Originally Posted By DDMAN26 <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/china-bans-dog-eating-carnival-online-uproar-121528435.html" target="_blank">http://news.yahoo.com/china-ba...435.html</a> Seriously, they do this stuff and they're still kicking our butts? How is this possible?
Originally Posted By RoadTrip What can you say? Cultural traditions, even horrific ones, die hard. I'm also not so sure China is kicking out butts. Their industrial output has declined for three months in a row, they have double-digit inflation, and their pollution problem is so massive it makes the absolute worst LA smog look like a crystal clear day.
Originally Posted By ecdc Here's why: Because there's no corporate benefit to building the Hoover Dam. It takes government initiative. But we think government can't do anything right, so here we are. The market does a lot of things really well. Some things, not so much. (Also agree that this is a complex issue and China is not ahead of us in many ways.)
Originally Posted By mawnck >>"However, vendors began to butcher dogs in public a few years ago to show their dog meat is fresh and safe, as a way to ease buyers' worry that the meat may be refrigerator-preserved or even contaminated."<< Not sure how this would have any effect on kicking our butts. We eat cows, they eat dogs. What's the dif? They're kicking our butts largely BECAUSE they don't have any pollution standards, worker protections, etc. etc. etc. And because we buy their stuff anyway.
Originally Posted By EighthDwarf China is growing quickly but they are not kicking our butts. Yet. But their growth will slow over time and they will be forced to deal with a lot of the same things mature economies deal with. China's rise is spectacular but they are at a completely different phase of their development than the US or Europe or Japan. Their rise does more to help our economy than to hurt it.
Originally Posted By barboy2 As far as percentages go, there are far more hungry people in China than in the USA and their standard of living is, overall, far inferior. So I don't buy this "their kicking our butts" stuff. When they start getting the most basic of human needs met then we can talk.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>You serious Clark?<< I don't know no Clark, but yep. Why do dogs, cats and horses get a pass when cows, pigs and chickens get slaughtered by the millions? I'm no vegetarian, and I'm not jonesing for a Roverburger this morning either, but I also don't believe in double standards.
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 "I don't know no Clark, but yep. Why do dogs, cats and horses get a pass when cows, pigs and chickens get slaughtered by the millions? I'm no vegetarian, and I'm not jonesing for a Roverburger this morning either, but I also don't believe in double standards." Yeah, I kind of agree with this. I think it's only because we have dogs as pets that we think it crosses the line somehow. People need to eat, and if there is meat of some kind, they eat it. I don't see it as any worse than killing a cow. It's not like they are grabbing somebody's pet dog and killing it either.
Originally Posted By PotNoodle <China is growing quickly but they are not kicking our butts. Yet. But their growth will slow over time and they will be forced to deal with a lot of the same things mature economies deal with.> Exactly. They have a state-mandated GDP. To achieve this, they are spending money building these mega cities, with mixed use areas and luxe condos. But the average Chinese citizen can not afford to live these cities. So these cities sit empty and crumble away. So the bubble will burst somewhere down the line...
Originally Posted By DDMAN26 I guess you guys are right there's really no difference between a dog or a cow. AYFKM
Originally Posted By mawnck >>AYFKM<< Nope. Quite serious. I can just see the conversation now. "Uggh! You guys are barbarians! You eat dogs!" "You eat animals too. Why does eating dogs make me a barbarian?" "Because we **LIKE** dogs!"
Originally Posted By mele Yeah...I have to agree that animals are animals. Cows are very sweet animals and I know people who have chickens as pets (they don't eat their chickens but the do eat the eggs they produce and eat chicken from the store.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip A cow would be a nice pet. Do you think they could be trained to go outside? Or would I just have to buy a bigger shovel? (Hate to think what it would do sitting on my sofa though. I'd probably have to buy one with much heavier springs.) Do you think my cow would be offended when I had a hamburger or a steak? I could probably work around that. Pizza seven days a week with pork-based pepperoni or sausage would be fine with me. My eating pork probably wouldn’t offend cows. And pigs would make lousy pets anyway. Still like milk though. Do you think that would offend my cow? It wouldn't be obvious... I always drink the store-bought kind. I grew up with uncles who were farmers. Warm un-pasteurized milk really sucks. I'm amazed calves like it. Of course calves never get the store-bought stuff or they might change their opinion.
Originally Posted By DDMAN26 All right, dogs are no different than any other animal. Got it. Thanks for that Mike Vick.
Originally Posted By leobloom What's the inherent difference between a dog and a cow? The only difference is cultural, so far as I can tell.
Originally Posted By DDMAN26 I have I'm just a little taken back by this flippant attitude that dogs should be treated the same as any other animal.
Originally Posted By DDMAN26 I'll be honest I hold dogs in higher regard than the majority of people out there.
