It’s the negative affect and suffering (stress, pain, boredom etc) that is the bad part of eating animals.
(I think— I know others have thought more than I on this topic)
It just seems like an easier tech solution might be promising
Just a hundred, two hundred years ago we made the Elephant rifle, because a normal gun couldn't bring it down, but it was a fun sport to go out and kill just for the heck of it. No one cared about the animals.
It seems like we are living in an age of suicidal empathy and I'm not sure how we got here.
Throughout history there have always been people who were vegan or plant based who cared about animals.
We live in a society which has traditionally silenced those voices. The USA, especially, screams about how killing and stealing is a righteous/earned right. Not exercising that right is leaving much on the table. Americans gotta keep up with the Joneses, and that historically included excess cruelty to animals(this includes "savage" people like blacks and browns).
Lots of religious groups advocate for less animal cruelty and consumption.
It's a fascinating point of view, especially since it seems to me that this suicidal empathy originates from the USA. South Korea only recently stopped torturing and eating dogs due to international pressure. Japan still hunts whales. So does Norway. The Chinese couldn't care less, neither does anyone on the African continent. Muslims outright refuse to eat any meat that isn't "halal", which is a short way of saying torturing animals to death. There's this rumor going around the USA that India is full of vegetarians, which gets vehemently denied by Indians each time it gets brought up.
Of course, you can find a bunch of nutjobs talking about all kinds of nonsense in any society, see for example Scientology. But institutionally we didn't care for animals hundred of years ago. Cowboys used spores, which is kinda like using a blunt knife. Horses and elephants were used in wars. Dogs had to stay outside in their little dog house and weren't allowed inside. The list goes on and on.
Also South Korea didn't end their dog meat industry because of international pressure, it's because incomes have been steadily rising and more households are purchasing dogs as companion animals and developing moral concern for them.
Compassion for animals isn't some U.S. conspiracy. There are animal rights activists all over the world.
And Halal slaughter is not humane by any means, but neither is slaughtering an animal with western stunning methods. 90%+ of pigs in the UK for example are stunned using C02 gas. I encourage you to watch undercover footage of this happening.
Suicidal empathy is when your feelings hurt more than your body, so you sacrifice yourself to feel good.
> Veganism is a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation[…]
Anyone would kill a fish if that’s the only way to survive on a desert island. Meanwhile avoiding animal exploitation of our moderne age isn’t particularly dangerous.
In fact, our addiction to beef seems straight suicidal. Hesitation to eat beef would improve our fitness as a species.
It seems almost like you view domination of animals as an end rather than a means.
Not eating meat, eggs and honey because you feel sad about animals is now considered a valid moral position called veganism instead of mental illness.
I'm not talking about science (which still seems undecided on whether eating eggs is good or bad), I've observed shifting attitudes that originated from the USA and wonder why people feeling sad for animals is now considered a good reason to not eat various types of food.
In many ways, veganism seems like a budding religion that is trying to get off the ground, but instead of asking whether you are ready to accept Jesus as your savior they ask if you are ready to feel sad for animals.
Books like the bible narrates multiples points of views, read them as an history book and you'll catch a glimpse an era lifestyle. Read every line as a single thesis and you get messy pack of contradictory ideas.
I'm not sure where you find "encourages", most sacrifices are depicted to show Jesus's fury about it. Perhaps the old testament? In any case that doesn't contradict the point of "we always had ideals".
(A smaller problem is that humans will start using the drugs if the distribution is not tightly controlled.)