« Fundamental Questions | Main | It Smells Funny Down Here »

November 7, 2005

Someone Light the Caro-Signal

My good buddy Nate has restarted his blog, which is good news for the world of blogging generally. One of his first posts asks Is typical human omnivorism ethically defensible?

Nate wonders why we're so good to puppies and kitties, and so bad to tastier animals.

Not many people actually eat tongues or eyeballs or anything that looks remotely animal anymore.
So, it seems to me that one of the following is true:
A) We are overly protected of dogs and cats.
B) There is a difference inherent between pets and farm animals that allows us to treat them very differently.
C) Farm animals are a necessary casualty in service of some greater good.
D) We're a bunch of hypocrites who don't care about brutality that we don't see with our own eyes.
He's betting on A or D, and most likely D. In fact, he thinks D could be used by Taco Bell.
On D: This post is going on really long, so I'll try and make this quick. I think most people don't realize (or fully understand) what is done to the animals that provide their meat. I think this area is ripe for a corporation (hopefully Taco Bell) to step in. I think they should make commercials out of real video taken from factory farms. Something like: "This is where their meat comes from:" [shots of pigs standing knee-deep in shit, of dead cows being dragged out the back of a 110 degree catttle truck, of cows mooing as their legs are hacked off, of little chicks getting their beaks burnt off so they can't go crazy and peck each other, of roosters being thrown alive into dumpsters until they're eventually crushed to death by the roosters above them, you get the idea.] "This is where our meat comes from:" [shots of cows, pigs, chickens running around in a field. Maybe a touching scene where a farmer stroking a happy cow's nose and making sweet promises while his partner shoots the cow in the back of the head.] I really think these commercials can be really effective.
Like there's meat in the food at Taco Bell, Nate. Please.

Never one to let a good contentious subject lie, I wanted to add a fifth option:

I propose an E:

We aren't morally obligated to minimize the suffering of any animals. We should try not to actively harm humans, so that they will treat us in kind and so that society can operate smoothly. That we treat certain animals (those in zoos, those at fairs, those we call pets) nicely is simply swell of us, with regard to the lucky critters. That we treat other animals poorly is the breaks.

It's got everything you love in a theory. It's cold, it doesn't appeal to non-materialistic forces, and it lets you eat cheese.

Mmmm, cheese.

Anyway, come over and weigh in. I'm sure Nate would appreciate it, and I'm taking all comers. (I'm closing comments here so that we can keep the discussion all in one place.)

Posted by todd at November 7, 2005 8:38 PM