Just a Little Common Sense

I have said many times that any sensible stand on ethics will inevitably lead to vegetarianism if consistently followed.
The shortest and simplest version of the argument I can think of is this:

Premise a): There is an ethical responsibility to avoid inflicting unnecessary suffering.
Premise b): In a western society, survival is not dependent on the consumption of animal products. Thus, all suffering that arises from the consumption of animal products is unnecessary suffering.
Conclusion: There is an ethical responsibility to avoid consuming animal products.

So far, so good. But I’ve had this discussion often enough to know that few people will leave it at that. By now I have a pretty good clue what’s coming, so let me pre-empt a few of the obligatory defenses for meat-consumption that people will come up with:

The Naturalist’s Argument:

Humans have been eating meat for thousands of years. Eating meat is our nature.

Humans are omnivores. We’re able to digest just about anything, and that means our diet is our choice. And where there is choice, ethics applies. Also, you might wanna look up ‘appeal to nature‘ – You’ll find that it’s a logical fallacy.

The Localist’s Argument:

Factory-Farming’s bad, but eating locally grown meat can’t be wrong. (In other words: “How about we’re just really nice to our cows before we kill and eat them?”)

You’d still kill them. Shockingly, that still qualifies as an infliction of unnecessary suffering. It’s better than steak from factory-farms, but it’s still suffering that is inflicted on conscious beings just because you enjoy the taste.
I’d like to point out that by the same line of reasoning, a parent can justify eating their kid, as long as they loved him and treated him well until they decided to end his life because 12-year-olds taste just so damn good.

The But-it’s-not-fair!-guy’s Argument:

But other animals eat meat, too! You wouldn’t judge a tiger for eating meat!

That’s right: I do not judge a tiger for its diet, for the same reason I don’t judge a rock for falling on somebody’s head. The tiger has no say in the matter. The key word here is choice, because only where there is choice there is the responsibility to choose wisely. A tiger can’t help itself. You, on the other hand, you decide whether to buy a factory-farmed steak or eat a vegetable stew instead. Your infliction of suffering is a choice, and you’re responsible for making it.

The Hypothetical-Plant-Suffering Argument:

You’re such a hypocrite! You know, plants react to their surroundings, too! Not to mention of all the insects and other tiny animals that are killed in the process of harvesting all those plants. You cannot say that your diet is suffering-free, so how dare you judge me for eating the flesh of dead baby cows?