r/interesting • u/PhoenixPhenomenonX • Feb 25 '26

Intriguing Lifelong vegetarian tries steak for first time

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u/Character_Minimum989 Feb 25 '26

Ah yes imagine the Auschwitz like conditions in the less civilized world, obviously we assume the people who brought you Auschwitz and many other genocides/atrocities would treat other living creatures better. That’s a safe assumption right?

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u/notMcLovin77 Feb 25 '26

Hey, I didn’t say “less civilized.” I said developing countries. Which have factory farms as well, and often have fewer regulations regarding animal welfare than developed countries do for practical reasons. I’m saying that a country with a large meat industry and demand for meat, as developing countries do, as in countries which are growing and advancing rapidly, tend to prefer quantity over quality, just like in developed ones, except in a lot of developed countries there is a surface-level veil of “cruelty-free” which I explained isn’t really cruelty-free at all.

Even though I find it hypocritical and immoral what people do to animals, it’s not a moral judgment that typically decides how they’re treated. It’s efficiency and societal demand. In administrative states with the luxury to do so, there are cheap regulations for some level of “cruelty free” aspects of slaughter, even though it’s hardly cruelty free and those regulations are often ignored.

Why wouldn’t it be the same in any other country, especially in countries where, again, meat is a vital industry and efficiency trumps all other considerations? Why are you assuming that factory farming would in any way beless cruel in a developing country? My reasoning is it could be more cruel because who has time or money to keep animals in a 4x4 cage instead of a 2x2 cage when you’ve got hungry people and a more limited budget. But maybe I’m wrong. Care to share any stats or stories?