I didn't say any of those things. I think you're over-analyzing my point a bit, and projecting a "morality" onto it that I clearly did not intend. All I am saying is that life on Earth is not as cuddly and cushy as some people apparently want to believe. Please allow me to clarify my position.
In order for one living being to survive, another organism must die. That is the natural order. You can pretend to be living above that rule, but that would be denial of a basic reality of life. Whether you dig a carrot out of the ground, stick a metal hook in the water to snag a fish, whack the head off a chicken, or tear a few hundred mice limb from limb and crush tens of thousands of insects while harvesting a field of wheat, the death of some living organisms is going to factor prominently into your own bid for survival. No matter how much you try to insulate yourself by purchasing your food pre-packaged at the cushiest of high-end boutique grocery markets, it's unavoidable. It's life.
Mankind is, and has always been, an omnivore. Adaptability is perhaps mankind's strongest feature, and our physical adaptation to a widely varied diet is one of the strongest points in our favor as a species. Being omnivores, we have the luxury of deciding what kind of food we prefer to eat. People on every continent on the planet eat meat, and it has been a staple of the human diet more often than not. The only reasons why people don't eat meat are economic, cultural or personal.
Meat is a very efficient food in terms of satisfying most of our nutritional needs. Proteins derived from meat are more easily and quickly absorbed by our bodies than proteins supplied through the combination of legumes and grains. Animal meat contains most of the necessary nutrients for our survival, in the proper quantities.
However, an over-reliance on meat is not good either. A diet too rich in meat increases risks of heart disease, high blood pressure and other health problems. Raw meats incur energy costs in the form of refrigeration, have a shorter shelf-life than vegetables or grains, and can transmit disease more easily. Processed meats are likewise costly in terms of energy. Meat is slow to produce and expensive to transport. The economics of ranching are far less efficient than farming grains and vegetables, and that negatively impacts the world's food supply.
Because we are omnivores and have lots of dietary options, and because we're capable of reasoning through our own impact on our environment, some degree of morality should apply to our dietary habits. This also ought to extend to our treatment of animals, given the facts we know about their ability to suffer pain. Just because we're raising and killing them for food, that doesn't mean we necessarily ought to torture them to death in the process, regardless of economic concerns.
I believe that here in the US, we would do well to reduce our consumption of meat. The amount we consume per capita is unhealthy for a number of reasons. We ought to have tighter restrictions on the raising and slaughter of livestock, to protect both the animals and the surrounding environment. These are ideas which I advocate strongly.
However, I'm not going to sit here and say that it's our collective moral obligation to stop eating meat altogether. I'm not going to say that anyone who refuses to give up his hamburger is an ignorant brute blocking mankind's evolution into a kinder, gentler species which loves and coddles all living things, eliminates suffering and promotes joyful goodness and happiness. I consider that attitude to be quite naiive, quite arrogant, and offensive.
