New controversial PETA ad targets children.
- Thread starter Bird
- Start date
Nice straw man, but no, if that were the argument I was making, then I'd certainly be wrong.
I'm not saying that it's wrong to be taught that cruelty to animals is a bad thing. I'm saying that it's wrong for a political interest, a group whose sole purpose is to influence policy, to be making attempts at influencing the undeveloped mind of a child. Children shouldn't be exposed to strong ideas in a vacuum, as is often the case with these kinds of advertisements. If the child has not been given in their upbringing a very sturdy mental foundation of critical thinking, self-determination, and worldly empathy (something many children miss out on), an can easily take root in ther mind and turn their entire developmental process on its head.
An adult making rhetorical appeals to a child who won't know how to argue them is a bit objectionable, don't you think?
Also, I hardly think that GI Joe is a good example of non-idea-based entertainment - after all, the Hasbro toys and comic books only started to catch on to the American public when we were right in the middle of the Cold War.
e:
False equivalence.
"I want my drinking water to be clean" is not the same as environmentalism. I could be popping iodine tablets in my water all day, but it doesn't make me an environmentalist. "I want to conserve and protect the environment" is environmentalism. Similarly, not all hunters are NRA supporters and not all NRA supporters are hunters. I know several people who are habitual outdoorsmen & hunters and who think the NRA are largely wrong on their positions. Having an economic, ideological, or social philosophical belief is not the same as having or being a political interest. PETA espouses a very narrow set of beliefs, which is the calling card of a political interest group. They exercise significant litigation, grassroots organization, and lobbying to get what they want. A general, ethically agreeable sentiment and the extremely specific goals of an interest group are worlds apart.
To address your other claim:
Whether or not I hold any ill will against PETA as an organization is irrelevant to my feeling revulsion at a political group trying to win the hearts and minds of the nation's youth. If I were a member of the Sierra Club and they were making the kinds of emotional appeals that PETA makes, I would be gone in a heartbeat. I understand you're trying to attack my authority on the matter by claiming I have a prejudicial bias, but my view of PETA has been shaped over years of seeing the evolution of their platform, noting the hypocrisy of their practices, and being exposed to campaigns which disagree with my own sensibilities. It is neither irrational, nor based on a lack of knowledge, I assure you.
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Our attitude towards animals- how they are percieved an treated is entirely cultural. Different cultures have compeltely different attitudes towards animals and eating meat. There are many cultures that eat insects, many that are vegetarian, some that eat whales, cats, monkeys, dogs and rats. Its pretty relative. And there are Jains that practice ahimsa. We are heavily influenced by marketing and our culture.
While i personally do not believe that eating meat is wrong, i have many issues with the way these animals are treated and our attitude to eating meat. Animals have become a 'product' to be farmed, sold and bought. Animals are conscious beings. I respect their right to life and 'humane' treatment. I dont like that people can profit from the suffering and death from other beings. I also dont like how there is very little appreciation or acknowledgement of where the 'meat' (animal ) comes from when people see plastic wrapped packages in the supermarket or in their processed burger buns. There is a big sense of disconnect. There is a popular thread on this forum- 'would you kill a puppy for a million dollars', where the majority of people answer 'no, they would not kill the puppy'. Yet so many of us pay other people to mistreat and kill animals for food, clothes, bags, shoes and furniture. This adverse relationship that we have with animals effects us all. We lose our understanding and reverence for all life when we mistreat animals. We forget our place in nature, and that we are a part of nature, not above nature.
Here is a short clip from the documentary 'The Corporation'. Corporations are constantly marketing to children. While i dont believe that this makes it acceptable for everyone else to do so too, i do think it puts things into better perspective
[video=youtube_share;WMDPql6rweo]http://youtu.be/WMDPql6rweo[/video]
While i personally do not believe that eating meat is wrong, i have many issues with the way these animals are treated and our attitude to eating meat. Animals have become a 'product' to be farmed, sold and bought. Animals are conscious beings. I respect their right to life and 'humane' treatment. I dont like that people can profit from the suffering and death from other beings. I also dont like how there is very little appreciation or acknowledgement of where the 'meat' (animal ) comes from when people see plastic wrapped packages in the supermarket or in their processed burger buns. There is a big sense of disconnect. There is a popular thread on this forum- 'would you kill a puppy for a million dollars', where the majority of people answer 'no, they would not kill the puppy'. Yet so many of us pay other people to mistreat and kill animals for food, clothes, bags, shoes and furniture. This adverse relationship that we have with animals effects us all. We lose our understanding and reverence for all life when we mistreat animals. We forget our place in nature, and that we are a part of nature, not above nature.
Here is a short clip from the documentary 'The Corporation'. Corporations are constantly marketing to children. While i dont believe that this makes it acceptable for everyone else to do so too, i do think it puts things into better perspective
[video=youtube_share;WMDPql6rweo]http://youtu.be/WMDPql6rweo[/video]
