Frustrated with NTs, need aspie opinion on ethical issue

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I am long frustrated with NTs about this issue for reasons I will explain.

Please watch this video:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiFXlNkdRMc[/youtube]

I have shown this and similar factual information to NTs and usually get the same BS comments. It is either lack of care, denial, or some nonsense excuse as to why animal slavery, torture and murder has to continue. Often it comes down to taste or some mistaken belief that we need animal products.

I think this is a result of feeling safe by hiding behind a majority and refusing to think for themselves and be compassionate. I think as aspies we are less likely to be affected by what most people think and more likely to think for ourselves. Furthermore we know what it is like to feel neglected by society (like the victims in the video.) I am really curious what aspies think of animal rights issues. I want your honest opinion about the video. Were you aware this was going on? Do you care about it? If you do not like what you see how do you think it should be fixed?

Quite aware. We oughtn't to mistreat the animals we eat--it's just not right. We domesticated them; we should be responsible for their welfare. It may be natural to eat meat, but we're a species capable of understanding that another species can suffer--which means we are accountable for how we treat them.

Do I worry about animal welfare? Some. The thing is, there are so many terrible things in the world, and I can't fight against all of them at once. Because I'm autistic, disability rights is the primary thing I work toward, but I've spent some time helping manage feral cat populations and volunteering at shelters--which isn't the same thing as farm-animal welfare, but is definitely an animal-welfare issue. I've also worked at a laboratory that does animal research, so I know how that works. There is surprisingly little suffering involved for the animals--in fact, an animal lab can lose its license if they don't treat their animals well. Farms are also regulated... Not so well a labs, though, and animals still don't have enough room.

We've got a ways to go, with animal welfare, but I think things are getting better. That's something, at least.

I think that if this is something you really care about, then you should go for it. Don't go nuts (avoid PETA; they make sensible animal-welfare activists look really bad)... on the other hand, somebody's got to speak up for farm animals, and it might as well be you.

I have to be honest, I could not watch the video. I did not even attempt to watch it because I am so sensitive to that sort of thing. On the other hand, I do eat meat and lots of it. But I am very particular about where my meat comes from. I have specific ranches and farms that I deal with and I know the animals and how they are treated from birth to slaughter and I know that they are loved, respected and treated with dignity and care their entire lives. They are happy and live in well kept fields. And when they are killed, it is with absolute dignity and it is done in an extremely humane way. I do not like the disrespectful and cruel treatment of animals and I like to buy from farmers that take care of their animals. I even buy our ice cream where I can see the cows and even get to know them. They even have a special area where the young calves are kept that is open to the public and they encourage people to visit with them and play with them and pet them. And when the grown cows come in from the fields for milking you can go to where they wait to come in and pet them as well and you can even watch the milking from behind a glass wall in the milking room.

I didn't watch the video, I can't, I get upset and cry for hours. I completely agree that eventho a lot of people eat meat, animals shouldn't be mistreated (that's why I appreciate so much Temple Grandin's knowledge, she made it a bit easier for these animals). And my grandfather was a butcher (and farmer), and once I was with him when he went to visit a guy he knew at the slaughterhouse, and a pig escaped momentarily, and they were trying to catch it, and the poor thing was screaming, I will NEVER forget this, he knew what was happening. I think that if people could see what happens at slaughterhouses many would become vegetarians. I still eat meat once in a while, but I would really like becoming completely vegetarian, I am painfully conscious that an animal had to die for this meat.

Trust me, you are not alone. I am utterly disgusted with the human race for factory farming and mistreatment of animals. After all I like animals more than humans.

You might be interested in this as well (If you haven't already seen it): http://www.themeatrix.com/

I was introduced to the severity of this issue back in freshman year of highschool through The Meatrix videos. A very creative way to catch kids attention about the issue!

The first video:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4_pzPrMTrs#t=16[/youtube]

I'm on a tablet, so a lot of videos, like this one, don't show up for me. However, I know quite a bit about animal welfare issues. This is something that affects me deeply, and I am a vegetarian largely because of these issues. It was easy for me because I never liked the taste/smell/texture of most meat anyway.

I also used to have pet chickens, and I was part of a club that showed them. I usually hate talking to strangers, but I enjoyed letting people get to know my birds and some people really seemed surprised that they are just as "real" as any typical pet animal. They have personalities, likes, dislikes, the ability to think about and learn things, etc. I think it opened people's eyes a little bit, and I was sad when I got too old to be in the club.

I did a research project for school last semester about factory farming, and it is awful. It infuriates me that people don't see that factory farming is not necessary for us to sustain our meat, egg and milk production. The argument I hate most is when people say we need farming to be this way to produce enough food to feed the growing population. I've long believed that we need to stop breeding and decrease our numbers, for the sake of the animals as well as ourselves.

