[lit-ideas] Re: Panda Ethics?

  • From: David Ritchie <profdritchie@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Wed, 20 May 2015 11:21:21 -0700


On May 20, 2015, at 10:45 AM, Donal McEvoy wrote:

The panda's supposed ethical eating habits are fatally undermined by their
being a wasteful distraction in the business of preserving what we can in the
natural world: having evolved as meat-eaters with a cute appearance, their
stupid decision to embark on an untenable vegetarian diet has led to colossal
amounts of time and money being wasted in trying to save them - and that is
before we get to how suicidally fastidious they are about breeding. If we
praise the panda for its deontic diet, we risk encouraging other species into
similar self-destructive behaviours - with everything from lions to orcas
turning their nose up unless we supply them with lettuce and mineral water.

I tried offering lettuce and mineral water to the cats. Fortunately mineral
water is good for the cleansing of wounds.

David Ritchie,
omnivorously curious in
Portland, Oregon

Other related posts: