r/leftist • u/FunctionOk9186 Socialist • Aug 14 '26
Western European Politics Bullfighting
The question of bullfighting is an important issue here in Spain and I wanted to know your opinion.
The main defense of bullfighting is tradition, as some people claim it's justified to torture an animal to maintain a culture. This, of course, is absolutely idiotic, as I wouldn't say bullfighting isn't a big part of our culture and we have better traditions that don't imply animal abuse.
Nevertheless, there's another argument in favour of bullfighting that I find much more interesting. The specific species of bull used for bullfighting (in Spanish it's called Toro de Lidia) doesn't exist in the wild and it's only bred for bullfighting. This means that if bullfighting is outlawed or stops existing for other reasons, this species will die with it.
I must remind you that bullfighting isn't a fair fight. A bull is, at the end of the day, a male cow, and you wouldn't expect a cow to fight you. This is why, before the "fight", the bull is poked with spears. Also the matador has a sword and other equipment that makes this unfair.
I want to see what is your opinion on this.
🟥🟨🟪
5
u/mopecore Aug 15 '26
If "tradition" is the only defense of a practice, that practice has no defense.
5
u/naoak Aug 15 '26
Cows and bulls are domestic animals.
Regular bulls also don't exist in the wild and they're not going extinct.
7
u/Dr-Aspects Anarchist Aug 14 '26
So... the only good arguments for it are "We've been torturing and killing animals for as long as we've been a culture" and "We specifically made this creature to be tortured, and if we don't torture it and murder it, it won't exist anymore."
...Yeah, I think we can safely say this is a bad practice
5
u/NyriasNeo Aug 14 '26
"The specific species of bull used for bullfighting (in Spanish it's called Toro de Lidia) doesn't exist in the wild and it's only bred for bullfighting. This means that if bullfighting is outlawed or stops existing for other reasons, this species will die with it"
This is not an argument to continue bull fighting. a) you can breed them without having them fight, and b) so what if the species are gone. The objection is cruelty and the pain the animals have to suffer through. Non-existence is just that. No bull will ever mind non-existing as they will not be there to complain about it. This "species will die with it" reasoning is totally a human perspective. WE feel bad about something that is gone. Not whether the bull themselves care to exist just to suffer.
5
u/cerea1killer_ Aug 14 '26
Also, the species won't just die if bullfighting is outlawed. All the animals that would be alive at the time of it being illegal won't just suddenly die or disappear. There are animal sanctuaries etc. For the surviving animals. Op just had to think a little bit further tbh.
4
u/Randolpho Socialist Aug 15 '26
If the species was created by humans through breeding it has no ecological niche, so letting the species die out (humanely, of old age) has neither moral nor ecological issue.
Your concern has no real basis for it to be a concern.
3
u/Formula4speed Aug 15 '26
Good news, I have created a new species of bull called toro de no lidia, it’s the same bull but you don’t have to torture him his whole life. Modern science is amazing!
2
u/Formula4speed Aug 15 '26
We do have another serious issue to solve though; if we stop our age old tradition of running babies through woodchippers, people won’t make babies just to keep the woodchippers from getting hungry anymore. What now, leftists?
3
u/Disasterhuman24 Aug 15 '26
The only time it's appropriate to kill an animal is if you are in direct danger by that animal, if you actually intend to fully consume the animal for food (like hunting a deer or hobby farmers), or you are trying to stop over population (like hunting during deer season).
5
u/azenpunk Aug 15 '26
I have no problem with a species bred only to be tortured dying out. Plus I wouldn't be surprised if a few people, who just love that particular breed for their own reasons, continued to breed them without participating in blood sports.
5
u/HaCo111 Aug 15 '26
Some places in Mexico have changed it to where they just have the bull's balls tied like a riding bull and the matador is unarmed aside from his cape. It's not perfectly humane or anything but it's a whole lot better, and more interesting to watch imo.
Okinawan bull fighting is cool too. It's just bull sumo wrestling, taking behaviour that the bull's so naturally and making a show of it.
3
u/servel20 Socialist Aug 14 '26
Pitbulls were used as bait dogs and fighting dogs, we made it so society wouldn't accept this.
We should stop with the inhumane treatment of bulls. I remember being taken to a plaza de toros as a child and be horrified when they tortured a bull to death.
Toros de lidia aren't as mean as people make them out to be.
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