Recently, an argument has circulated claiming that factory farming is net positive because of the effects on soil animals. While I do not personally agree with this argument, I believe nematodes and other soil animals are worth caring about and respect the spirit with which it has been presented. However, I argue that if you truly believe that soil animal welfare is our top priority, arguing in favor of factory farming is not the most efficient way to pursue soil animal welfare, and there are much better, ethically safer levers for change.

If you have browsed the comments under almost any animal welfare related EA Forum post recently, you have likely seen claims that the effect of ending factory farming would actually be net negative because of what I will call The Nematode Argument:

1. Factory farmed animals are outnumbered by springtails and soil nematodes by several orders of magnitude,
2. There is at least a small chance that these animals are sentient to some degree,
3. These animals are slightly more likely than not to live net negative lives, and
4. Ending factory farming would cause more of these animals to come into existence.
5. Thus, the total suffering caused [...]

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Outline:

(00:10) TL;DR

(00:43) Background

(02:08) It's Worth Caring About Nematodes

(03:03) If You Care About Nematodes...

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Source:

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.