I feel like it’s hypocritical for animal advocates and EAs from rich countries to blame poor countries for the suffering caused by factory farming.
I don’t think this is what the meat-eater problem does. You could imagine a world in which the West is responsible for inventing the entire machinery of factory farming, or even running all the factory farms, and still believe that lifting additional people out of poverty would help the Western factory farmers sell more produce. It’s not about blame, just about consequences.
I realise this isn’t your main point, and I haven’t processed your main argument yet. It would make a lot of sense to me if transferring money from a first-world meat eater to a third-world meat eater resulted in less meat being eaten, but I’d imagine that the people most concerned with this issue are thinking about their own money, and already don’t consume meat themselves?
I don’t think this is what the meat-eater problem does. You could imagine a world in which the West is responsible for inventing the entire machinery of factory farming, or even running all the factory farms, and still believe that lifting additional people out of poverty would help the Western factory farmers sell more produce. It’s not about blame, just about consequences.
I realise this isn’t your main point, and I haven’t processed your main argument yet. It would make a lot of sense to me if transferring money from a first-world meat eater to a third-world meat eater resulted in less meat being eaten, but I’d imagine that the people most concerned with this issue are thinking about their own money, and already don’t consume meat themselves?