Farmers

Well I think if they want to have a steady income, then perhaps better methods? If they go around treating animals like they do, then obviously someone is going to get angry and try to bring them down (even if they do hush it up). It is really hard when there is drought, I really wish they had a back up plan

Simple, they turn into Veggie & fruit & grain farmers.
These things need way less water to grow & keep healthy, and there's always demand for it.

Honestly? its rubbish. A poor excuse for not doing the right thing.

Predatory smack dealers? Hitmen? Pimps?

A lot of them, well it's all they know... should we feel sorry for them and financially support them though?

Of course not.

My own family are farmers, so I know firsthand that most farmers 1. Would never contemplate changing their line of work unless things got so bad financially that they had to sell their farm, and 2. It's not that easy to just change to growing vegetables and plants from raising livestock (completely different knowledge required, the land may not be suitable to cropping, etc.). Whilst I love my family, I completely disagree with their chosen profession. In that respect, I am glad that I now (mostly) live away from home. So what's the solution? All I can say is that I think change will happen slowly. As more and more farmers reach retirement age, we just have to hope that the next generation is smarter and stops the murder and environmental destruction.

Yep, well put Francis.

While of course I do not support those professions and farming morally or financially, I do think that you can feel sorry for them. We have no idea what circumstances shaped these people's lives and professions and while I do think they are wrong, I can feel sorry for them. Also, people, to some degree, are a product of the world they live in, therefore for some people it is not easy to break the cycle and change. Obviously I think change must occur and that eventually, for that change to occur, excuses must stop being made, but that doesn't mean I can't see different points of view and empathise with other people's situations. I know that might sound kind of contradictory, but contradictions are a part of human nature......it is why we are so imperfect.......we see shades of grey.........
Also on issues such as farmers, which we are particularly passionate about, I think people's opinions can change depending on what mood hey are in. Like I know when  I am really fired up, I get all like, I don't care they just have to stop no matter what the cost! And then other times I see the other point of view and become  more sympathetic.

The only thing Im sorry about is that the only reason they got out of the business was because they were forced too. oh well.

I don't agree. Of course the way you're raised definitely effects the person you become, and the way you feel about things such as vegetarianism & animal cruelty, it does not make you immune to having a conscience.
My entire family eat meat, my mothers side of the family owned butchers shops &  not surprisingly, no one has ever supported my choice to be vegan. Yet, i still managed to come to the conclusion that it's the only way i could possibly live, and not hate myself. There is absolutely no excuse for these farmers, most especially meat producing farmers, not to realise this themselves. Other than pure, idiotic ignorance & greed. Not only do they have financial opportunities in more sustainable crops like grain & soy, but it's so much better for the planet & the animals.
I can be sympathetic, but only to a point. I do not in the slightest feel sorry for those farmers who are doing it tough with their meat farms, but still refuse to explore other options!
Please, "it's all they know"? In the financial crisis, lots of business employees were forced to find work in industries completely unrelated to their own, and what they've known since they left highschool, but what other choice did they have.  It's absolutely no different in regard to farmers.