stray

I agree, but that argument doesn't do anything for people who don't really care about the animals' suffering if it means they get to enjoy meat. They understand what they're doing and have made the informed choice that they're okay with the arrangement. If you want them to stop torturing animals you're going to have to find them another way to get meat or you're going to have to kill them.

So is Sitting Bull. Swedish confectionery isn't terribly woke.

e:

I don't understand blue even after knowing the answer.

I don't really understand how you can think meat consumption is necessary for health and also be against lab-grown meat. Is there some other way you have in mind to address environmental and ethical concerns? It doesn't really help to survive today if doing so means extinction later from climate change.

Do you think its alright to use dumb and stupid? [...] I imagine Idiot is ok because it comes from the greek for common man.

It's not so much what words I think are bad, but what usage is hurtful or unconstructive.

For instance, thinking Trump is an idiot is a fine gut reaction to have to the latest dystopian headline, but I think his actions go well beyond simply having a low IQ. There are lots of very nice stupid people in the world who don't deserve to get thrown under the bus with someone who's actively malicious.

Or say you're arguing about something and think to yourself "Wow, this guy is fucking stupid." Maybe they are a stupid person, either by disability or lack of education, but attacking them over it seems purely cruel to me. It also undermines your own argument by creating an emotional distraction.

A thought can be dumb

The difference between calling an idea stupid and a person stupid is a pretty key part of context in my opinion. It's still pretty charged language though, so I hesitate to talk that way with strangers. I'm more free with people I know well who won't feel attacked.

Somebody cuts you off in traffic you say motherfucker and you feel kinda better for just instantly getting it out of your system instead of keeping it bottled up

I think you kind of hit the nail on the head there by using motherfucker instead of an intelligence-based alternative like moron or similar. But even if you do go after their intelligence in the heat of the moment, that doesn't make you a terrible person. Being able to later reflect on internalized ableism and how prevalent that language is in society is a good thing, imo. You don't even need to feel bad about it exactly; I just think it's a good thing to be conscious about your internal thought processes.

you don't sit there and go through a Buddhist podcast about forgiveness and suffering and think about how difficult life must be for that motherfucker that cut you off, and how she probably was distracted by her kids or stressed about something.

I think you should though, sometimes. (You don't have to be perfect all of the time.) This is part of cognitive behavioral therapy and can help alter your thinking patterns in healthy ways. Being empathetic towards others is not only good for them, but also good for you.

(I realize in the course of this that I've been intolerant of people banging their own moms, and I'm okay with that position at this time.)

A quick search (meaning I did not dig into it because it's very hard to read tables on mobile) shows that France has about one third the rate of veganism compared to the global population, and a quarter of the US rate. (I chose the US because they're the poster child for obesity.) While they may be healthy, they're still eating meat.

What if I told you beans don't taste like pork ribs? I love beans, but these things are not substitutes for one another, and insisting they are isn't going to make anyone become vegan.

This was extremely helpful to read, thank you.

I've tried to go vegan I think three times in my life, and vegetarian a few more times than that. I struggle with concrete issues like celiac, but also vague ones like suicidal ideation and digestive issues. And then there's also the simple economic fact that when certain meats are on sale they're actually cheaper per gram of protein than beans.

I don't mean to say that there are those of us who should eat meat and we therefore require a meat industry, just to explain why some of us have trouble. To the contrary, I think my issues have been exacerbated by a world that insists meat is necessary. If being vegan were the standard, I would have a greater variety of options and more affordability, and medical professionals would be both more accepting and more knowledgeable in providing me aid.

e: "Vegan" is actually incorrect here. There are problems with the honey industry, but I don't think beekeeping is inherently unethical, and I don't oppose symbiotic forms of animal exploitation. I don't know what the word for that would be.

Holy shit, are those 4x8' plywood sheets?

To be fair, most plants do manufacture their own pesticides that may harm small reptiles.

This feels like "I can't be homophobic because I'm not afraid of gay people." I can't wait for someone to insist they can't possibly be racist because their hatred isn't motivated by pseudoscience.

What about ancient Arab enslavement of black Africans?