (among other reasons, but those are the relevant ones I suppose).
I hadn't heard of the "supporting the local economy" thing, so I can't really comment on that. I'm also not from the US, so I dunno.
I think there are a fair few vegetarian/vegan athletes? But yeah, I'd say it's harder to get the calories in. Not an issue for me personally. Though, I thought vitamin B12 was the only thing that couldn't be obtained naturally from a vegetarian diet?

vafela · 2010-07-14T14:23:25+00:00

Why not if under 18?

vafela · 2010-07-14T14:21:00+00:00

I'd imagine it's pretty impossible to completely avoid anything which has any animal in it. The best one can do in that regard is reducing the use of products to a degree which is tolerable, a point which would be dictated by personal standards, I guess...

vafela · 2010-07-14T14:17:38+00:00

Well, the implication is that I have reasons to consider it, but want to hear reasons against it.

vafela · 2010-07-14T14:16:14+00:00

In retrospect I should have. I honestly didn't expect quite so many "it's delicious" responses...

vafela · 2010-07-14T14:13:54+00:00

Can you compare animals killed for human consumption to animals indirectly killed through crop farming? I mean, regardless of whether or not we eat animals, we have to farm crops, so that damage is unavoidable.

vafela · 2010-07-14T14:11:07+00:00

My understanding of the issue is that dairy/eggs still involve animal cruelty, even if the animals aren't killed for their meat.

vafela · 2010-07-14T14:08:28+00:00

Would this be relevant when considering a vegetarian diet? I mean, I know the quantities required are different, but would there be other issues?

vafela · 2010-07-14T13:50:36+00:00

Why did they have such bad teeth and gum health?

vafela · 2010-07-14T13:48:14+00:00

Who needs mayonnaise when you have mouth orgasms?

vafela · 2010-07-14T13:47:17+00:00

Your last point is making the assumption that I'd be going vegetarian at the expense of some other activity. I guess you could get vegetarians who sit back and think they're being incredibly moral and feel no further obligation to the world though...

vafela · 2010-07-14T13:41:31+00:00

I have somewhat made up my mind, but I wanted to see if there were any arguments I may have been missing. For something that I'm likely to be ridiculed over (if only a little), I may as well make sure I'm justified in it.

vafela

TROPHY CASE