stop eating meat for the right reasons

note: i wrote this as a reply to another thread in this board, but then i realized the thread was from 2006 so i decided to post this as a new thread just to shake the board a bit. the title is not exactly fit-for-purpose, but i think it's a valid point.

i just watched this and i am utterly shocked, to say the least. the worst part is, deep down, we all *know* about the type of cruel acts showed in this documentary; we simply choose to close our eyes because it's more comfortable. it's pretty much like it is said in the film: "man, are you going to ruin my meal by telling me about animal cruelty?"

the worst part to me was definitly the one about slaughterhouses; mostly because i feel like my whole life i was an accomplice to it. i was watching the shots of cows being bled to death, and pigs being boiled while still alive and conscious, and i was sick to my stomach thinking about all the steaks i eat and appreciated. one thing i can tell you is that i will never eat a vel steak again. veals basically live to originate veal steaks, and their short lives are pure horror.

in my opinion, this documentary should be a compulsory part of school programmes, and although it is shocking and probably unfit for children, it should be showed to children of early ages so they can grow up to be conscious adults, and opt in an informed way to not be accomplices of this alleged superiority of humans over non-humans.

and it's not even only about animal cruelty, which is an important aspect if you consider that some people simply don't give a F about animals: it's also about our health. all the bad things we do to animals, turn against us. think about milk: we supposedely drink milk because it is good for our health, right? but then you learn that milking cows are given drugs (hormons and so) in order to constantly produce milk. so, what *kind* of milk are we drinking? surely not natural milk.

the dolphin hunt in japan was also a major shock to me. i was not aware that japanese people eat dolphin meat (i mean, who eats dolphins?) and worst than that i was not aware that this is a legal thing to do. how can we respect japan and think of it as such a developed country with such civilized people when they do this?

the phrase by leo tolstoy quoted in the movie is brilliant [as long as there are slaughterhouses, there will be battle-fields] and it's analogous to ghandi's argument about measuring a nation's level of civilization by analyzing the way in which it treats its animals. how can we, as humans, talk about values such as tolerance, respect, dignity, compassion, empathy, when we can't apply these simple things in our relation to non-humans?

i honeslty don't believe people will ever change their behavior towards animals - i mean, in a global sense; of course *some* people act towards animals in a respectful manner - and so i kind of wish that mankind suffers some kind of mass extintion as punishment for our behavior.

i recommend you to watch a sci-fi documentary by national geographic that speculates about what would happen to the world if suddenly all humans disappeared:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1264068/

cowspiracy is very trendy now, and i'm glad it is because it may change some people's behavior with regard to meat and animal-derived products; but if you think about it it's sad that the reason why you would stop eating meat is that you're worried animal production may be ruining *your* [as in mankind's] world, right?

sorry for the long text, but this really messed me up and i needed to throw it all out or i just might puke.

ana


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act like a bitch, get slapped like a bitch.