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user-inactivated  ·  3007 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: On Veganism

So. A few things to consider, to add to this ethical confusion of yours.

Is comparing the animal food industry to the Holocaust or any other type of genocide pretty hyperbolic? Is it really fair to say the life of one pig is equal to the life of one man when the man had the potential to not only live longer, but contribute so much more to his community?

Is it fair for vegans to decry the animal food industry on environmental grounds and then turn around and criticize the development of GMOs? The very development of GMOs will allow us to yield more food per acre and per gallon of water, allowing us to potentially reduce the amount of farm land used, giving us the chance to put that land to better use, up to and including letting it return to its natural state.

Knowing that to exist is to consume and to consume is to destroy, do you think that you as an individual will eventually find peace both with yourself as well as the world around you by embracing vegan philosophy? There is a great difference between constantly trying to better yourself and burdening yourself with a sense of guilt, inadequacy, and powerlessness. Are you motivating yourself for the right reasons?

Personally, while I do not think I could live a vegetarian let alone a vegan life, I have high respect for people that do. Also, while I've known few vegans in person, the ones I do know are intelligent, articulate, and respectable, just like you are. That said, I have seen people online take veganism to unhealthy logical and philisophical extremes and I think maybe they would have done well if early in their attempts if people told them, "Do your best, but don't become obsessive."