I think he's intentionally trying to describe an undeclared variable, and doesn't realize that an undeclared variable is different from undefined.

The line about "carnists" strikes me as outgroup homogeneity, conceptual gerrymandering, The Worst Argument In The World - call it what you want, but it should be something rationalists should have antibodies against.

Specifically, equivocating between "carnists [meat industry lobbyists]" and "carnists [EA non-vegans]" seems to me like known anti-truthseeking behavior.

So the question, as I see you posing, is whether NinetyThree prefers being in an epistemic environment with people who care about epistemic truthseeking (EA non-vegans) or with people for whom your best defense is that they're no worse than meat industry lobbyists.