Gary Steiner's Animal, Vegetable, Miserable

What are Morals? Webster defines morals as, “conforming to a standard of right behavior.” Morals are needed in society in order to allow it to function. Without morals society would crumble to pure anarchy. Morals although are very anthropocentric, leaving us to decide what is right and wrong for animals. Gary Steiner discusses our ethical choices on meat eating and the proper treatment for animals in his article, “Animal, Vegetable, Miserable.” Steiner makes it very clear that he has denounced eating meat, and has become purely vegan. His views can open the minds of many, showing us how animals are mistreated. Steiner helps us understand how a moral line could be drawn between the institutionalized process, of slaughtering animals for human consumption, and the iconoclastic vegan alternative.

Initially, we may ask, where does the line need to be drawn? One can argue that any living organism deserves its right to life, no matter how small it is. There is a big loophole with this, as even plants could be considered to deserve life. Steiner discusses a story about a man and a mouse saying, “This tiny creature possesses the same dignity that any conscious being possesses” (846). Meaning even a mouse has a right to live. Alexander Mauskop wrote, “It is hard to imagine where a line can be drawn” (849). he explains how hard it is

Being that we have higher intelligence than any animal. Does a line even need to be drawn between humans and animals? Steiner’s perspective is a line need to be drawn to save all animals. “People who are ethical vegans believe that differences in intelligence… have no moral significance” (847). Steiner explains. To the vegetarians all animals are equal to humans. Others, believe there doesn’t need to be a line. L David Peters says, “Wolves eat sheep. Tuna eat mackerel. We are animals ourselves” (851). Talking about how it's ok to eat animals, because in nature everything eats another