From: Chris Ledwith (chris.ledwith@gte.net)
Date: Fri Jun 01 2001 - 16:19:44 MDT
I've decided to become a vegetarian again. My reason the first time
was because breeding animals for food is environmentally
destructive, and I was a pretty avid environmentalist back then.
This time around, having been exposed to transhumanism and its
ever-greater effect on my way of life, my reasons are different.
I've come to realize that eating animal flesh is simply a way of
giving in to my inner animalistic desire to eat meat. This desire is
nothing more than an evolutionary holdover -- if we humans truly are
better, we can overcome this desire, or at least suppress it. We
have invented technologies that let us sustain ourselves at full
health without lowering ourselves to eating other creatures.
No, animals do not have rights. Do we say that a zebra's rights are
violated when killed and devoured by a tiger? Of course not. (a
related question is whether a human's rights are violated when a
tiger eats them in the wild - can a non-sentient that has no
understanding of rights violate another's rights?)
Animals are part of the eternal struggle for survival in the natural
cycle of life and death. We're far removed from the animals; far
above the struggle. It's a game THEY play. So quite ironically, I find
that transhumanism has led me to feel like eating animals is
wrong, that it diminishes ME (again, I don't care about their
'feelings', but my own maturity) and casts all my other convictions
in doubt, whereas before I felt closer to Nature and her creatures
yet was okay with eating them.
The way I see it, ordering a McDonald's hamburger is really no
different than putting a shotgun to a cow's head, pulling the trigger,
and eating the carcass. To think otherwise is hypocritical. And I
have met very few people who would not hesitate to do the former
yet could not bring themselves to do the latter.
So as much as I love meat, I'm going to try to abstain. Hopefully I
can keep it up.
I would be interested to know if other transhumanists/extropians
have come to the same conclusion and became vegetarians.
Additionally can anyone find fault in my arguments (if you can, then
I can go back to being a carnivore...yumm).
Chris L.
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