It doesn't help that the vegans are right. The meat industry is a nightmare, terrible for the environment, and pretty bad for our health.
It's insane that most Americans eat meat every day.
If I could put 100% tax on meat tomorrow I would, but that's political suicide, so it'll never happen. It'd be easier to adjust than you think. There are plenty of delicious vegetarian options, and it'd be a lot easier to choose those if they were more common.
I eat meat because it's culturally acceptable, delicious, ubiquitous, and I don't believe I can make a noticeable difference. But that doesn't mean I think it's right.
I don’t believe I can make a noticeable difference.
Not eating meat won't change the systemic problems but it will mean fewer animals will be subject to the industry. Over the course of a lifetime, the number of animals you can save adds up.
Also it's a good habit to transfer thoughts and beliefs into actions.
"Your honor, it's true that the deceased died of blood loss after I stabbed them, however, the idea that they would've survived had I not stabbed them is a counterfactual and therefore cannot be proven at all."
What bizarre logic, what thorough lack of object permanence.
Just because meat eating outpaces veganism doesn't mean vegans haven't reduced the consumption of meat?
I don't even think you know what you're saying now. If the whole world went vegan today, there'd be no meat animal slaughter. YOU are the cause of this problem.
"Oh world hunger is getting worse, I better stop my charity donations!"
"Oh greenhouse gas emissions are on the rise, might as well go back to oil and gas!"
Like, you realise how foolish that argument is, right?
When you buy something, it tells the person who sold it to you to stock more of it, which tells the people making it to make more of it. Since meat production involves killing animals, it means that when you buy meat, it causes more animals to be killed. If you go vegan and stop buying meat, it causes there to be less demand, which reduces the number of animals killed compared to if you didn't.
"Your honor, it's true I purchased a hitman's services, but I didn't cause his actions. He made his own decision, it just happened to be the one I paid him to do."