hello, i am writing this because i am need of help... i have been a vegetarian for 3 years now, but recently i have been sturggling. The reason i wanted to be a vegetarian in the first place was because i hate anima cruelty and abuse, i hate to see an animal suffer. but saying that, although i myself do not consume animals, the meat industry is huuuuuge. So recently i have been thinking, what's the point? animals are still going to be killed and wasted regardless of waht i do... i mean ok i can save maby a few of them by adoption (which i have done in the past) but it's not enough... animals will suffer and be killed regardless of what i do... i think it's a bit depressive, so yes i am struggling about this... what do you suggest?
I am a new vegetarian but I know how you feel and my family constantly has meat around me but just think about all the animals one vegetarian saves over a year. But if you cant do it anymore then eat meat but be careful because you will most likely get sick that has happened to a few of my friends that went a few years.
Couple ways to look at the issue. Hopefully one will resonate for you: First, just because others eat animals, should you? (insert your moms version of if everyone jumped off a cliff here) Do you want to be part of the problem? Is it OK for you to sell out your personal ethics because others do something differently? Some people rape and murder, steal and inflict pain. Should you? Is it your responsibility to change others? Can one truly change another if they don't wish to be changed? Just because everyone else is an asshole doesn't mean you need to be one. The animals that you don't eat don't get eaten. Although tasteless comments abound, omnis do not eat more meat to "fill the gap" you leave. Vote with your food dollars for a more aware world. And, because many veggies come to this point at some time, reassess exactly why you are veg, how that impacts your life and those around you. My dark hour was another woman's aha moment. I personally IRL have been the inspirration for six additional veggies that I know of.
^that. And this=Jack Nicholson in the movie GOING SOUTH="I'll do all I can do,but that's all I can do".
i don't want to eat meat because others are doing it, my problem is that it just gets a bit depressing after while... i mean you try so hard to save what animals you can and you release that there is a fuck load that have been killed for a stupid reason... esp for the meat industry....
Maddog-are you familiar with the story of the stranded starfish? I've cut/pasted the relevant bit here for you. Do the kindnesses I do really make a difference? Does any of it really matter? I suppose in the big picture of things, the answer would be no. But then I think of the story of the little boy, walking among hundreds of starfish washed up on a beach, who attempted to toss them back out to sea before the sun dried them. A man, seeing the overwhelming number, told him he would never make a difference. The boy held up one starfish, and before throwing it into the water said, "It does to this one." Says it all,really.
If your reasons are because of animal cruelty and big business is discouraging you; become part of the solution. Get more active in the political field; sign up for some e-mail lists to groups that are for stricter regulations and help sign/write letters and petitions to your representatives. Get more active in the social field; join activism groups and post about cruelty and whatnot (just avoid PETA, they are evil exploiting liars) Support ethical animal businesses. My cousin is mostly vegetarian but buys meat from select farms that are very free range and as animal friendly as they can be.
Fuck the animals, in the larger picture their going to be killed anyway by the meat industry and their is not much you can actually do to stop it just by changing your diet. Although i don't support animal cruelty and murder they are not the ethics id hold being a vegetarian too. You should find comfort in the fact that your unlikely to die a horrible death or suffer from major illness from not ingesting that crap. Your probably going to live a fuck longer and feel allot better then if you consumed that fatty, processed, cancerous crap on ah bun. The only reason we can even process meat is so we don't starve in the wild should their be a lack of nutritious plant matter...
I kind of understand how you feel, but I'm inclined to agree with drmama, I do this because it's what I feel is right. Also, I've been a vegetarian for over 10 years now and I often think about how much meat I would have eaten in those 10 years, how many chickens, sheep etc. that would actually amount to. Quite a lot I'd say. In other words, it does make a difference. :2thumbsup:
One of my sustaining reasons is water and fuel use for grains that then get used as animal feed. Overall a rather inefficient means of converting food to "food." The reason humans eat animals is those animals typically eat what we cannot digest or won't eat(grasses, mostly, but also plankton, garbage etc) and the animals themselves were edible. (suspending ethics here)
Thanks for that, made me realise that there is a point. I tried to +rep you but I've given too much out in the last 24 hours
In reply to OP. I know how you feel, its tough, especially in a society that might not understand your reasons for it. Both my dad and my sister and my grandparents have all knocked me down because I'm vegan and my reasons are similar to yours. I've had 'you won't make a difference' 'those animals will still be killed/eaten' etcetc and its not nice and really does sometimes make me feel like my descisions are pointless.. but I always reflect back on my own reasons and ignore the comments from others.. The reason I became veggie is because as I was sat eating a meal containing meat, I saw a moth trying to get outside so i got up and let him out to fly free. When I went back to eat it suddenly hit me that I was sitying here eating another animal after id just gone out of my way to 'save' one. It just seemed wrong to me, and the fact that I kept pets that I gave so much time and love but then another animal was abused, killed and eaten without a second thought
