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Is eating dog meat immoral?
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Eating dogs is only considered immoral from a Western viewpoint

The idea of eating dog meat has been used to further racism against East Asian people for decades. Brought into existence during famine it’s something the western world constantly criticizes, looking down on both the religious reasons behind it and the tradition it holds.

Context

Dog meat to Eastern culture is just another type of meat while Western culture blows things out of proportion to criticize and look down on Eastern culture.

The Argument

Ever since the discovery of the Eastern world and the birth of the idea of the Orient, there’s always been this position of superiority being lorded over it by the West.[1] In the beginning there was only vague knowledge of culture in the east thanks to trade but it slowly started to expand as missionaries and tradesmen opened the borders and paths up to others. Despite this there was still this mysterious, unknown quality to the East that seemed to excite Westerner’s with how exotic everything was. There was a lack of understanding and wanting to understand this new, mystifying culture which has led to racism that lasts to this day. With the concept of eating dogs came westerners disgust and distaste, turning what to the east is a regular meal into something taboo and savage. The act of eating and consuming dog meat was quickly demonized, and in turn used to help demonize an entire race and show how uncultured they were in comparison to the west.[2] As the world continues to advance and evolve so to do the people who live on it. While earth is still a place that has its racism and petty disputes people have come a long way since the beginning when slavery was an every day life affair and missionaries and curio shops were the forefront of Eastern knowledge. As people continue to better understand one another, their cultures and ways become less of a spectacle and more of a standard. While eating dog meat might not be something most westerners would consider doing, it's not the West's duty to force their opinions and beliefs onto the east to conform to their standards.

Counter arguments

While in the past the West tried to hold a racial and religious superiority over the East, times have changed. Modern technology has advanced to the point that humankind can create artificial intelligence. People no longer have to completely rely on the ways of the past to survive. Most Eastern countries have been developing from 3rd world countries into second or first world countries but such a fact has little to do with the consumption of dog meat. China and Korea, countries that have become first world countries and have both become superpowers in the modern world but this has had little impact on the consumption of dog meat. Pet culture or owning a pet has contributed to more of the shift in mindsets than Westernization due to the fact that owning a pet isn’t a Western idea, it’s a global concept that started thousands of years ago. For as long as the East has had dogs they’ve eaten them and had them as pets. While the West might turn their nose up at eating dog meat, eating horse meat is not a foreign concept to them though other Westerners would disagree and most likely judge someone for choosing to do so. [3]

Proponents

Premises

[P1] Eating dog meat was demonized by western beliefs.

Rejecting the premises

[PR1] To an outside point of view the truth becomes warped.

References

  1. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/05/13/the-long-history-and-slow-death-of-a-word-used-to-describe-everyone-from-turks-to-the-chinese/
  2. https://asiasociety.org/education/asian-americans-then-and-now
  3. https://pdf.sciencedirectassets.com/282136/1-s2.0-S2212567115X00062/1-s2.0-S2212567115003925/main.pdf?X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEKL%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FwEaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJGMEQCIBYhkGO55k6q%2BGLXpDzvQuvMdVb30jiMoNbqMpBg%2Fa1SAiBO%2F5aFbBvwj2KRo8ViiBybTxJGZ1kJMld9veBwY2KPrSq9Awiq%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F8BEAMaDDA1OTAwMzU0Njg2NSIMaxyFpjEPTrtRziF5KpEDItjwf0KpOqJ81rFEVKHRTzb96xiBDzfTqDIWmskqfxxtkAiHr3sVDYrht35Ai76GdXMJzp3cKuzV2OkryazOHrtz6zQZoXqqBTsKlYTV056%2B9sZ1bCutTBkRbrIRt6H2k6QQQ0BHsgj6ixExttZi3Rddj5H7t7k1E9%2FyjaZ69YsHVdWkUEUqE5qIyGHYQHI8gr262r2XiEfEFnN%2F4%2FoLIzy3fMGSlKM5qD6Vafl9ciCNbZ%2Br4xrpsI4UdHqz1WG1GlZxeitzCWJPJdOTbPXWBa%2Bh6DwmP5uZK%2BGXqu1Nwvpvk8Wb5czdESpn%2B1eOA0YfTdY%2Bu9DZwviwchD66TGeDXYE%2FOMoCjpG6WR79x2uoG1Oxt0ixy53lcHBj92IfQjPXo3M3XWRRGgmqCdBnmfHXJuUHzgPucUFH4EWz1H5Z17CnMjq5K%2BkOdneTb4FwKmcwIWn1QDmL%2BC1Sa1iNVYeCsmsUDF8ioItGvv%2Bz1D6dvZoZnRzBJEngAy4rk9UOwWjiVzFaAU6LRP8Fhq8ryO0xsAwq6r5%2BgU67AEHSjq4Eq3NUlB9%2FnarRB2nVh2j19CcllCmfj4lveXB7kRn%2FmTmpH8fHZySzjbjRlr%2BuW1l4n%2BQ%2FIL7tkueakCQsiKIxCTnicjELjH9R2bIOLdN5%2FmS6ZyEBl7KYi2P0oUqGilWLIsxkT9TKkZB7SLuOgsYvEujcf9gkVylja6O17Qpn6jj5U2%2FYB8pal9CXPwCGtttenGpMebJVqKuDvmyOpBLzP7Pxab0ZSIice5vYTZ6he8%2B8X9UVWOkkPqmOCB10lzrDTHD2naRiK2mf5kD%2FHjQzvi%2Fb0S%2BrBQTO5Mr8VtlL7gZ2%2BjSj4dQww%3D%3D&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20200913T173211Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=300&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAQ3PHCVTYQPOT3VRN%2F20200913%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=c22d41ba57a47912ad4058e9620eef1c6ba9b7b9ac12829c24f7b9e64da2b221&hash=e0048cb4c32ad7650e82e05360880ad513be1ad51232a880eec1a7c16560d814&host=68042c943591013ac2b2430a89b270f6af2c76d8dfd086a07176afe7c76c2c61&pii=S2212567115003925&tid=spdf-6ebca89c-6904-4340-a061-5d9c844d746b&sid=72945b314f1181426b3b6fc199cd146584f8gxrqa&type=client
This page was last edited on Wednesday, 14 Oct 2020 at 11:49 UTC

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