> I don't see how it's anyone else's business what I do with an animal that belongs to me.
This is why we have animal welfare laws, because there are people like you out there.
This is why we have animal welfare laws, because there are people like you out there.
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We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11056350 and marked it off-topic.
I mostly agree with you about the meat consumption thing, but this?
Are you saying govt. shouldn't be in the business of wildlife conservation, prevention of animal cruelty or abuse, or preservation of natural habitats (beyond considering their impact on humanity) ?
That doesn't mean that we should seek to disrupt the environment. On the contrary, it is very precious to us for many reasons and should be protected. A lot of those reasons are very utilitarian. But it's also because we appreciate its beauty, its complexity, and our kinship with all life. But those are still all things that we value.
Perhaps most of us would like that to be true, but judging humanity by it's behaviour rather than by its stated ideals I'd say we're not there yet.