I came across this idea about twenty years ago, before I was even vegan, but still concerned with being an “ethical meat eater”. At the time I found the arguments convincing. It’s amazing the lies you will believe when you want to. When I became a vegan, I did not rely on my ability to determine the validity of the argument that bivalves don’t suffer. I had seen time and time and time again as an “ethical meat eater” I had an incentive to lie to myself, and that if I wanted to, I would always find a way to excuse any bad behaviour. It didn’t really matter to me in that moment whether or not bivalves might be a vegan loophole; my veganism exists not only to keep animals safe, but to keep ME safe from harming animals. It tells me, if there is doubt, don’t fucking do it.
What I have learned about bivalve behaviour since then has made me think that this was always just a way for us to lie to ourselves. They are amazingly sophisticated compared to what a casual observer would assume. They have interests. There is no reason I need to exploit them for food, jewelry, or other personal uses.
Bivalves are exploited by humans in another way: to remediate ecological damage that we have caused. They are excellent at water filtration. They get to live out their natural life cycle, but we’ve taken autonomy from them and removed them from the selection pressures of reality, imposing instead our own self-interested selection pressures. This seems a bit more thorny to me.
I came across this idea about twenty years ago, before I was even vegan, but still concerned with being an “ethical meat eater”. At the time I found the arguments convincing. It’s amazing the lies you will believe when you want to. When I became a vegan, I did not rely on my ability to determine the validity of the argument that bivalves don’t suffer. I had seen time and time and time again as an “ethical meat eater” I had an incentive to lie to myself, and that if I wanted to, I would always find a way to excuse any bad behaviour. It didn’t really matter to me in that moment whether or not bivalves might be a vegan loophole; my veganism exists not only to keep animals safe, but to keep ME safe from harming animals. It tells me, if there is doubt, don’t fucking do it.
What I have learned about bivalve behaviour since then has made me think that this was always just a way for us to lie to ourselves. They are amazingly sophisticated compared to what a casual observer would assume. They have interests. There is no reason I need to exploit them for food, jewelry, or other personal uses.
Bivalves are exploited by humans in another way: to remediate ecological damage that we have caused. They are excellent at water filtration. They get to live out their natural life cycle, but we’ve taken autonomy from them and removed them from the selection pressures of reality, imposing instead our own self-interested selection pressures. This seems a bit more thorny to me.