>> - Political: "Eating meat is wrong"
>
> Wrong for what reason?
Morally, ethically, religiously, practically, logistically, numerically, cartesianially ... take your pick. Morrissey sings: Meat is Murder. If I had to pick, this is probably my most often encountered position. Which is why I think it so often slips into a projection. If you think something is "wrong" it's easy to think others are "wrong" too.
> most vegetarians, I believe, live in India and a good number
> of them (the majority?) are so because they were born vegetarian.
... and that's not technically 'political' ...? You were 'born' vegetarian (I think you mean 'raised' here :-): why?
Anyway, I think you can agree that "vegetarian" as applied in the circles most LBOsters run in is not this kind of vegetarian. In fact, I wonder if the folks in India would identify "as vegetarian" ...? "Most" dim sum eaters are, I would imagine, somewhere in China, but when we talk about the good examples here on LBO-Talk, we're going to be pretty much sticking to the context of New York and San Francisco :)
> By general argument, I meant the argument outside this specific
> thread here on LBO.
Well go have your strawman there then and not here ;)
> For my type of vegetarians, then, meat that is produced using
> non-industrial methods is definitely a great advance of our cause.
You mean "your type" as in "born in India as a vegetarian" ...?
[ ... ]
> we are discussing not eating meat as a means to reduce animal
> suffering.
So is that the only thing holding you back? Because there's plenty of "reduced suffering" meat out there; are you eating any of it? If not, why not?
Chris Doss says:
> It's sort of hard to find a trait shared by all humans that
> leaves out all other animals.
Fully opposable thumbs!
/jordan