Ok, so in May I decided to become a vegetarian. I saw a pregnant lab rat getting killed and then dissected. I felt pity for the rat and her unborn pups, but I recognized that it had to be done for the research. The grad student involved got frustrated and told me that I should stop whining. Here was his argument:

• you eat meat
• the manner in which animals are treated/killed in the food industry is much worse then the manner in which laboratory rats are treated
• you feel sorry for the rat (essentially since you saw its death), but not for the cow
• hence, you are a hypocrite

I huffed and puffed and argued but eventually I realized that I was being hypocritical, and so I decided to give up meat. I figured that if I couldn't kill it then I shouldn't be eating it. In general, I don't have a problem eating meat, I have a problem with the manner in which it is farmed. I've caught and killed fish and while I never enjoyed hitting them in the face with a paddle I did feel less pity for then than that rat. An older vegetarian friend of mine put it this way:

"The philosopher Peter Singer has, I think, the most compelling >framework for thinking about animal rights. His is an interests-based >account of ethics: both humans and animals, he argues (in a way >that seems compelling to me), have an interest in not suffering. This >applies equally to rats and to human beings."

But now things get tricky. Chickens raised for laying eggs live arguably worse lives than those raised for slaughter. They are put in cages where they cannot move, pumped full of hormones and antibiotics, and are force fed so they can continually produce eggs. The living situation for milking cows is very similar: confined spaces, drugs, etc. I suppose I could go vegan and not buy any animal products but I'm not sure if I'm ready for that. I suppose I could buy only free range, humanly treated animal products, but I am not sure how much I trust them.

A non-vegetarian friend of mine has been debating this with me. He argues that as some of the privileged few in this world we can not avoid benefiting from the suffering of those less fortunate than us. We own clothes, shoes, toys, and scores of everyday items made in child laborer factories and work camps. He suggested that the logical conclusion of my argument is that we are partly responsible for all the injustices that go into every product we buy. He said that life is a "zero point game" in which by having something you are preventing some one else from having that thing (I don't really believe it is so simple). So essentially, you can either give up a western lifestyle or accept that responsibility and accept that the world will forever be "shit" and live your life as normal.

I haven't found all of my friends arguments against vegetarianism as persuasive. One friend argued that while chickens can feel pain, they cannot suffer. In general, he says, animals can learn responses to stimuli but don't really understand suffering. Another said that since even microscopic animals have nerves and/or ganglia, I can't really eat anything by my logic. One used the old "cows and chickens would be extinct if it weren't for humans", which is true but I don't really have a problem with that. Environmentally speaking, a smaller population of farm animals is a good thing. Another argument was that without the meat industry many farmers would loose their jobs, but I feel like that is a cop out anyway (it would only be structural unemployment).

Then there is the issue that I am not really making a difference. No fewer animals have been subjugated to suffering because of my choice not to eat meat this summer. I was told that if I really wanted to do something I should join Green Peace or Peta, but I don't want to make this the center of my life, I just want to do what's right. I suppose I could donate money, but again I'm not sure if I trust them. Does that mean I'm just doing this to make my self feel better and gain some sick sense of moral superiority? I really don't want to become disillusioned and browbeaten to the point of adopting a nihilist outlook on life. At the same time, is there anyway I can do the moral thing?

tl;dnr: became vegetarian but now am unsure on what is the right thing to do.