Monday, September 07, 2009
People and animals
While eating a hamburger this weekend, I noticed that someone nearby was wearing an anti-PETA t-shirt. It seemed kind of odd to protest protesters-- if you disagree with protesters, ignoring them seems the best option, since what they want is attention. Still, this brought to mind the divide in the country over how we think of animals. There seem to be four camps, including two absolutist positions and two in between:
1) The animal rights believer
This person feels that animals have rights (natural rights if not legal ones) close to those of humans. They usually are vegetarians and are very sensitive to what they perceive as cruelty to nearly any animal.
2) Animal rights particularists
Particularists agree with the first group as to certain types of animals only, usually pets. These people will eat a steak, but take very seriously the treatment of their favored type of animal.
3) The accommodationist
This type thinks needless cruelty should be avoided, but generally does not agree with the idea of animal rights because she feels that people are fundamentally and morally distinct from animals. Usually this type does not seem very interested in the issue.
4) The animal rights opponent
This person has disdain for group 1, and thinks our society has gone overboard on the protection of animals.
Which type are you? Are any of these principled positions?
Comments:
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I like kittys, puppies and steak. However, I do feel bad about the process by which we get our meats now. The mass production aspect I think not only adds to the "cruelty" but also degrades the quality of the food. What does that make me?
Book suggestion: the omnivore's dilemma
Book suggestion: the omnivore's dilemma
# posted by 
: 3:09 PM
: 3:09 PM
I agree: I don't like how the mass production of animals--feeding them hormones to make them develop abnormally--affects both the animal and maybe even those who eat them.
But i find that my mental /emotional energy for causes is drawn much more to the cruelties humans inflict on other humans. I'd like to try to be veg ( a fish-eating veg), but I'm lax because the human varieties of injustice and cruelty toward other humans bothers me more.
But i find that my mental /emotional energy for causes is drawn much more to the cruelties humans inflict on other humans. I'd like to try to be veg ( a fish-eating veg), but I'm lax because the human varieties of injustice and cruelty toward other humans bothers me more.
# posted by : 5:28 PM
: 5:28 PM
Meat is yummy. PETA are a bunch of hippies with very warped priorities. I like dogs. I hate cats. I think being a vegetarian for health reasons is a totally excellent idea, but being a vegetarian for humanitarian reasons is elitist and flies in the face of what science teaches us about the food chain.
Think that about covers it.
Think that about covers it.
# posted by : 7:45 PM
: 7:45 PM
We have 2 dogs (indoors) and 3 cats (outdoors). We got the cats and dogs fixed so they can't over populate the animal kingdom. There is also a very large racoon and oppossum that visit the cat food regularly as well as other neighborhood cats.
I eat meat, fish, fowl, deer, fruits, vegetables and grains (all the food groups). I draw the line at bugs, snakes, etc.... I prefer organic to mass produced - it tastes better (especially chicken).
If someone has a mean pet, I feel sorry for the pet and am angered by the owner; but if the animal charges me I will drop kick the animal (or climb the nearest tree to save myself).
What does that make me?
I think there are a lot more variations than you have presented. What about the people who humanize there animals. I am a little guilty with my pets.
I eat meat, fish, fowl, deer, fruits, vegetables and grains (all the food groups). I draw the line at bugs, snakes, etc.... I prefer organic to mass produced - it tastes better (especially chicken).
If someone has a mean pet, I feel sorry for the pet and am angered by the owner; but if the animal charges me I will drop kick the animal (or climb the nearest tree to save myself).
What does that make me?
I think there are a lot more variations than you have presented. What about the people who humanize there animals. I am a little guilty with my pets.
As somebody who has thought a little too much about this issue, I find myself falling into the second group. I am someone who "take[s] very seriously the [ill] treatment of [my] favored type of animal." My favored type of animal is those with whom I have established a custodial relationship. Whatever that means.
I hope you caught my inside joke. Nothing's worse than an inside joke that only half of the insiders get.
I hope you caught my inside joke. Nothing's worse than an inside joke that only half of the insiders get.
I think most people generally fall into category 3 in practice, except that the "avoiding needless cruelty" is oftentimes an abstract thought that's not put into practice. Most people are against needless cruelty, but most people also don't do a lot of research on where their food comes from or what went into the process of getting it from the animal to their plate. Can a person really say they're against needless cruelty if they take no steps to guarantee that their food was produced without needless cruelty? Most people don't like to think about it because it makes them uncomfortable, which to me is a pretty good indication that maybe something is not right. But either way, there is a big disconnect between the way our food is imagined and the way it's actually produced, and that disconnect (in my opinion) leads to a lot of needless cruelty that most people would object to but in fact support through inaction. I hate haranguing the masses or sounding preachy, but when it comes to mass-produced factory-farmed meat, if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.
I'm not for animal cruelty and don't condone it in any way, but it is strange to me that many of the people appearing in Whale Wars are the same folks that 100% believe in abortion rights. And why does one football player involved in a dog-fighting scheme get 18 months in the fed pen while another football kills a person while driving drunk and gets less than a month in prison plus probation?
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# posted by : 10:19 PM
: 10:19 PM << Home
