for Musings & Whiteboard Shots

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Still split down the middle.



I am now realizing why I feel conflicted on this subject and why I cannot give one straight answer, which is kind of frustrating me. The articles that I have been reading are very persuasive and use pathos to try to convince me why I should stop the consumption of meat. I just finished reading and writing my rhetorical précis on an op-ed article titled Animal, Vegetable, Miserable by Gary Steiner. The author, who is a vegan, did work his magic and made me feel bad for the poor animals and the way they are being treated. He doesn't understand why people buy items from the "free range" section of the supermarket because they still were killed in order to get to the market. I do feel bad that animals who feel pain still have to go through the horrible suffering in order to become a meal. But at the same time he points out how everything and I mean everything has animal product in it. For example, he notifies us that there is animal fat in razors and the adhesive on Band-Aids is also animal product. Gary Steiner tries to take out all of this stuff in his life, or do the best possible. Which I find kind of ridiculous. But he is right, people are starting to have an interest in the way that animals that they eat are treated, yet still eat the meat anyway. I am frustrated because I am split in half on this subject. I do believe animals should still be consumed because of all of its nutrients and well because of its pure goodness. But I don’t believe animals should be used for cosmetic purposes and things of that sort, I as well don’t think animals should be locked in a cage for our enjoyment. I still don’t have a straight answer on if I think we should change the way we treat animals. I have two totally different perspectives, it all just depends on what the animal is being used for; our wants or our needs.

2 comments:

  1. For the most part, i agree with this article. I do feel like the usage of animals in out daily life is necessary for humans both consuming animals and using them for their goods. On the other hand, I feel as if the testing and keeping of the animals that we use is a little bit extreme and cruel. It is up to both state and federal government to secure laws and rules about the safekeeping of torturing animals, but other than that, there is not much a common person can do. One can stop eating meat or using skin product that tests on monkeys, and one can turn into a thousand, but in the end the American people will not turn away from the cheap, delicious chicken mcnuggets. Efforts such as documentaries about animals cruelty and testing have already been attempted, but the people will always get what they want, even if it's at the cost of a poor, suffering animal.

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  2. I totally agree about being split down the middle. I understand that in some situations, they way we treat animals is terrible, especially in mass production and herding the animals together before they are to be slaughtered. But in a way, we can't run from the fact that animals are everywhere. They are in our food, our everyday products, and even our clothes. It's foolish thing to say that you refuse to use anything made from animals. Even right down to the cotton that is made after shearing a sheep. You can't run away from it. Besides, if I decide to make the choice to stop eating meat, it won't change the fact that the animal is still being killed. The burger that I decide not to get may be used to feed the next person. Our world is populated with over 7 billion people. Regardless of what we choice we make, it won't save them all.

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