I watched the video, sadly I've seen it all before, and more. Anyone seen how lobsters and crayfish are treated? I have and you don't wanna know.
Mistreatment of animals is horrible, and we need to have laws that prevent that. There has been progress in laws but more remain to be done.
From hyena's post though I take it what he really wants is for us to go vegan, and that's where it ends for me. We are omnivores, and I for one like meat, especially chicken and pork. I care and am very aware of where my food comes from, which leads to me making an effort to not waste food, because that food was once alive. But I'm not against eating meat, and I'm not ashamed of it.

Another thought: Videos like these are meant to have 'shock effect' and stir up emotions. When someone is trying to manipulate me, I am even less likely to. I have never taken any interest in veganism, but if I had, this kind of campaign would have pushed me away from it.

I'm not against farming per se, and I'm never going vegan, or even vegetarian. What we need is an end to factory farming, or at least factory farming as we know it today. I don't think small farms are viable. That's what farmers claim anyway.
A lot of food never even reach the consumers, and about half the food that is bought is thrown in the trash. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/ ... food-waste
That's one place to start. Buy what you need and freeze or use in mixes what is left after that.

I'm not against fishing either, but I'm against longlines and gillnets because they kill indiscriminately and kill endangered species.

And I agree completely with StarTrekker, it's about high time that we take the population explosion seriously. We are far too many and need population control. http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/prog ... _counting/

I am paleo and absolutely do not agree that we don't need animal products for optimal health and survival especially as I have a severe reaction to Wheat based or grain based diets and am unable to eat them without becoming incredibly sick in the process.

However, this does not mean I agree with the creul treatment of animals and feel they should be cared for well and slaughtered as humanily as possible.

As an aspie try to consider that not everyone can eat a grain based diet for health reasons and a vegetarian diet may not be viable for them.

Ie I cannot eat grains or dairy...and vegan diet, due to its inability to provide essential nutrients for the body is definitely not a diet I would consider.

I tend to select sources of meat that come from RSPCA approved farms as well as those that have been pasture raised (so pork from farms where such barbaric practices are banned/not used (such as nose ringing) and farms where the pigs were raised outdoors and were free to roam.

The same goes for beef, pork, turkey and any game meats I eat.

Ditto for eggs...which are usually free range and organic if I can get them.

I'm against slavery and torture of animal, and I would never kill an animal myself, but I will never stop eating meat.

The way I see it, if there is a chicken in a store that is inevitably going to be eaten by someone else or otherwise thrown out, then I'm going to buy and eat it if I'm feeling hungry. I don't really see how I'm harming animals by doing so. If I stop eating meat, it won't make the slightest of difference to the amount of animals killed (no, power of the individual does not exist in this circumstance), and will actually negatively impact my health.

It's not morally wrong to eat meat, objectively. Human bodies developed as a result of meat consumption (not only because of, but it is proven by studies) and we are designed to digest meat. Other products such as cow milk, we are not actually naturally accustomed to.

Don't get me wrong, I can understand why you are frustrated, but I just simply don't have the same moral values. Perhaps it's a lack of care, but no two people care strongly about the exact same things. Using autism as an example (being that this is the relevant forum), many individuals on the spectrum do not care for company/interaction with other humans. An NT individual could see that (and is most likely to) as being morally wrong. It's just different perspectives.

I can't logically reason why I am exactly the way I am. It is not due to me hiding behind a majority. NTs do not hide behind a majority like this forum seems to believe. There may be NT individuals that are more easily swayed by others than the average Aspie, but that is not translatable to an absolute. I've noticed just as much 'conforming' (not the best word) on this forum as any other.

_________________
Unapologetically, Norny.
-chronically drunk

The Squid (Ironically enough) has turned to fish as his only source of protein through meat. Not because of the issue above, but he prefers The taste. We also only eat the fish that we ourselves catch, and we put our catch in an ice chest with near freezing water. We feel this video does not show the majority of farm animal conditions. We live in southern Alabama, and our farms here are small and family owned. The cattle here are raised in VERY large open areas, and when it is time for their slaughter, it's done with a rifle shot into their brains. We feel bad for the quality of care some of the larger farms use, but as a previous poster said, no one person changing their diet will put this right.

I understand your frustration.
Like other users I didn't watch the video and never will. This would make me very depressed.
but I don't eat meat and can't possibly understand how someone would. This is so freaking cruel. An absurd.
Why do people love dogs but eat pigs? People like to illude themselves animals don't feel stuff but they do. This little pig you are eating is just like your dog, even more intelligent. How could you possibly do so many cruel things to this little pig and cry when a dog is sick? Animals do have conscience and they feel pain. Eating them is completely unethical as we have healthy alternatives for proteins. Why are you causing so much pain to another being if you don't have to? I can't possibly begin to understand that or why people don't feel distressed about it as I do.

this book: http://www.amazon.com/Love-Dogs-Pigs-We ... 1573245054

one last thing, when I tell people about the cruelty of eating those animals many times their argument is like: "God made the animals for us to eat" This pisses me off!!

I agree with Ezra about this not being an NT issue. There are so many NT"s who fight against animal cruelty.

if we ate all the plants,all the plants would die and starve everything.it has also been proven meat is nesacary for brain develpment.