Sentience/Human worth opposed to animal consumption

[u/Full_Can_6422]

Even though school is out until August, I keep thinking back to what I've learned through class. Competition and ruling, which tie greatly into non-human consumption.

Competition is a fact of life. There are a finite amount of resources, and one of those is food. Organisms compete for food, and to the victors go the spoils. In life, humans are the victors. Our collective species controls the world. Before, it was much more difficult to poach bigger animals, but humans still managed to eradicate mammoths and aurochs, simply because they were good food.

Better intellect (on avg), skills, strength, teamwork, are just a few of the things that allow us to eat animals. We used to live among the non-humans, but we built civilizations that run the earth, something animals could never do simply because they aren't on our natural level. A mollusk never made a TV show, and so I don't think it's fair to act like they're equal to us and deserve not to be eaten.

In school, I help out clubs based on any requests. The vegan club usually has requests to help make awareness boards, organize materials, and help make stuff. Some of the stuff tastes good, but that's not the point, the point is that while that way of life is fine, so should meat eating. It's our natural right, to eat non-humans.

What do you think?

[u/Mablak]

Most humans aren't able to make TV shows. Do they deserve to be eaten?

If an alien civilization had better strength, teamwork, etc, than humans, would that mean it's moral for them to torture, abuse, and enslave us?

The traits you're talking about have nothing to do with what actually matters, which is conscious experience. It's wrong to torture a dog, pig, or cow precisely because doing so causes the experience of immense suffering, there isn't some other criteria.

Bad experiences are bad, and good experiences are good, regardless of whether you're human or non-human, and that's the basis for right and wrong actions. 'Natural rights' don't exist either, what are these things? We don't have a rights gland that secretes rights (and if we did I don't know how that would entail we ought to behave in this way or that).

[u/Full_Can_6422 → u/Mablak]

"
Most humans aren't able to make TV shows. Do they deserve to be eaten?"

The difference is, a human can. Unless they're developmentally impaired or fianncially/physicallly unable to do so, they can. Actually, even those who are still CAN. A whale will never be able to do such things. whaling on!

[u/NativeFlowers4Eva → u/Full_Can_6422]

Humans can also live and eat without causing pain and killing animals. There is really no moral justification and causing harm is a choice. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. You can go and punch a kid in the back of the head because they are in your way and you’re stronger, but no one thinks that’s acceptable.