Great comment. I think reducing consumption is ideal because it seems quite possible that even under a more ethical economic system, it may be infeasible to ethically produce the required amount of meat.
Well, I'd say another part of the issue is the culture of consumerism that runs alongside everything else. Richer countries overall tend to be more wasteful and more demanding of product they don't need. I'm not saying it's not ok to have nice things, but when I watch one of my coworkers get 5 or 6 Amazon packages almost every day, well. Clearly we have to take a little responsibility for our culture. I think it's possible to eventually get to ethical consumption, but we're gonna have to make stuff that lasts and be happy with WAY less "stuff" over all.
I know what you mean, friend. This insatiable demand for more has contributed to all manor of unethical conditions. From the slave wages and brutal conditions required to provide affordable products, to the offshoring of pollution, and undermining of developing institutions, we have really done a number on billions of people.
Beyond that, I think we’re doing a number on ourselves. Not to endlessly opine the ills of western civilization, but this shit feels so hollow. Every major cultural event is a superficial cash grab, memes that are literally just marketing campaigns (seriously a new viral water bottle every year????), worst of all, a near complete lack of community and ever worsening social cohesion. The last part isn’t entirely attributable to the prevailing economic conditions, but certainly *the death of the third place* is largely attributable to our consumer culture and the MBA psychos who exploit it.
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u/TheGrundleGrabber Aug 07 '26
Great comment. I think reducing consumption is ideal because it seems quite possible that even under a more ethical economic system, it may be infeasible to ethically produce the required amount of meat.