Yeah I’ve argued that banning lab meat is completely rational for the meat-eater because if progress continues then animal meat will probably be banned before the quality/price of lab meat is superior for everyone.
I think the “commitment” you’re describing is similar to the difference between “ordinary” and “constitutional” policy-making in e.g. The Calculus of Consent; under that model, people make the kind of non-aggression pacts you’re describing mainly under conditions of uncertainty where they’re not sure what their future interests or position of political advantage will be.
banning lab meat is completely rational for the meat-eater because if progress continues then animal meat will probably be banned before the quality/price of lab meat is superior
Vox has a post about this a little while ago, and presented what might be the best counterargument (emphasis mine): link
… But the notion that lab-grown meat could eventually lead to bans on factory-farmed animal products is less unhinged.
After all, progressives in some states and cities have banned plastic straws, despite the objective inferiority of paper ones. And the moral case for infinitesimally reducing plastic production isn’t anywhere near as strong as that for ending the mass torture of animals. So, you might reason, why wouldn’t the left forbid real hamburgers the second that a petri dish produces a pale facsimile of a quarter-pounder?
While not entirely groundless, this fear is nevertheless misguided.
Plastic straws are not as integral to American life as tasty meats. As noted above, roughly 95 percent of Americans eat meat. No municipal, state or federal government could ever end access to high-quality hot dogs, ribs, or chicken fingers and survive the next election.
(I think the argument is shit, but when the premise one is trying to defend is patently false, this might well be best one can do.)
Yeah I’ve argued that banning lab meat is completely rational for the meat-eater because if progress continues then animal meat will probably be banned before the quality/price of lab meat is superior for everyone.
I think the “commitment” you’re describing is similar to the difference between “ordinary” and “constitutional” policy-making in e.g. The Calculus of Consent; under that model, people make the kind of non-aggression pacts you’re describing mainly under conditions of uncertainty where they’re not sure what their future interests or position of political advantage will be.
Vox has a post about this a little while ago, and presented what might be the best counterargument (emphasis mine): link
(I think the argument is shit, but when the premise one is trying to defend is patently false, this might well be best one can do.)