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Japan to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission

bbc.co.uk

111–120 of 247 posts

Re: Japan to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission

#111
post #106
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

" I don't think this is a fair comparison because we breed these animals for farming, so technically we could breed as many as we need to sustain our habits." They still suffer greatly. Maybe a little extreme but by the same logic we could breed humans for slavery and say that it's OK because they got bred for it. "commercial farming of whales will cause the extinction of whales. " Not if done with proper quotas. It'…

> Maybe a little extreme but by the same logic we could breed humans for slavery and say that it's OK because they got bred for it. The day an animal can articulate that, I'll agree with you. Until then such comparison bears no meaning.

That's wrong. What matters is the capacity to suffer. There are humans who do not have the mental capacity to articulate such a thing either. I'd highly recommend as it deals with such arguments in greater length. http://lockeanliberal.com/2014/11/02/what-a-conservative-col...

Re: Japan to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission

#112
post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reminds me a little of the outrage in CA about horse meat. There are plenty of people who think eating horse meat is morally wrong while at the same time they eat some salad with bacon on top There was of course an extensive horse meat scandal in the UK as well, but I didn’t encounter anybody at that time describing the consumption of horse meat as “morally wrong”. Mislabelling of products, fraud, and food safety - t…

The U.K. is next door to France where eating horse is common. Many if not most British kids will have at least tried horse on a school trip to France. The French also eat frogs and snails.

It is not that easy to get horse in France in restaurants (easier in Belgium) while you can buy it in supermarkets for home cooking, I doubt that most British kids have had it.

Re: Japan to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission

#113
post #8

According to the article “ Pro-whaling nations expected the moratorium to be temporary, until consensus could be reached on sustainable catch quotas.” If this fishing is truly sustainable and doesn’t threaten the whales with extinction there shouldn’t be a problem. Why should whales get protection that pigs, cows, and other animals don’t?

Are you serious? Because a pig or calf can be bought for a few hundred bucks, few thousand tops, and raised in a suburban back yard. Because there is zero chance they are keystone species. An adult sperm whale weighs over 100 tons and eats about a ton a day. Do you not see the practical implications of that with regards to irreversible damage? Edit: missed the sustainable part of your post. Whaling afaik can't be sus…

I thought the demand in Japan was so low they had trouble selling the whale meat they hunted in the past couple of years. But I haven't been able to find a reliable source for that.

I always figured the Japanese stance was borne of out of politics and nationalism -- and possibly cronyism, I'm sure somebody is getting rich -- rather than driven by consumer demand.

Re: Japan to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission

#114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think this is a fair comparison because we breed these animals for farming, so technically we could breed as many as we need to sustain our habits. On the other hand there is no way to breed whales. There is some finite number of them in the wild and we cannot actively endeavor to create more. Commercial farming of farm animals will not cause the extinction of farm animals; commercial farming of whales will c…

> we breed these animals for farming, so technically we could breed as many as we need to sustain our habits. I'm not sure this justification works. After all, if someone started breeding dogs or African Greys for human consumption in the U.S. in a way that was sustainable, people would still be outraged by it.

In fact they find SUCH a difference between "pet" animals and "farm" animals that we ban horse, dog, and cat meat for human consumption. Because you shouldn't eat cute things or something.

Re: Japan to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission

#115
Three facts.

1. Most of Japanese people have exactly zero interest about whaling.

2. Nor they do not understand why western people get so upset about it. ("What's so different with, say, tuna fishing?")

3. Anti-whaling protesters (e.g. Sea Shepherd) are really worsening the situation. Their "activism" (like stealing whale meats) is perceived as, at best, stupid.

This is really a communication problem, guys. Whaling could have been ended many years ago, if no one made such a big deal out of it.

Re: Japan to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission

#116
post #106
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

" I don't think this is a fair comparison because we breed these animals for farming, so technically we could breed as many as we need to sustain our habits." They still suffer greatly. Maybe a little extreme but by the same logic we could breed humans for slavery and say that it's OK because they got bred for it. "commercial farming of whales will cause the extinction of whales. " Not if done with proper quotas. It'…

> Maybe a little extreme but by the same logic we could breed humans for slavery and say that it's OK because they got bred for it. The day an animal can articulate that, I'll agree with you. Until then such comparison bears no meaning.

So if I can't speak the language of my torturer, my suffering rightly has no meaning to them?

Re: Japan to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission

#117

As one commentator, Michael Cucek, pointed out (0), this could result in less whales being killed. There isn't that much of a market for whale in Japan and whaling operations have mostly been subsidised for "research" purposes. (0) https://mobile.twitter.com/MichaelTCucek/status/107560724374...

That is one of the stupidest parts of all about this whole affair, nobody even wants whale meat in Japan, so the entire thing is just a senseless stunt.

Re: Japan to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission

#118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think that in the future societies will look back at our consumption of meat, especially factory farming methods, and wonder why it took us so long to change our attitudes on this issue. How would future societies propose we feed ourselves if we don't eat meat?

Is that a serious question? As one small example, the 500 million or so vegetarians in India seem to do just fine.

Yes it's a serious question. Many people love meat and it's a staple part of their diet (as has been the case with humans for all of humanity). As for India, you may want to update your numbers:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelpellmanrowland/2017/12/1...

Re: Japan to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission

#119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reminds me a little of the outrage in CA about horse meat. There are plenty of people who think eating horse meat is morally wrong while at the same time they eat some salad with bacon on top There was of course an extensive horse meat scandal in the UK as well, but I didn’t encounter anybody at that time describing the consumption of horse meat as “morally wrong”. Mislabelling of products, fraud, and food safety - t…

I've seen plenty people defending horses and dogs as "friends, not food".

The issues with that is that different cultures have different expectations of what is a 'friend' and what is a 'food'.

Re: Japan to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission

#120

Disappointing. We share one planet. Nations need to be held accountable by each other for the amount of resources they consume and how they do so. And in this case whales are not even within Japanese territory...

It's never about nation. It is always about people who support it.
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