March 07, 2005

Life Just Got Easier™ And Soylent Green is people. (video) Spotted at Collision Detection.
posted by John Hardy 19 years ago
  • ahem, that video link.
  • I hope the alien birdlike overlords arrive in their warships soon and start rounding up all the unnecessary humans who create such devices and run factory farms -- preferably with machinery eerily reminiscent of this monstrosity.
  • Something disgusting about that, even for an omnivore. It might be the total lack of respect.
  • I'm trying to figure this one out: it's a machine for collecting live chickens and sticking them in cages. What I don't get is 1: how come they don't scatter and 2: wouldn't it be easier to use some sort of vacuum to suck them in? Anway, as far as respect goes: farmers have never had respect for their livestock. Or, to be precise, they've respected their livestock to the extent that mistreating them would damage the goods. You might as well complain that auto assembly workers don't respect the engineering and design of the Ford Focus they're building.
  • Respect for another life form. Respect for the earth we walk on. Its kinda like a form of thanks. The design and engineering of the Ford Focus might impress or even mesmerise, but I don't see it as a gift to give thanks for. Like hunters gave thanks to and for their prey. That kind of respect.
  • yeah, between this and commercial chicken farming, becoming a vegetarian looks better every day. This thing scares the hell out of me :( There can be only one! Direct video link that is
  • Wow. You know, if you're going to cook them and eat them, at least have the decency to risk getting pecked.
  • Quote: Anway, as far as respect goes: farmers have never had respect for their livestock. Or, to be precise, they've respected their livestock to the extent that mistreating them would damage the goods.
    Just couldn't let that statement go without comment. I bet most farmers would say they care deeply about their animals, if you asked them. I know it's hard to believe in this age of factory farms, and in many cases it would be an ouright lie. But economically pragmatic farming has only gradually destroyed the family farm, and whatever consideration that farmers had for their animals has only diminished, not disappeared. I'm not sure what I'm trying to say, something like -- I don't think you could argue that simplistic greed has de-humanized farmers any more than it has de-humanized the rest of it.
  • Man, I'd hate to be a chicken.
  • /weeps
  • *gasps, does double-take, hugs teh Nostril*
  • Welcome back Nostril!!! Call Clare Druce of Chicken's Lib now!
  • *throws copy of Fast Food Nation at Texas*
  • Hey! *waves at Nostril*
  • *Hugs Nostril, gives him her germs*
  • Capitalism's greatest ugliness has been its historic lack of heart. Money cannot justify this. How long till some enterprising government applies such technology to harvesting illegal aliens or gathering up protestors? We seem well on our way with those robot soldiers. Sorry it is this post fetches ye back to us, Nostril, but for all that I'm delighted to see ye back! Don't stay gone so long again, please, dear man!
  • Jesus god. This looks horrible, although I'm sure that all of the meat processing stuff is equally as bad. Yech.
  • Welcome back, you old bastard.
  • Thanks!
  • Oh right you meant him.
  • Good God. How terrible.
  • Christ, humans make me sick sometimes. I saw this the other day and almost started to cry. I'm lucky that I have a butcher at the end of the street who uses only free-range meat from a small family farm a couple of miles away that you can go and visit and check the conditions the animals are kept in - I'm never ever eating meat from unknown souces ever again. Nostril! We missed you - welcome back! *hugs*
  • My family come from farmers from way back, and I've heard a few stories. Back in the old days, I'm told, farmers who mistreated their animals or used practices that led to maltreatment were not very well thought of at all, to put it mildly, and I am talking back in the days prior to 1920. Until the advent of the economic pressures of modern farming, men were free to develop a keen bond with their stock, no matter what was necessary to do in order to keep a farm running, treating the animals as mere sacks of meat without feelings was not a part of it. For one thing, real farmers new that how well their animals were kept, reflected in the quality of the produce that camefrom them. For another, it's not right to treat animals cruelly, and this is how we managed to get this far, because that's a human trait that our ancestors also had, compassion for the animals - otherwise we wouldnt' have got out of the early agrarian age. Need to have empathy for the herd in order to treat their needs, n'est pas. Technology, and the presure of getting the most out of little has put a barrier between the farmer and his stock.
  • Playing devil's advocate here: manual poultry harvesting is probably one of the worst possible jobs in agriculture. It's tough, stressful and must be done at night. Also, the animals must be caught by hand, and, in the case of chickens, are carried upside down by the legs, resulting in broken limbs and other injuries. Mechanised poultry loaders are supposed to reduce both the workload for the crews and the damages to the animals.
  • Hi, Nostril!
  • Hi, Nostril!
  • Hi, path!
  • *gives path germ-ridden kiss* Influenza: The gift that goes on giving...
  • what mothninja said. *sigh* Hey Nosey!
  • Oh my, Nostril, what a terrible post you have to come back to. It is a thing to weep about, that we invent such a thing to satisfy our gullets. We missed you, my friend. *does Happy Nostril Dance while smiling and wearing nothing but a funny hat
  • Hi nostril. grins while watching BlueHorse dance Has great respect for nude happy funny hat dancers.
  • G'day Nostril!
  • I can't bear to click on the link, but I hope those that do and find it upsetting will seriously consider switching to plant-based protein exclusively. Soybeans only scream a little bit when mistreated.
  • One more argument from the Devil's Advocate: good old Mother Nature isn't exactly kind to her animals. Is this any worse than Darwin and the wild?
  • Good point. Ever see what a fox will do to a chicken?
  • I felt nauseous and despondent, until I saw Nostril's comment, and then I felt shocked and elated. Then I felt worried, because what if he's only posting that one comment, because of the topic, and then going away again? Then I felt confused, then despondent again. Now I'm kind of sleepy. Hi Nostril!!
  • In response to the Devil's counsel, it's the scale of it and the mechanisation that chills. A living creature is reduced to merely a commodity, not to feed the hungry but to extract maximum value. Not Mother Nature nor her agent the fox acts like that. Even when a fox in a hen-house goes on killing autopilot, it only succeeds in slaughtering so many because the other chickens after the first can't get away like they would in the wild. Bring back the moral economy.
  • Thanks, eldigilo.
  • Nostril! *back off warily and sends hugs* Don't hurt me, you are my ☼. / is that a little sun? I hope so. *squints*
  • You are my ☼shine, My only ☼shine, You make me ☺ when skies are grey. You'll never know, dear, How much I ♥ you. Oh please don't take my ☼shine away!
  • oh, Thank you, Alnedra, exactly... All together now.. You are my ☼shine,
  • Alnedra, you are the tops! Where's my widdle Nostril-wostril. Com'er and give your old GramMa a kiss. (Isn't it cute how all the kids hate to kiss their GramMas?)
  • ♫ My only sun☼ ♪ ...
  • oops... ♫ My only ☼shine ♪ .... duh
  • Careful Nostril - Koko only wants to see your tits.