One of Paris’s last horse meat butchers discusses the disappearance of his trade

Re:One of Paris’s last horse meat butchers discusses the dis... by garrettgrimsley on Monday February 08, 2016 @12:27AM (#11056491)

Separating the two sentences that you did from the comment as a whole weakens the argument that the poster was making. You don't address the point they made about people having no qualms about eating pig meat while simultaneously forbidding the consumption of cat and dog meat. I don't see how this is a rational position.

>Also there seems to be a pretty clear dividing line between pets and food.

Maybe in the time and place in which you exist, but in others the distinction is not the same. I have a pet dog, but I also enjoy bosintang. Is there a rational basis for why I can't have bosintang in the US?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_meat

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_meat

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle_slaughter_in_India

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:One of Paris’s last horse meat butchers discusses the dis... by peteretep on Monday February 08, 2016 @03:01AM (#11056879)

    >  You don't address the point they made about people
    > having no qualms about eating pig meat while
    > simultaneously forbidding the consumption of cat and
    > dog meat

    > > Also there seems to be a pretty clear dividing line
    > > between pets and food

There, you quoted it just after you called it an irrational position O_o

    > I have a pet dog, but I also enjoy bosintang. Is
    > there a rational basis for why I can't have bosintang
    > in the US?

I wonder how much research you've actually done here? Public opinion on dog meat in Korea is shifting ... pretty much in lock-step with the increase of keeping dogs as pets in Korea. Additionally, people don't keep meat breeds of dog as pets.

I wonder if you'll use historic cannabalism as an argument that humans are irrational for avoiding eating each other next?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:One of Paris’s last horse meat butchers discusses the dis... by garrettgrimsley on Monday February 08, 2016 @05:33AM (#11057354)

Your comment about there being a dividing line is only restating "pigs are food, dogs and cats are pets" rather than offering a rationalization for why this is the case. Sure, there is a dividing line, but why is there a dividing line? What makes the parakeet so different from the chicken, the cat from the cow?

I'm familiar with the changing public opinion, but shifting public opinion does not constitute a rational basis. I assume that you would not approve of eating dogs if the practice was increasing in popularity. I also know that people don't keep nureongi as pets, but I'm not sure why you brought it up. Are suggesting that because they are specifically bred for slaughter this makes them OK to eat?

From my perspective I see a group of people trying to force their views on others. I'm intimately familiar with this story because I've seen it in many different forms. For example, for years my father and many of my friends did not have the right to marry in the US because of people just like you. Many justifications for this bigotry were offered, but in the end it all boiled down to "it makes me uncomfortable."

So, what's the rationale for why eating pigs is OK but eating cats and dogs is off limits? Is it just personal discomfort? Help me understand.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:One of Paris’s last horse meat butchers discusses the dis... by vinceguidry on Monday February 08, 2016 @06:31AM (#11057546)

> I'm familiar with the changing public opinion, but shifting public opinion does not constitute a rational basis.

It often does. The Supreme Court will refuse to hear cases that it thinks should be decided by a political process. Politics is the process by which public opinion becomes law.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:One of Paris’s last horse meat butchers discusses the dis... by garrettgrimsley on Monday February 08, 2016 @04:04PM (#11060884)

Whether the belief is dying out or gaining acceptance is not a rational answer to the question of why people hold the belief. So again, is grouping pigs and dogs into the respective groups of meal and pet anything other than an arbitrary distinction?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:One of Paris’s last horse meat butchers discusses the dis... by vinceguidry on Monday February 08, 2016 @04:49PM (#11061126)

Oh, I wasn't intending to comment on the discussion you were having with the GP, just to point out a small flaw in reasoning.

But since you asked, no, it does seem rather arbitrary. I'm not sure where you wanted to go with that argument. I would not eat dog, but I happily eat pork. I don't have a rational explanation for why, but neither do I care enough about it to want to try to change it.

If I did, I would probably go in the direction of eating dog rather than to stop eating meat entirely. It would not take much to push me in that direction. A few weeks in Korea might be enough for me to get over it.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:One of Paris’s last horse meat butchers discusses the dis... by meric on Monday February 08, 2016 @03:37AM (#11056999)

Maybe there's no hard-coded login inside a human brain that says "this is a human being, do not eat him" - but rather, the repulsion to eat something could be proportionally related to perceived easiness that thing could have a relationship with us.

[ Parent | on HN ]