1 reason.....The Reason against Mass Vegetarianism

I hear you, and I hop back and forth on the veg issue, but:

1) why isn't there a deer and duck industry instead of a beef industry, then? We raise beef just to be slaughtered, and hunt deer sometimes letting it go to waste (and underhunt leading to roadkill, due to overpopulation).

2) the reason they are "over-populated" is because we invade their habitat with suburban sprawl, then need to hunt them to keep them out of our new Best Buys.

Again, I don't disagree with you... I just find the matter to be complicated.

The most important factor governing animal numbers is the amount of food available to them.

Oh, no! Bart has stolen the elderly!

"they're not inherently bad people just because they don't see the harm in eating meat (as we have done since the dawn of time)"

I won't argue that meat eating is unatural as we have evolved to be omnivores (and vegetarians who claim otherwise drive me nuts)but the reason some vegetarians berate meat eaters is that they do see the harm in eating meat and like most people when they see something harm being done for no reason they feel obligated to say something.
The basic premise behind living a vegetarian diet is to reduce harm and that harm comes in many forms, damage to the enviorment, cruelty to animals, and a healthier diet. While the last one is can be argued against as meat in moderation is perfectly healthy (ignoring the hormone and antibiotic issues) the first two most definatly have merit and many vegetarians believe that especially in our western society there is a lack of information regarding the harms done to the envorment and the harm caused by inflicting suffering on the billions of animals that are farmed for consumption. This harm combined with the fact that meat eating is optional for most people creates a situation that needs to be addressed and many of us feel an ethical obligation to point out that it is possible to reduce the harm and suffering we currently inflict. The bottom line is that if we treated our pets the way livestock is treated we would be charged with cruelty to animals and this shows that in both law and the publics eye it is wrong to inflict suffering on other creatures exept in extreme situations yet we still inflict suffering on an industrial scale and mostly behind closed doors and just ignore the harm we are doing.
Please understand that we are speaking out against the majority view for something that we truly believe in and there is a long history of a social minority figting for change be it with slavery or discrimination in our society and to not speak up against something you truly believe is wrong is just cowardly. so three cheers for outspoken vegetarians as they are at least trying to do something to make the world a better place and reduce the harm that meat eating does to both the enviorment and animals.
Mark
so this is it we are going to die

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Let me guess, you read "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Hunting"

I'm a vegetarian (trying to be vegan) and I don't mind eating or living with meat eaters. It's been over 20 years since I ate meat and I don't remember why I quit.
I get tired of meat eaters trying to get me to eat meat. I don't tell people what to eat, and don't have any vegetarian friends. If all veggies are like the ones described in this post then I think the meat eaters should be happy I don't care what they eat.

So yes I'll agree with you that we need all kinds omnivores, veggies, and meat eaters in our species. I don't want those damn cows eating my veggies.

Sigh!

Wait I can't be bothered reasoning with an uninformed idiot.

It's All Gushy!