Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by maxxxxx 2731 days ago
" I don't think this is a fair comparison because we breed these animals for farming, so technically we could breed as many as we need to sustain our habits."

They still suffer greatly. Maybe a little extreme but by the same logic we could breed humans for slavery and say that it's OK because they got bred for it.

"commercial farming of whales will cause the extinction of whales. "

Not if done with proper quotas. It's not different from any other type of fishing.

Again, I don't even eat meat, but we should be a little more rational.

2 comments

> Not if done with proper quotas.

And there lies the rub! People ignoring quotas are the whole reason this kind of fishing needs strong cooperative regulation.

> It's not different from any other type of fishing.

Actually, it is categorically different. You'd be hard pressed to hunt salmon to extinction even if you tried because they spawn hundreds of eggs per female each year. The same cannot be said for any species of whale.

> Maybe a little extreme but by the same logic we could breed humans for slavery and say that it's OK because they got bred for it.

The day an animal can articulate that, I'll agree with you.

Until then such comparison bears no meaning.

That's wrong. What matters is the capacity to suffer. There are humans who do not have the mental capacity to articulate such a thing either. I'd highly recommend as it deals with such arguments in greater length. http://lockeanliberal.com/2014/11/02/what-a-conservative-col...
Suffering wasn't brought up. Just the comparison of being bred for food vs slavery.
"The day an animal can articulate that, I'll agree with you."

They can if you keep your eyes open just a little.

So if I can't speak the language of my torturer, my suffering rightly has no meaning to them?
We also don't make everyone who can't speak our language suffer.
Historically, we do. However, we are able to communicate even if we don't know a specific language.
So a retarded person would likely not be able to articulate that. Is it ok to murder them, then?