Vegans/Vegetarians: Do you see meat-eaters who are aware of the farming industry as apathetic and arrogant?

Question

Answer this honestly. I'm not trying to ellicit flames from non-vegetarians here. I just find it hard to tolerate meat-eaters who, once they're aware of how animals suffer on farms, chose to ignore it - and I want to know if there are others who feel the same way. Am I an elitist extremist? Perhaps I am - but I vehemently disagree with the consumption of factory farmed animals, and I really don't care if that offends anyone. Don't get the impression that I'd act on my disdain for meat-eaters ... I just want to know if anyone else gets angry at people who ignore the suffering of animals...

Does anyone else see the irony of the first answer? :)

The irony of ... all the answers?!?! :)

Why is being 'bitter and judgemental' a 'bad' thing? Bah! Your 'bitterness' is my healthy cynicism ... Why is it 'bad' to acknowledge that people who eat meat are supporting the meat industry? And why is it 'bad' to disdain the fact that people support the meat industry? Does anyone else see the furthered( and tragic) irony of people who utterly ignore the suffering of farmed animals complain about hurt feelings? I'm not necessarily making value judgements about the entirety of these people's characters - I'm simply stating that the fact that people know animals suffer and the fact that people refuse to care angers me. Deeply. Indignant rage is neither 'bad' nor 'immature' ... I want others who feel the way I do to know this.

Hey - Texan McCoy. Thanks for the respectful answer! My boyfriend's parents own a chicken farm. That's my source on chicken farming, at least. And I've seen laying hen farms - so I certainly understand why you go for 'free range' eggs (though you can't be sure how much 'range' those hens get - or how 'free' their access to it is). I'd say a lot of the information on both sides of the vegetarian argument are biased...

Advice to people: Instead of getting pissed off at the question, do a little research on the farming industry and see what you're supporting. That's where my indignation and cynicism comes from.

Answer 1

I don't get angry, but I do wonder, "How can you know better and not do better?"

If I know that what I'm doing is causing pain to another living creature, it's hard for me to deliberately go ahead and do it anyway. I realize that you can't exist in this world without accidentally harming others, but there's a big difference ethically between inflicting pain unknowingly (and unwillingly) and inflicting pain deliberately.

Don't be angry at the meat-eaters. Just do your best here and other places to show them the benefits of vegetarian and vegan lifestyles. Maybe the issues of health and financial benefits of not eating meat will convince them to try vegetarianism or veganism when nothing else will.

*sits back, waits for the inevitable thumbs-downs

Answer 2

I do find myself occasionally a little mystified by what you describe. Of the three big reasons to go veg (health, environment, animal cruelty/rights), I find that different people put a different degree of importance on each one.

I am a vegan and my fiance is ovo-lacto-pesco. I place fairly equal importance on each of the three main reasons for being vegetarian. He, on the other hand, although similarly aware of the issues, places the most importance on the health reasons, less on the environmental reasons, and the least on animal issues (if any at all).

Perhaps he just isn't bothered by the cruelty like I am. I think he just prefers not to think about--maybe because he doesn't feel like there's anything more he can do besides being aware. Some days, I wish I had the ability to forget what I know, too, lol, but I don't. Why can he put it out of his mind and I can't? I really don't know.

Answer 3

Eating animals can be thought of as the same as you knowing there are kids in need of food/clothing/anything in your town/city and not doing something about it. It's like knowing the planet has limited resources and buying disposable stuff. The world is a mess and it's easier to ignore suffering than to admit you cause any of it. If you buy stuff from walmart instead of local organic cotton, on some level, you are causing suffering. My aunt read "The Food Revolution" and cried at the suffering of the animals- and still eats meat. I'm going to go with apathetic.

Answer 4

I feel nothing but sadness towards people who ignore the suffering of animals. I grew up on a ranch myself. Baby cows are a lot like puppies. They'll run and play with you and lick you to death. When an adult cow is butchered, you can see the terror in their eyes, just like you could in any breathing creature. Sure they're not as intelligent as you, but would you kill your cat?

Most meat eaters who criticize vegitarians could not morally do the killing themselves. Yet they'll gladly gobble down a greasy, hormone contaminated cheeseburger. That's arrogance.

