• Decr@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    I mean, is cannibalism really the worst problem here?

    Humans are omnivores and if the alternative is to throw unused human parts underground or cremate them, feeding them to new humans is at least not a waste.

    • trias10@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Is it possible to eat those humans? If it’s actually nutritious I don’t see a problem, and it’s less wasteful, as you said. Soylent Green operated on this principle.

        • MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca
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          11 months ago

          If I’m not mistaken, any properly prepared meat (muscle tissue) should be fine. Most disorders caused by cannibalism happen when consuming brain matter, which, at least for the most part, humans largely don’t eat the brains of any animal…

          I get why people are opposed to it, and I’d never force anyone to eat anything that they didn’t want to. But the fact is, if you only eat the meat/muscle, like we do with other animals, and you prepare it much in the same way through proper handling and cooking, it’s generally not hazardous to your health.

          It becomes a problem when you start eating other parts beyond the muscles… Honestly, as long as we’re not breeding humans for meat, and the individual who has expired is okay with their remains being eaten, then I don’t really see any problem with it personally.

          I don’t think many, if any, people would consent to their body becoming food for their fellow man after they die, but if they did, I don’t really see a problem with doing it, provided proper food safety is considered (as with any meat).

          In general the only time this has happened where people have been pretty okay with the fact that it happened is in cases of extreme desperation, like being trapped on a mountain in freezing cold temperatures after a plane crash, with no food aside from the other (already deceased) passengers… In those cases most of society turns a blind eye saying “they did what they had to do to survive” or some other rationalization.

          • HelixDab2
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            11 months ago

            AFAIK, you are correct. The prion diseases are primarily a risk from consuming brains. However, meat can get contaminated during the slaughtering and butchering process. so eating animals (or people) that have prion diseases is usually strongly discouraged. Especially since prion diseases can take years to show up in people.

            It’s also a problem with Chronic Wasting Disease in deer.

          • z3rOR0ne@lemmy.ml
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            11 months ago

            Well additionally, meat is usually best tasting when the animal is more or less culled during the prime of their life, so not only would a young person have to be prescient enough to write a will, but be in the very small percentage of young people who also desire to be eaten.

            This argument, even from a cold logical standpoint, still strikes me as rather nonsensical, as anyone who might actually desire this who had thought it through, would have had extensive life experience to come to such a conclusion. This would result in an elderly person essentially saying, “please eat my tough not succulent flesh after I pass away.”

            • MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca
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              11 months ago

              That’s a fair argument.

              I don’t have anything more to add, but it’s been a very interesting discussion.

              Have a good day.

            • Scubus@sh.itjust.works
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              11 months ago

              I agree with both your views, with the minor addendum of the elderly being fed to livestock, since they are much less picky about what they eat.

              • z3rOR0ne@lemmy.ml
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                11 months ago

                Personally I’d rather be turned into compost and fed to the worms beneath a tree.

          • juliebean
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            11 months ago

            i’d love to have a bbq/funeral were i to die, but unfortunately, in the US, the things you can legally have done with your corpse are pretty limited. basically, you don’t own your body after you die, and neither does anyone else, so you’ve gotta pick from a short list of allowed post-mortem activities.

      • Decr@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        I mean, in many cases you could. In many places there aren’t even laws against it. I’m personally of the opinion that we should treat animals similar to how we would treat humans, thus the translation for others to consider the same.

        • trias10@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          I totally agree, we should treat animals the same as we treat humans. I really don’t understand why so many people value animal lives lesser to those of humans.

        • z3rOR0ne@lemmy.ml
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          11 months ago

          Yes and if you read the Vox article the meme is referencing, this is very much not the case. Mother pigs being torn apart literally as factory farm workers laugh, make jokes, and generally make comments you’d hear out of a dramatized serial murderer.

          These practices not only have horrific effects on the animals obviously, but these workers lose whatever shreds of humanity they might have going into it, and I’d assume they have similar sick fantasies about murdering/torturing humans in a similar fashion.

          • raptir
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            11 months ago

            I’d assume they have similar sick fantasies about murdering/torturing humans in a similar fashion.

            That is a huge leap. Because of the nature of the work, most people I’ve met who work in animal agriculture just don’t see their livestock as conscious in any way, let alone at all equivalent to a human.

            • z3rOR0ne@lemmy.ml
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              11 months ago

              No, they say “Rip that removed in half” prior to splitting a mother pig in half. The article points out that piglets are fed other chopped up piglets and feces and.

              The workers are recorded as saying things like “I needed that”, indicating that beating these animals is not just a necessity, but inherently pleasurable to them.

              I dont think a person who makes such statements and those that are willing to laugh/nod in agreement at such sentiments are in a healthy mindset. Those kinds of statements in that context indicate these are people who get pleasure out of torturing and killing living beings. I disagree that this is a huge leap. Given enough time in dehumanizing conditions like that, every animal becomes just a hunk of flesh, rather than a being with complex feelings and experiences.

              And I’m not naive enough to believe that this kind of work doesn’t attract particularly sadistic people.

              I suggest you read the article:

              https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23817808/pig-farm-investigation-feedback-immunity-feces-intestines

    • mikeboltonshair@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      If someone held a gun to your Moms head and then to a pigs head and you had to choose, who would you choose?

      That’s a pretty far off equivalency…

    • TheAndrewBrown@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Other than possible health concerns, I have no moral issues with eating humans that died from some other cause. There’s nothing intrinsically wrong about it, it’s a cultural thing.

    • AnonymousLlama@kbin.social
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      11 months ago

      It we were living off the good graces of another species who raised us, I guess we’d have no choice in the matter if we were fed other humans, just like these animals

      • max@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        the good graces of another species who raised us

        Lmao what? Would you feel the same if some extraterrestrial beings just landed here on earth and started to breed us to be as fat as quick as possible so they can eat us? Would you thank them for their good graces?

      • AngrilyEatingMuffins@kbin.social
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        11 months ago

        “Living off the good graces”

        You fucking evil dip shit. We raise those animals to die for our pleasure and you’re acting like they’re a houseguest who overstayed their welcome. Fuck you. I’d call you swine but you don’t deserve to be included in such good company.