Executive summary: The industrial-scale farming of animals represents a massive moral failing where humans routinely inflict extreme suffering on billions of sentient beings (particularly young ones) for pleasure and convenience, despite widespread acknowledgment that it’s wrong, with special attention needed for often-overlooked creatures like fish and shrimp who may suffer intensely despite their alien appearance.
Key points:
The scale of animal suffering in industrial farming is vast, with hundreds of billions of animals subjected to extreme physical and psychological torment primarily for human taste preferences.
Most farmed animals are killed as babies/juveniles and, like human children, are especially vulnerable due to their inability to understand or resist their treatment.
While people can be easily convinced that industrial farming is morally wrong, this rarely translates into behavioral changes or meaningful action to reduce animal suffering.
Less photogenic creatures like fish and shrimp, despite their capacity for intense suffering, receive even less consideration than mammals and birds despite being farmed in massive numbers.
The disconnect between acknowledged moral wrong and continued participation in animal farming parallels other historical instances where institutional-scale cruelty was normalized by society.
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Executive summary: The industrial-scale farming of animals represents a massive moral failing where humans routinely inflict extreme suffering on billions of sentient beings (particularly young ones) for pleasure and convenience, despite widespread acknowledgment that it’s wrong, with special attention needed for often-overlooked creatures like fish and shrimp who may suffer intensely despite their alien appearance.
Key points:
The scale of animal suffering in industrial farming is vast, with hundreds of billions of animals subjected to extreme physical and psychological torment primarily for human taste preferences.
Most farmed animals are killed as babies/juveniles and, like human children, are especially vulnerable due to their inability to understand or resist their treatment.
While people can be easily convinced that industrial farming is morally wrong, this rarely translates into behavioral changes or meaningful action to reduce animal suffering.
Less photogenic creatures like fish and shrimp, despite their capacity for intense suffering, receive even less consideration than mammals and birds despite being farmed in massive numbers.
The disconnect between acknowledged moral wrong and continued participation in animal farming parallels other historical instances where institutional-scale cruelty was normalized by society.
This comment was auto-generated by the EA Forum Team. Feel free to point out issues with this summary by replying to the comment, and contact us if you have feedback.