[extropy-chat] cow paradox

[Spike]

Since we seem to be in the mood to think about
logical paradox, please someone help me find the
error in this one.

I am one who cares about animals, I like them.
But I am not a vegetarian, for I reason that by
purchasing and devouring cows, I create a market
for them, thus compelling cowboys and cowpokes
to raise them for a living.  {How do cowboys get
promoted to cowpokes?  On second thought, please
do not answer that, I don't think I want to know.}

If we devour cows, we give them an opportunity
to live to their adolescence which is, one would
suppose, preferable to not living at all.  I had
a lot of fun as a child and early teen.  If given
a choice of having those years, then being slain
and devoured, I would choose a short life over 
never being born at all.

One argues that if humans did not raise cattle, then
buffalo would have that much more room to be born
and live full lives, and a buffalo is kinda like
a big cow, so there you have it.  I find this
argument unconvincing, for the owners of that land
would not wish to carry the liability risk of yahoos
illegally entering their land to play Indian (wildly
galloping around bareback, twanging stone-tipped arrows 
at the panicked buffalo, counting many coup, etc, which 
you *know* is a fun-sounding testosterone-charged activity.)

One could purchase steaks, then instead of devouring
same, could give them a decent burial in the back yard,
but then of course one would still need to devour 
something else, thus using up land that could otherwise
be used for wild buffalo.  The neighbors might not
care for it either.

Similarly, for those of us who devour fish (early,
often and cheerfully) we are doing a good deed if
we devour only farmed fish.  But if our sushi is caught 
from the wild we prevent the hapless beasts from 
living on to a happy middle age and eventually
being devoured by a larger fish.

The cow paradox has been hashed over at least twice
before on extropians, so do not feel compelled to
comment.  But any new insight is welcome.  I am
ready to conclude that this old world is hopelessly
mired in ethical paradox.

spike