Agreed, it’s not quite the same map. And no doubt, many people in the global south, as their living standards increase, will want access to more meat- it tastes good, it has not merely a history of prestige but also deep cultural fondness in most parts of the world, etc.
My hope for the future world is one where whoever wants it, can have it- India as a result might not change overly much (though even there meat consumption is going up) but most of the world will probably move to around the consumption levels of China or Russia as their standards improve. All the (many) ethical concerns about meat are valid, sure, but those are institutional (and technological) hurdles to be overcome in my opinion; I don’t think progress will be won through austerity and abstinence- and while I might have my biases, as I enjoy meat, I think reality speaks for itself in that meat is deeply desired by the overwhelming majority of the world, and the demand will not go away anytime soon, if ever.
Americans are really the stand-out along with Australians who have lots of range and space (stolen)
This is honestly the bigger issue, IMO. I don’t see any easy answers there either, but if there is any justice to be had, whether now or decades or centuries from now, that stolen land must be returned to its rightful peoples and cultures, in one form or another- semi-autonomy, reparations, who’s to say, but in some way it has to be done, and till then a deep guilt and condemnation should rightfully hang above the heads of all those who perpetuate it. As an atheist and coming from an immigrant family I have my biases, but- the homeland, having a place (or places) one identifies with and has roots to (not an ethnostate, obviously)- is nigh sacred, and the acts of the settler-colonials in depriving and destroying that for others is something that I don’t think can nor should ever be forgiven or forgotten, till it is rectified in as complete and satisfying a manner as possible for the indigenous peoples.
As far as I’m concerned- with all my own baggage about the subject (though I’m not indigenous)- settlerism, the suppression and ongoing theft of the homeland- is probably the greatest imaginable crime aside from genocide (of which it is arguably a part of, and almost always is a case of). I’m not spiritual in the slightest, but if I were I would say there is or ought to be a curse upon settlers, until the crime is rectified- it is a genuinely unforgivable thing, something that IMO goes against any notion of humanity that I would ever accept- and no doubt that most people can agree with, if not in my wording, in the sense that they would never wish, never tolerate such destruction and deprivation upon their own peoples, and can recognize the evil for what it is in that way.
Agreed, it’s not quite the same map. And no doubt, many people in the global south, as their living standards increase, will want access to more meat- it tastes good, it has not merely a history of prestige but also deep cultural fondness in most parts of the world, etc.
My hope for the future world is one where whoever wants it, can have it- India as a result might not change overly much (though even there meat consumption is going up) but most of the world will probably move to around the consumption levels of China or Russia as their standards improve. All the (many) ethical concerns about meat are valid, sure, but those are institutional (and technological) hurdles to be overcome in my opinion; I don’t think progress will be won through austerity and abstinence- and while I might have my biases, as I enjoy meat, I think reality speaks for itself in that meat is deeply desired by the overwhelming majority of the world, and the demand will not go away anytime soon, if ever.
This is honestly the bigger issue, IMO. I don’t see any easy answers there either, but if there is any justice to be had, whether now or decades or centuries from now, that stolen land must be returned to its rightful peoples and cultures, in one form or another- semi-autonomy, reparations, who’s to say, but in some way it has to be done, and till then a deep guilt and condemnation should rightfully hang above the heads of all those who perpetuate it. As an atheist and coming from an immigrant family I have my biases, but- the homeland, having a place (or places) one identifies with and has roots to (not an ethnostate, obviously)- is nigh sacred, and the acts of the settler-colonials in depriving and destroying that for others is something that I don’t think can nor should ever be forgiven or forgotten, till it is rectified in as complete and satisfying a manner as possible for the indigenous peoples.
As far as I’m concerned- with all my own baggage about the subject (though I’m not indigenous)- settlerism, the suppression and ongoing theft of the homeland- is probably the greatest imaginable crime aside from genocide (of which it is arguably a part of, and almost always is a case of). I’m not spiritual in the slightest, but if I were I would say there is or ought to be a curse upon settlers, until the crime is rectified- it is a genuinely unforgivable thing, something that IMO goes against any notion of humanity that I would ever accept- and no doubt that most people can agree with, if not in my wording, in the sense that they would never wish, never tolerate such destruction and deprivation upon their own peoples, and can recognize the evil for what it is in that way.