Episode Details

I am not a historian! Fact check me please, dear God!

We are at the beginning of another industrial revolution. The first was the automation of muscle, the current one is the automation of mind.

To get into the right frame of mind, I want to step back and imagine:

We are living in the UK[1], the year is 1800, and we are trying to end animal suffering. We know nothing about how the tech is about to develop, nor how the economy or politics is about to be transformed, but there are faint clues.

Steam engines have started powering textile factories and milling grain, but no trains yet, no electricity. There are almost a billion people in the world, and a similar number of livestock living almost entirely on small farms. The first factory farms won't go up for almost 150 years.

Let's go back in time.

Farmed animals

All animals kept for food are living on small farms. The conditions are not great: they have little protection from the cold, no veterinary care, and they are slaughtered crudely[2] and in public. However, compared to life on a factory farm, things look pretty idyllic.

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Outline:

(01:10) Farmed animals

(02:23) Work animals

(03:02) Blood sports

(03:46) Animal testing

(04:57) Fishing and whaling

(05:55) Wild animals

(06:24) Culture and philosophy

(07:21) Data availability

(08:05) Politics

(09:17) Colonialism and (human) slavery

(10:23) Some specific takeaways

(12:49) Conclusion

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First published:
February 5th, 2026

Source:
https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/CHQdcXjBudqq4QFk9/animal-welfare-at-the-start-of-the-industrial-revolution

Linkpost URL:
https://lovedoesnotscale.substack.com/p/animal-welfare-at-the-start-of-the

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.