The
rationale here seems to be that if you should never do something that is personally
distasteful, but which you would be willing to
pay someone else to do. While I have nothing against a
vegetarian lifestyle, I must take issue with this
premise.
I hate folding my
laundry. I really hate it. I could easily pay someone to fold my laundry for me, but I don't see where this is a
moral cop-out. You could, of course, say that I must wind up folding my laundry anyway, so I can't possibly use that as a
valid argument. OK--think of all the things you do during the course of a day that require the efforts of a
third party and you'll find that almost everything you do is built on the labor of others. I could easily say that you should stay away from
produce because some of it may be harvested by
maltreated migrant workers. I'm more than happy to pay people to
toil in the fields so I can have my can of
beets, and I hope that my state's
Congressional representation looks after the
farmers (and if not I know what to do about that).
And before you ask, I will say that, yes, I have eaten animals that I've killed. Well, more specifically I've eaten chicken that I've gutted (you gotta watch out not to slice open the gall bladder when you open the chest, otherwise things get all green), and I once had pork from a roast pig on a spit that I helped my uncle clean. And it was really, really good. A tip to those meat-eaters out there: roast pig, after spending hours rotating above a heat source, is a treat that should not be missed. Bring beer.
Does all this count? And I can say that, having done this, I would not prefer to do it again, and am happy to pay someone else to get their hands sticky.