My other response to you was so long-winded, and there was even more that I wrote that maybe wasn't directly relevant to your comment, so I removed it. I did write it, though, so I figure I'll just go ahead and paste it here:

I'm actually not even philosophically strictly vegan, although I am vegan in practice. I just weigh the cost/benefit when making decisions. I decide if the questionable nutritional benefit of drugged up animal parts and 20 minutes of pleasure to me is worth a lifetime of cruel conditions and misery for this animal. It just happens to be the case for me personally that I think whatever potential health benefit I get from it isn't worth such an extreme cost to the animal since I am fortunate enough to be able mantain a healthy body without that. I would feel much better if I could verify that the animal has had a happy life.

For instance, in scotland, there are sheep that are free to roam the unfenced highlands anywhere they like with their babies, and they choose to go back to where the farmer they are used to feeds them in the winters. When they get old, the farmer will quickly kill them, and this is very much in line with their life over countless generations. Philosophically, eating that kind of meat has a much lower cost to me than the cruel factory farms where much meat/animal products come from. That said, at this point in my life, even that cost is not worth it to me, but maybe some day that will change. I can see the argument that maybe killing them at a certain point could be seen as mercy, but still, I'd just rather not at this point in my life.

[–] Lokisan@lemmy.zip 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

That was a very interesting read. Thank you! I share a lot of thought with your philosophy and I'm confident that is what most vegans think too. I am too aware and grateful to be able to choose my diet. I don't blame people who have no choice but to use animals to make a living. Though I sometimes regret that people in developed countries don't really think about what they put in their plate.

[–] AIhasUse@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago

Yeah, I feel lucky to have had it occur to me to think about this stuff. I can't put into words what a weight was lifted when I stopped supporting that stuff. It is just an all-around emotional lightness that permeates every aspect of my life. It's like discovering that I had been dragging a sack of rocks for so long that I had just assumed it was a part of life. I can remember how bad it was, and trying to convey this to people always seems to be taken the wrong way. I don't know why I got lucky in this way, and it is very frustrating to be unable to explain how much better it is since it really feels like a choice that most people could make if they only knew.