If you're not willing to do LJ support...

[avram]

You’ve probably seen this argument: If you’re not willing to personally kill and butcher an animal, you shouldn’t eat meat.


If you’re not willing to personally do construction work, you shouldn’t live in a building.

If you’re not willing to personally tailor cloth, you shouldn’t wear clothing.

If you’re not willing to personally grind your own pigments, you shouldn’t paint.

If you’re not willing to personally write an OS kernel from scratch, you shouldn’t use a computer.

If you’re not willing to personally sing in public, you shouldn’t listen to songs.

If you’re not willing to personally bear/father a child, you shouldn’t adopt.

If you’re not willing to personally break CO₂ down into carbon and oxygen, you shouldn’t breathe.

Comments

[avram]

The adoption one just doesn't work at all, because the moral objection to fathering a child is that there are too many children who need homes already, so adopting in that case is helping solve the problem, not taking advantage of someone else's willingness to get their hands dirty.

Do you know how many cows and chickens there are in the world? What would we do with them all if we didn’t kill them for food (or leather or feathers, etc.)? By eating them, you’re helping solve the problem....

[stakebait.livejournal.com]

That doesn't work either, since they're bred to be killed. If they weren't being deliberately created in order to be eaten, the number of cows and chickens would drop dramatically.

Actually, arguably we're solving the problem of extinction. Domesticated food animals don't get driven out of their niche.