The dairy industry and the meat industry are two sides of the same coin.

I agree. The threshold for becoming the “dominant species” of a planet is so low that the species still has its primal wiring for tribalism, competitiveness, etc. by the time it can build rockets. We humans should’ve had more time in the evolutionary oven to become more empathetic and cooperative for longer-term survival. Instead we have people willing (and able) to literally burn the world down to become richer or more powerful. And we have most of society cheering them on.

We’ve been on the verge of destroying ourselves for decades now, and humans have just barely started doing space stuff (a blink compared to the life of the universe). How in the world can anyone expect us to get to Dyson sphere levels of progress with how fragile our existence is?

I think this is where the disconnect is. It’s not just milking an animal. It’s getting her pregnant, taking her child away from her shortly after birth and killing it. It’s keeping her trapped in a tiny pen for her whole life, barely able to move. Then, when she can no longer produce milk, kill her, 6 years into her 20-year lifespan.

Dairy is cruel. Arguably more cruel than meat.

Sure, but that’s like saying “I don’t shoot dogs, I just kick them.” Like, sure, I guess that’s better, but when you say you do it because you “care about dogs,” that doesn’t make sense.

I agree. The one caveat being that there are thousands of animals in shelters who are going to live in cages for years until they’re killed. If the alternative is someone can adopt them and give them a happy life in a loving home, that’s the obviously better option.

Breeders can go fuck right off, though. Every cat or dog bred into existence condemns an animal in a shelter to die.

What? You’re saying that because we needed leather in the past, we can’t wear cotton now to keep warm? At one point we didn’t have easy access to plant-based proteins so we should continue eating animal products? By that logic, we didn’t have vaccines in the past, so does that mean we can’t use them now? Our ancestors also didn’t have the internet, so why are you here?

The past was a completely different world. Don’t let it hold you back from doing better now.