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Why Are Vegetarians Annoying? (An Exploration of a Cultural Rift)

2016-01-22 · letter vlog · Hank · 3:55 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Philosophy & meaning (also: Science & nature) · mode: Personal essay · tags: self correction

Hank concedes that vegetarians are right about meat yet keeps eating it, and argues people are annoyed by vegetarians because they work hard to live by values that clash with society's norms, a conflict he calls healthy.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Greeting; Hank wants tough conversations on Vlogbrothers; the conflict between vegetarians and everyone else

  • ★ Hank says he has recently decided he wants to have lots of really tough conversations on Vlogbrothers, and opens one about meat. (hedged) — 00:00:02 · Vlogbrothers

00:00:19 — Vegetarians are right: animal welfare, feed and land, climate and deforestation, health; livelihoods from livestock

  • ★★★ Hank starts from the premise that vegetarians are right. — 00:00:19
  • ★★ Hank says animals raised for food do not have nice lives, and even if they did they would still be killed in their prime so he could have a snack. — 00:00:23
  • ★★ Hank says the amount of food eaten by animals that will later be eaten is massive, so as more people eat meat, more land must be cultivated. — 00:00:29
  • ★★ Hank says livestock contribute massively to climate change and are a primary reason for deforestation. — 00:00:37 · climate change
  • ★★ Hank says most people do not need to eat meat to be healthy. — 00:00:41
  • ★★ Hank notes there are reasons both ways: more than a billion people make at least some of their living from livestock, and their livelihoods cannot all be taken away at once. — 00:00:45
  • ★★★ Hank argues that as global population and economy grow, vegetarianism is hard to argue against because it lets more people have more food with less impact. — 00:00:53

00:01:05 — Answering commenters: they are right, he is wrong, he keeps eating meat (willpower, Oreos)

  • ★★★ To people who comment asking how he justifies eating meat, Hank says they are right and he is wrong, but he will keep eating meat because he struggles with self-control. — 00:01:05

00:01:27 — Society's expectations vs living by one's values: Montana, unnecessary spending, why conforming is almost the only option

  • ★★ Hank says he lives in Montana, a society where eating meat is normal and vegetarianism is not, unlike some other places in America. — 00:01:29 · Montana, United States
  • ★★★ Hank distinguishes acting by society's expectations, which is easy and rarely criticised, from living in the way best for the future; eating meat is something he doesn't need to do but does, though it makes the world worse. — 00:01:37
  • ★★ Hank finds it a little immoral that he spends money on unnecessary things like Coca-Cola, flights to San Francisco and a fifth Force Awakens ticket rather than giving it to Save the Children, for the same reasons he eats meat. — 00:02:05 · Save the Children, global health
  • ★★★ Hank argues that acting in accordance with society is, to an extent, the only thing to do: breaking too far with culture makes it very hard to find self-worth and connection. (hedged) — 00:02:27

00:02:55 — Why vegetarians annoy people; the conflict is healthy; thanks to vegetarians; eating less but not no meat; sign-off

  • ★★★ Hank's answer to why people are annoyed by vegetarians: they work extremely hard to live by values that conflict with society's, and people don't want to hear that what they enjoy makes the world less good. — 00:02:55
  • ★★ Hank says that, however frustrating for both sides, this cultural conflict is not a bad thing. — 00:03:13
  • ★★ Hank believes we are on our way to a better future and predicts that 200 years from now people will think the way we eat meat ridiculous. — 00:03:19 · optimism
  • ★★ Hank says there is no reason not to appreciate vegetarians, understands their wish to convert people, and thanks everyone who tells him not to eat meat. — 00:03:27
  • ★★ Hank says he will keep eating less meat, but not no meat, because it is easier and simpler, he likes it, and he is not perfect. — 00:03:41

In the description and comments

  • ★★ In the description Hank says that, researching the video, he found many numbers cited on meat's environmental harm confusing and sometimes wrong, including problems in a WorldWatch report he had quoted before. — video description
  • ★★ Hank faults the WorldWatch report for counting livestock's exhaled breath as a carbon emission, since that carbon was recently taken from the environment by the plants the animals eat; he was frustrated that WorldWatch made the mistake, or kept it on purpose. — video description
  • ★★ Hank adds that raising a cow in America is far more efficient than elsewhere, and that animal feed is not always food people could eat: corn for animals is easier and cheaper to grow, needs fewer resources and can grow on less fertile land. — video description · United States
  • ★★★ Hank says his research gave him a more nuanced view, but he is surer than ever that eating less meat means more food for more people with less impact, which the world needs most right now. — video description
  • ★★★ Hank says his main point is that he wishes he were better and will keep working at it, but it is OK to be imperfect in an imperfect world, so one can agree with every argument for vegetarianism and remain an omnivore. — video description

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: social norm · Vegetarianism

Also: Works: Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Organizations: Save the Children

Concepts: animal ethics · climate change · deforestation · Environmental impact of meat production · global health · optimism

Places: Montana · San Francisco · United States

Products: Coca-Cola · Oreo

Only in the description or credits: maize · omnivore · Worldwatch Institute

Also centred on social norm: Dec. 6th: Peer Pressure and the Green Green Manifesto · How to Tip Properly · The Stories We Tell Ourselves: Thoughts from Amsterdam · BEEF DAYS · Some Reasons why People Suck

Also centred on Vegetarianism: I AM A BAD PERSON!

Later videos replying to this one

Part of an exchange of 3 videos, 2016-01-22 – 2016-02-16.