Perspectives on Vegetarianism

     When I was in high school I never really encountered anyone who was a vegitarian. There were a few though, and they usually did it because they believed in the ethical treatment of animals. But upon coming to college, I have found that many of my friends (five of them) have, or have been at one time, a vegitarian or vegan. Personally, I have always eaten meat, and I could not imagine living without it for any long period of time. Today in class, Professor Johnson said that vegitarians often claim that it is "unnatural" to consume animal flesh because they have the tendency to assign very high moral status to animals. I found this an interesting thought, so I decided to interview two of my vegitarian friends to try to understand their views on the subject.

Kaylie...
     Currently, Kaylie is a vegitarian and has been for about one month. She had tried to be one once before, but that had only lasted for a few days. This time however, she seems successful. It was upon seeing videos and reading literature about how big farms raise and kill their animals, that she decided she could not eat meat. According to her, "if we are raising these animals to die, we might as well give them a good life," but she does not think this will happen now and probably will not in the distant future. In other words, she does not disagree with eating meat, she just believes the way in which we treat animals is seriously flawed.
     Kaylie also related to me that she feels all animals have feelings and that the cows, for example, who are being brought to the slaughterhouse know they are about to die. I do not necessarily agree with this statement though. In class we discussed how animals have different moral statuses based on their levels of intelligence, sentience, sense of self, etc. I believe that animals such as cows may feel pain when they die, and may suffer, but they do not necessarily have the mental capacity to predict what lies in their near future as do humans.

Katherine...
     Before I met her, she had been a vegitarian for a year but was forced to stop due to health reasons. Similar to Kaylie, she had seen a video of how animals were treated when they were raised and killed for food. She even likened humanity's treatment of animals to the mass production of machines, and this struck me as a sickening, but true comparison. Katherine does believe in free range farms, which give animals the ability to roam and stretch their legs. It was shocking when she told me that some chickens raised for slaughter do not even learn how to walk, for they are in such tight quarters for their short lives.
     Though she eats meat now, she still is bothered by what us humans do to the other creatures of this planet. She said that she believes animals feel pain and there is no reason to therefore treat them in the way that we do. We may be a different species, but that does not give us the right to carry on as we do. It struck me when she said that meat eating is essentially natural, for it is a form of population control. I definitely agree with this statement, though it seems to me that humans often go beyond what is considered "natural". I am aware we discussed in class the implications of using this word, so I will attempt to say what I truly mean. I understand that everything humans do is natural, for it is in our nature to eat meat and build machines, even if it is bad for the environment.

     As I have mentoned in a previous blog, it bothers me how humans see themselves as superior to all other beings. Although, I have to keep this in mind in realizing that the destruction humans may seem to cause all has to do with checks and balances. It was brought up in class that the planet often destroys its content and builds it back up again. That is truly a part of nature. I just wish that so many of my philosophical thoughts did not always tie back to humans' delusions of superiority. We were somehow made to be some of the most intelligent beings, but it seems that in doing so, we are also some of the most inconsiderate and "stupid" in some senses.
     What would the world be like if humans did not always see themselves as superior to other beings? Is it even possible to change these societal thoughts, or are they simply always going to be a part of our nature? Additionally, what would the world be like if there were no vegitarians? Would humans have the same respect for animals as we do today, or would we just have less respect overall for other creatures?