The Ethicist from the New York Times Magazine wants to know why it's ethical to eat meat, and is holding an essay contest to try to find someone who can explain it. Ariel Kaminer points out that omnivores "say, of course, that, well, they love meat or that meat is deeply ingrained in our habit or culture or cuisine or that it's nutritious or that it's just part of the natural order . . . But few have tried to answer the fundamental ethical issue: Whether it is right to eat animals in the first place, at least when human survival is not at stake."
Why are they even having this contest? Because there's no good answer. Any answer must be based in speciesism, which is irrational and unjust. That speciesism might come from a religioius text, or cultural norms, or our legal system, but it is speciesism nonetheless.
The prize? Your essay will be published in the New York Times.
I like the contest that vegan multimedia stars Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan of Our Hen House are now running: write an essay about why it's unethical to eat meat. Now that's an essay contest. Instead of asking people to defend the indefensible, ask them to write about something that should be obvious, but that most people don't think about. And someone who reads your essay may decide to go vegan. It's a much more interesting contest, and the prize package is awesomer.
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