- ekledim gitti
1 day 21 hours ago - wouw
1 day 21 hours ago - hey
1 day 21 hours ago - aloha
1 day 21 hours ago - thank you for
1 week 4 days ago - thanks..
atari
1 week 4 days ago - drugs addiction
2 weeks 1 day ago - perfect site.. thank you..
2 weeks 3 days ago - thank you.. :))
atari
2 weeks 3 days ago - thanx
2 weeks 3 days ago
Debate help needed
Ok, this Friday, I have a debate coming up. There's 4 people, 2 per side, on the topic of animal rights. My side is the one that says we are superior to animals and therefore, can eat them. The other side is the one that states that all creatures are equal and we shouldn't eat them and get our nutrients from sprouts or tofu or something. If anyone can assist with either viewpoint (with backing arguments, please!) feel free to post here. I could use a hand.
Comments
Re: Debate help needed
I think that you should just sit there eating a delicious-smalling dry-aged Porterhouse, and every so often, ask the other team, "want some?"
mmmmmmm steak. My favorite animal.
I think in all seriousness that you could approach it from the physiological standpoint of humans being more or less designed from the get-go to be omniverous. If we weren't meant to eat cow, we wouldn't be able to eat cow.
I also have something of an issue with the "we're all the same, let's not eat our brothers" theory. Shouldn't they also have a problem with lions chowing down on zebra or wildebeast?
The other thing is that we have the knowledge/technology to raise animals for the sole purpose of food. That's gotta count for something.
- HB
Send the murdering bastards to the electric chair!!
Fry 'em all!! (them serve them with delicate French seasoning, stuffed olives and side salad)
a man with three buttocks
Haddock-boy: I agree with what you said about the physiological aspect. I was thinking of throwing something in there about evolution as well: to my carnivorous, uneducated mind, we've evolved to the point that we are smarter than, and can choose to, eat said animals. Kind of a "might makes right" standpoint. In a civilized society, that's frowned upon, but in the animal kingdom, that makes for some good eating!
If we're all chum, I'm definitely one of the chunky bits.
My standard response? Point to your cuspids (the "canine" teeth) and say "A million years of evolution telling me I should eat meat."
:)
Honestly, there's a *reason* we have so many kinds of teeth. Inscissors for bitting flesh and vegetables, cuspids and bicuspids for tearing flesh, and molars for grinding flesh and vegetables.
Our saliva and stomach acid are 'designed' for disolving meat more than vegetables (that's why fiber works so well on the intestines--it's a brillo pad, not food), the intestines are designed to absorb protiens and amino acids. We extract more food value from meat than we do from most vegetables--it's in a form we're better able to digest.
As I recall, there are amino acids and vitamins that we can't produce on our own. We have to get them from animals that can. A lot of the vegetables we eat just passes through--we can't digest/absorb the type of minerals/fiber/nutrients that they contain at all. We don't have the stomachs or intestines for it.
Have you ever taken a look at the vegan books that tell you how to get all the vitamins and minerals and protiens you need? There's some exotic stuff in there.
The other tactic to remember is the moral one; Nature is a dog-eat-cow world. Nature kills, maims, and devours while the blood is still steaming. And as much as we like to think differently, humans are part of nature. We've just evolved to be the best hunters and gatherers in the kingdom. And we're a hell of a lot more 'humane' about it.
Blaze
--------
A warrior is judged by his enemies,
A man by his friends.
http://www.somethingawful.com/articles.php?a=1121
http://www.somethingawful.com/articles.php?a=1357
http://www.somethingawful.com/articles.php?a=1498
http://www.somethingawful.com/articles.php?a=1699
http://www.somethingawful.com/search.php?q=eleawta&author=&col=
A little extra curricular reading for you. Good luck.
You're only young once, but you can remain immature indefinatly.
Ovo-lacto vegetarians can survive quite well without eating meat. As Blaze mentions, vegans have a much harder time getting all essential nutrients.
Dogs and pigs can survive on an ovo-lacto vegetarian diet as well - they are true omnivores. However, all felines are obligate carnivores - they *need* meat to survive.
There's a thin line between genius and insanity - where's my eraser?
Or you can just quote Denis Leary:
--- insert self-defining witty quote here ---
Re: Debate help needed
Oh, and you should also wear a stained wifebeater, a John Deere hat, and a giant belt buckle in the shape of the state of Texas, and repeatedly call the other team "Dukakis-hugging hippies" and "buncha friggin communists!".
Yes, I am only posting to amuse myself.
I too would take a historical/evolutionary tack on this one.
We have evolved into what we are by/while eating the meat of other animals. I do not believe that the killing and eating of another creature is, in and of itself, an evil act. The world we live in is a continuous cycle of life, death and consumption. Everything (and I mean everything) that is alive on this planet (and some things that are not) are the food of something else. This is the system we've got. It worked quite well for a few billion years before Homo Sapiens Sapiens decided to show up. It will continue to work quite well long after we've gone (assuming, of course, that we don't destroy the entire biosphere on the way out). One of the greatest myths we've fooled ourselves with is that the food chain has a top. The sooner we get past this idea the better off we'll be.
It is the height of hubris for us to think that we (relative late-comers that we are) can simply re-think the entire system and have it continue to work perfectly well (and have no doubts about it.. it worked perfectly well before we started meddling). Of course, eating meat/not eating meat is pretty low on the list of important things to worry about in this world but I do not accept the notion we humans shouldn't be eating meat on moral (or even physiological) grounds -- just because someone's unconfortable with the idea.
Now.. I *do* have huge issues with the way we treat our food animals. If I ever was to become a vegetarian the reason would be this: we are incredibly cruel and shortsighted in our treatment of our prey. I believe that our world is a sacred place and we are just as important (and no more important) than everything else. This is a highly complex system we live in and even the smallest mite has a role to play (take the tiniest screw out of a car engine and sooner or later you're going to have a problem).
So.. the availability of fair trade, orgainic and free-range food (animal and vegetable) makes me less concerned about the food I'm putting in my mouth. I'm not even close to always successful in finding/buying/consuming these kinds of foods but I try when I can -- baby steps.
Ahem.. enough proselytizing for one night.. looking over the above it's all a bit jumbled but I'm sure the point is in there somewhere.
All the best.
Re: Debate help needed
By the way (in case it isn't obvious from my previous post) I think that the premises upon which you are to form your debate are flawed. One can see all things as created equal and still use others for food. Why should the carrot get less consideration than the crayfish?
Well, the debate topic is "animal rights". There was nothing more thrown into the mix, and that was done on purpose, so that we decide what to debate on ourselves. There's also the topic of animal testing that I'll probably touch on at some point during the debate, but I'm not sure. It's not a TRUE debate (it's an ethics class), so the 2 sides are talking and discussing what points shall be made. It's cheating, but it makes it easier on me, so I don't care. =)
If we're all chum, I'm definitely one of the chunky bits.
This thread is well and truly dead, but I figured that you might like to know that we whipped ass! It was more unconventional than I figured it would be, but that's a good thing. Right in the middle of their opening arguments, I pulled out a pack of beef jerky from my pocket and started eating it. Then I offered the other 3 bags I had to people in the audience. Then I offered it to my "rival" - almost convinced him to take a piece too. :D
If we're all chum, I'm definitely one of the chunky bits.