Reply #23: Wow, how completely ridiculous. Bad premise.

[yewberry]

I have been veg*n for more than 20 years, and I've never actually known anyone who advocated outlawing meat-eating. It's simply not a conversation that comes up. Why? Because it's silly and unrealistic. The people who make this argument are usually either very new evangelistic veg*ns or (far more often) people determined to try to make veg*ns look stupid or short-sighted.

So, okay.

1) That would never happen. Many of us hope that people will choose to give up meat or eat less of it for a variety of reasons. But please, feel free to point out the legislation you've run across that we've put forth to outlaw meat. I mean, there must be actual cases of this being tried, given how often meat-eaters accuse us of it, right? Please post your sources.

2) {Faulty premise} There is a food crisis playing out in the world right now, but it's unrelated to the notion of sudden forced veg*nism. In fact, if more people gave up a meat-based diet, there would be less hunger in the world.

3) {Faulty premise} Are you actually using the idea of a global, instant conversion to veg*nism as a basis for this argument? Uh, yeah. Again, that's silly and unrealistic. If more people gave up meat, there'd be a slow tapering off of feed and land used for livestock. Cows and chickens will never be let loose to fend for themselves.

4) {Faulty analysis} Um, you do know that the vast majority of land currently being used for raising crops is for animal feed, right? And that crops grown as animal feed use far more pesticides than those meant for human consumption? "Extra farmland" indeed.

5) {Faulty premise} What, all the hunters in the world are going to magically stop hunting? Riiight.

6) {Faulty premise} While I'd personally be very, very happy to see the fur industry go the way of the buggy-making industry, again, this is not going to happen. Immediate global veganism isn't going to happen. We know that and you know that.

OK. Given the fact that your premise is completely unrealistic and biased against veg*ns, what are you really trying to say about us?