Well I've watched like 5 minutes but getting the general idea of what he is saying he is right in the context of the belief system he has but I think he is wrong because of the belief system I have.

In the context of cruelty I don't believe there are any parasites for instance who would give a shit if they made you miserable and put you through years of a torturous existence even if they were as smart as us.

Animals are smarter than we give them credit for but what they don't have is our empathy for other species. Whilst for instance we can understand the pain of a pig being killed for food or treated cruelly in factory farms the pig wouldn't give a second thought to eating you alive in circumstances where you're incapacitated and unable to escape. Empathy is hardwired into us but so is reciprocity where we demand equal treatment to how we treat others, hence the reason for the 'golden rule' he headlines his talk with. If animals cannot empathise with humans then we can justify not empathising with animals.

He is very smart but the thing is smart people are extremely good at 'justification after the fact' which means having a point of view and then building up a sophisticated and powerful argument around it. I.E. reach the conclusion and work backwards, it's a powerful tool and funnily enough The Hobbit was created using this technique when the author wrote 'There was a hobbit who lived in...' on a blank piece of paper and worked backwards from there.

Well after watching the full video BEFORE reading all the comments, it is clear who has watched it and who hasn't as the points raised by these people are answered in the video.

i.e herbivore vs carnivore animals, more than 50% of our food grains used to feed the animals instead of humans etc..

The guy does raise some good points and I got nothing wrong with him. He even showed some meat replacements products that taste like meat. Saying that I have never seen them in my local supermarkets so can't comment how they taste.

I will however still continue eating meat until the day one of these other alternatives tastes as good as meat and is easy to buy as it is to get a cut of meat.

All the animal cruelty parts in that video has been seen my many people before via news channels. Sure what they do is wrong but I don't think everyone treats the animals that way. I would support tougher laws on idiots.


FINALLY it is good to see how guns are so brainwashed into american culture as a thread about food had to have SOMEONE bring up guns to shoot animals lol.

"but I can not live without meat"

You are simply attached to a specific lifestyle. Shows how quickly human beings become conditioned. My father also 'couldn've live' without cigarettes. Is that really the statement of an evolving human being?

"if everyone stopped eating meat what would happen to the animals we raise to eat"

Never mind, with statements like these I gather that deep contemplation isn't really your forte.

"Now that I think about it eating them is for the best."

Sounds like something someone who watches wrestling would blurt out in between bites of his chilli dog and gulps of his beer.

you've found it hilarious that there is a thing called the food chain and you were born into the fat crowd who sit on the top of it and at this stage control the whole thing? I mean if you wanted to I'm sure you could go live with some wild gazelle or so out in the middle of africa and wait for a lion to eat you, but you know I'm sure he wont stop to check his moral compass before he does so.

As for the talk of animal cruelty when it comes to abattoir killing of and preparing of animals you really think people who work there would have time to do anything more than kill the animals and move on? there are 6 billion of us to feed, they don't go out and kick each cow before it becomes bigmacs they are bred and killed for food, it's their lives if we didn't eat them they wouldn't be bred to be food.

As for watching 20 mins of that video? you're kidding right you know most of vgcharts residence do not play the games they talk about never mind are going to take 20 minutes of their life to watch someone crying about being the top of the food chain.

Are you people really that poorly informed!?

I CAN LIVE ALL YEAR ROUND on 10 square meters of land!

DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY RESOURCES A SINGLE KG OF STEAK REQUIRES!!?

(I'm screaming because you wouldn't hear me otherwise)

No it doesn't.

es·sen·tial  

In this context, essential would imply that we essentially need that specific substance. That isn't true at all. Not.At.All.

I can go and lick my toilet bowl, because there are some "essentials" mixed in with the layers of dust and fat and what ever else. But that argument would be as poor as yours.

Your "Doctor" doesn't read the most common of medical publications then.

" British Medical Association (BMA) was first to shed light on the many benefits of a vegetarian diet in a 1986 report....

Beginning in 1983, the China study, looked at 6,500 participants ... the average vegetarian had twice the iron intake of the average U.S. citizen.

The highly respected World Health Organization (WHO) ... found that meat and dairy-rich diets promote other diseases as well, including osteoporosis or low bone density, and kidney failure. WHO went so far as to predict the cancer crisis the world now faces, based on the meat-rich dietary trends of Western nations. The report candidly faulted governments for public Dietary Guidelines that promote meat and dairy as necessary foods, urging more vegetarian-based policies where animal products are relegated to optional status.

...Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM). ...stating that a vegetarian diet is healthy, meets Recommended Daily Allowances, and does not lack protein.

 The Oxford study was underway. Gathering data over a period that spanned an excess of 13 years and involved over 11,000 people, it not only confirmed lower rates of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and other diseases among vegetarians, but also found a 20% decrease in premature mortality rates. Simply put, if you eat a vegetarian or vegan diet, you have a 20% better chance of living longer than if you eat meat, according to the study.

... American Dietetic Association (ADA)..."

With doctors like those I shouldn't be surprised that so few people actually know what the facts are.

why yes, of the very few people who drink cows milk I have heard that 70-80% of them have all died now because of milk related illness, please refrain from extracting your arguments directly from the thing you are sitting on tho, please.

Do you think that your inability to use proper reasoning in this regard is due to your innate desire to defend the belief system you've built up due to a particular lifestyle?

I bet it is.

One difficulty is that we (and those around us) have no experience of a meatless diet. This seems so absurd to me know, but back in 2005, I became so thin and sickly due to hardly eating anything at all.

In my country and culture (just google Afrikaner diet and you'll see straight away), bbq is the main food. I was ridiculed and put in the spotlight constantly. But it was easy because of my resolute determination.

Now I'm eating so well that anyone who I invite for dinner are amazed (and a little jealous) by my diet and cooking skills. A great saint once said, "only a lazy man can't cook".

I wish you the best of luck. Success rates aren't so high with this practice. Several of my friends became vegetarians after I did, and I believe I made it much easier for them. So, if you need any advice or so, feel free.