Veganism is a scam and waste.

Rebuttal #1: Pointless Statements My opponent has stated many things that are irrelevant to meeting his resolution. Here is a brief response to all of them. “I used to know a vegetarian boy who has mental problems. His parents to this day still don't know what is causing it. I think it's the lack of meat.” My opponent produces a theory, but it has no evidence or data to support it. Furthermore, there’s no scientific research to show that mental retardation and veganism are linked. Even if my opponent would’ve showed that he is correct (which he didn’t), it still doesn’t show that veganism is a scam or a waste. Since that is what he must do, this statement doesn’t support his resolution. “Being a meat eater is the lesser of the two evils. Would you rather know that some pig is being killed for your health, or know that you (or your kids) will be in the doctor's office with preventable disorders?” Once again, this isn’t related to the resolution. This is a statement on why one should not like veganism. However, it doesn’t show why veganism is a scam or a waste, which is my opponent’s job. “Most of the risks from eating meat products come from the fact that we as Americans eat too much meat. In moderation, meat is a great source of many nutrients.” Same thing, not related to the resolution or my opponent’s duty. “Vegans use the ‘point A to point Z’ logic when describing the health of eating meat. They first tell you the risks of eating too much meat, and then they tell you that you shouldn't eat meat at all” Same thing, not related to the resolution or my opponent’s duty. Overall, my opponent has made several statements as to why veganism is inferior to other diets, but hasn’t defended his side of the resolution. Rebuttal #2: Same Amount of Animals Killed/Wasted Meat My opponent claims that veganism is a waste due to the fact that the amount of animals killed remains the same and meat becomes wasted. Here are some quotes my opponent made. “Veganism does NOT reduce the numbers of animals killed. Any thinking person could realize that (1) you didn't kill the animal and (2) the animal was killed long before you order your burger/ buy your steak. It does nothing in terms of reducing the numbers of animals killed. If anything, it wastes perfectly good “ “Veganism is a waste because all it does is waste meat” To conclude, my opponent is under the impression that even with veganism, animals still get slaughtered and meat goes to waste. However, this is false. Roughly 2.5% of the United States population is vegan, and another 5% is vegetarian. That means that 92.5% of the US population still eats meat. So, meat does not go to waste due to veganism, considering there are many people still willing to purchase and consume meat products. It’s important to note that once again, this argument that my opponent made didn’t support his side of the resolution. It might show that veganism is somewhat (but not completely) wasteful. However, since I presented reasons why veganism is useful, I have held up my side of the resolution and showed that veganism isn’t a complete waste. Remember, my opponent must show that veganism is a complete waste to meet his side of the resolution. Also, I have showed why this argument showing that veganism is a waste is false. Therefore, this argument doesn’t show that veganism is a waste. This argument didn’t prove that veganism is a scam. Overall, this argument is invalid. Rebuttal #3: Is Veganism a Scam? My opponent has made several claims as to why Veganism is a scam. Let’s take a look at these claims.“Veganism is a scam since it is cleverly worked out by propaganda organizations, like PETA. They use scare tactics. They tried everything from comparing meat eaters to the holocaust, to scaring growing children away from drinking milk” Since my opponent called PETA a propaganda organization, let’s look at the definition of propaganda. By definition, propaganda is information used to promote a certain point of view. Basically, it’s advertising for veganism. The specific scare tactics you mention, in the same way, are all advertising techniques. Advertising techniques aren’t scams. They’re simply reasons why PETA and other vegan organizations feel the general public should be vegan. There’s nothing about that that leads one to believe that veganism is a scam. My opponent also brings up multiple “lies” that vegan organizations tell. Let’s look at each one. “Vegan is healthier” My opponent claims this is a lie told by vegan organizations. However, since this is an opinion statement, it can’t possibly be a lie. Plus, I have given reasons why veganism might be healthier than non-veganism in round 2. “But humans have to COOK the food! Have you ever wondered why animals in captivity outlive those in the wild? It's the cooked food. We can eat raw meat if we want, but it is worse for our health. "We're the only species" is a weak argument. After all, we are the only species that debates online.”This is completely unrelated to my opponent’s objective of proving that veganism is a scam or a waste. My opponent’s explanation of this “lie” is also very confusing to comprehend. “Humans are vegan by evolution” Yes, by definition, humans are omnivores. As omnivores, we can eat both meat and non-meat. However, we can also choose to eat only one. So, it makes sense why one can be considered “vegan by evolution”, even if it isn’t completely true. Therefore, this is not a lie, but a badly delivered argument for veganism. “Humans are the only primate that eats meat or hunts” While my opponent is correct in saying that this is a lie and that apes do hunt, it doesn’t really show that veganism is a scam. Suppose one vegan organization makes this claim. This doesn’t automatically discredit the integrity of other vegan organizations or veganism in general. Therefore, it’s illogical to conclude that because one vegan organization claimed that only humans hunt, that veganism is a scam. One thing worth mentioning is that my opponent doesn’t cite specific times where these “lies” were made by a vegan organization. He just claims that these statements were made by vegan organizations, but doesn’t show when or where. That automatically makes all of my opponent’s claims of lying vegan organizations distrust-worthy. Conclusion: My opponent has made several claims which don’t support his side of the resolution. My opponent has also made some weak claims that defend his resolution, but I have shot them down. In addition, I shot down even his irrelevant claims. I have also built my case as to why veganism isn’t a scam or a waste. I would like to thank my opponent and everyone who took the time to read this. Sources: http://www.peta.org...