Humans are omnivores. Eating meat does not go against the natural order. Raising an animal in a cage, choosing its mate, and preventing it from evolving goes agains the natural order. BURNING (not harvesting) 60% of the world's rainforest lands to make room for more cattlegrounds goes against the natural order. God may have intended us to eat meat, but not like this! The next few generations will pay the price.

Answer 5

I spent half my life on a farm and saw pigs and other animals suffer. I saw the ugliness and cruelity of abatoirs! Some abatoirs were untidy..
Meat was never ment for human consumption.
If it were we'd have teeth more like animals like
tigers, cats or dogs. My Uncle somehow got a couple of cows to chase thiefs from his cabin! I'm not kidding. No Animal is useless we humans often tend to underestimate animals but we often underestimate ourselves too!
I agree mostly of what U say!

Answer 6

I totally agree with you - the irony of the answers!

Some people think animals just 'exist' like deer and we have to eat them. No, if we stop eating meat, fewer animals are produced. It's a positive feedback chain. If we stop eating broccoli, no one will grow broccoli anymore. Same principle.

We may be top of the food chain but we have a duty to exercise our knowledge of the difference between right and wrong, between cruel and not cruel.

There is a deeper issue here - lack of knowledge about where our food comes from. I wonder if these same people think that fruits and vegetables are obtained by foraging in a forest?

And Brady's mommy, I am a liberal opposed to abortion. Oh and I have been around many cows and I find them quite friendly animals. Perhaps not as intelligent as a golden retriever but are we evaluating animals on their intelligence? Then why do eat pigs? Pigs are more intelligent than dogs. I don't look at animals or plants as things that God placed on earth for our usage. There is something wrong with this view and I suggest you change it. The planet is not our dinner table and God is not our all-forgiving host.

Answer 7

First of all, I am a meat eater, I grew up on a cattle ranch, and I am not here to attack you for being a vegetarian. I am curious to know where you get your information from... I ask because many, many people with an opinion about a touchy subject like this one get their info from somwhere like Dateline NBC, 60 Minutes, or some sort of snail-mail sent out by activist groups. I'm not saying all those are bogus sources of information. But OF COURSE they are going to show you the worst-possible scenario they can find. They want the ratings, they want your money.

I grew up on a cattle ranch and I never once saw my grandfather or my uncle, or anyone else that worked there, ever bash a cow on the head, cram it into a filthy stall full of crap, or torture it to death. Sure those things exist somewhere, but on the flip side there are many, many ranchers and farmers who do a good job, who take care of their livestock because it is in their best interest to do so. Everyone I knew in the small community I grew up in was good this way. Believe it or not, most of America is not huge, corrupt places of mass-producing industry, but is built on the shoulders of small towns and communities, of honest people trying to earn an honest day's work.

To answer your question, I am aware of what you are saying. There are some things I have control over, some I do not. For example, I only buy free-range eggs. I had the luxury of eating home-raised beef most of my life, so there was never any doubt about where it came from. I know that most people out there don't have this luxury, so that is an example of something that folks really dont have much control over. I am certainly not going to stop eating meat because of that.

The fact of the matter is that people need to eat, and that food is going to come from somewhere. Any American that claims to be paitriotic should be wise enough to support the domestic farming industry, whether you eat meat or not. It's all connected.

Now I'll get off my soap box and wait for the snubbing from vegetarians. That's OK. America's a free place, after all.

Answer 8

No, but I do think it's a poor decision to keep eating meat once you become aware of the industry's behavior.

For some people, food is their addiction, meat specifically. It IS a lifestyle choice that changes your entire life. Sometimes the commitment is too hard for some people.

Answer 9

i agree with you. most peopel just shrug when they see how brutaaly some animals are slaugthered and say oh well we're on top of the food chain.

a lion killls other animals brutally and eats them out of instinct.
thjey have no sense of morallity or that the animals they kill feel pain

what sets us apart from wild animasl is tat we have CONSCIENCE and can thik abotu what we are doing. it killsd be to see people ( and im not saying all meatr eaters are this way, im makign a generalization) shrug and go back to eating their big mac at the thought of animals suffering.

Answer 10

I'm with you, totally. I hate the fact that people seem oblivious to it and just think it's natural. It's as though people are conditioned into it and they don't see just how horrific it is. Even if they say they're aware of it it's like they're repressing the facts - most people eat meat blindly without thinking about the fact it's about murdering animals. I wouldnt want to force my views on anyone either, but yes it gets to me.
I can see the irony of your answers too! :(