What would be the fallout if every tax paying American suddenly had to shell out hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, to directly finance the War in Iraq? Typically US citizens don’t respond well to increased taxes. Then take into account all the military families that would have to cut that extra large check to the government in April and know that they are actually paying to keep their son, daughter, husband, wife, etc… in Iraq.
The US started this war. The US needs to start financing it directly. No more treasury notes sold in the billions to foreign nations. No more printing extra currency to make up for debt. The people, including myself, need to start paying for this war now and stop asking everyone else to pay it for us. Then and only then will the American people FINALLY be hurt where it actually matters, in their pocket books. When we can’t buy iPhones, get a new mortgage, flat panel TV’s, afford already un-affordable health care, or go to the movies because the Iraq War tax killed our “fun budgets”, maybe then we will see mass revolts and protests in the streets.
I would love to hear some other opinions on this idea. Let me know what you think.
I have received a few emails telling me that a tax is the farthest thing from solution and that I must be some extremist liberal to imply it would help.
First off, I completely agree that this has no chance of it ever happening. Pushing a bill like this is political suicide for anyone that votes for it. What I want such a bill to do is put the Iraq War right in everyones face, right in the living room, and right in their bank account. In previous wars in the 20th century, the nation as a whole was affected directly by its existence.
Now days, unless you are in the military or a military family, the Iraq War is not effecting you on a daily basis. You wake up and go about your daily life and rest comfortably at night because the Iraq War is having no noticeable effect on your daily ritual. However, if you woke up in the morning to discover that you now had to shell out $600 to directly fund the war, a lot of people who haven’t said a single word publicly about the war, would suddenly be marching to their congressman to string him up.
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Posted On: May 4th, 2007 | Published Under:
Life |
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After watching over 1200 comments sprout up concerning the “Vegan couple kills baby story”, I couldn’t help but notice the same irrelevant or dangerously inaccurate comments being spouted over and over.
People would respond to these comments with logic, calm reason, or research findings, and the trolls would simply regurgitate the same empty comment once again.
The Top 4 Most Inaccurate Comment “Trollings”:
1. Humans are Omnivorous
Comment: I think what we are really getting at, why I seem to be touching a nerve here, is that vegetarians and vegans are uncomfortable with the idea of thinking that in terms of evolution and plain old biology, they too are omnivores.
This one popped up a couple hundred times yesterday. No rational vegan/vegetarian will deny that as a society, humans act and live a omnivorous lifestyle. We eat meat and plants, the simplest definition of omnivorous obviously applies to us. What vegetarians and vegans alike are trying to get across, is that humans are adaptive eaters, therefore omnivores by choice. We consume or figure out a way to consume the natural resources around us and our bodies have the ability to cope with these changes over time (the appendix being a prime example of these adaptations).
Throughout all recorded human history, we have eaten meat because our bodies are capable of it and to meat eaters around the world, it tastes good. The strong movement away from meat in the vegetarian community of the past hundred years or so stems from the way in which meat is produced, animal treatment, and the growing health concerns of what is going into these animals and their meat. Also, the availability of alternative food choices outside of meat is increasing, which helps a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle become much simpler to obtain and preserve.
2. Its a “Fad” or “They are Extremists Forcing Their Opinions on Everyone”
Comment: … Being vegan and whatever is increasingly becoming just a thoughtless fashion meme. People do it ‘cos it’s cool without the required research or study needed to maintain such a demanding lifestyle …
Comment: Why do vegans always want to share with you the gruesome information they learn about processed food right when you’re about to eat it?
*The vegans/vegetarians won’t like my response to this one.* Living in a social group of vegetarian’s and being married to one, I have a pretty accurate idea of what a vegetarian is. Personally, I am not a vegan or a vegetarian, but through my wife and social groups I know many. I have never met this “extremist vegan” nor have I met the “fad” people. These people are in the extreme minority of the estimated 4-5,000,000 “vegetarians” in North America (Zogby).
Also, these people generally do not hang out together. Its fun for non-vegetarians to imagine this group of people as some cult who has weekly meetings to discuss taking down the meat industry. In actuality, vegans and vegetarians don’t hang out that much. There is this underlying unspoken rift that exists between the vegan and vegetarian, where vegans tend to view any consumption of animal products unethical thus alienating vegetarians, and many vegetarians who view vegan lifestyle as unobtainable or un-affordable in a meat dominated culture found in the US.
Extremists ruin everything for the people in the middle. The most recent example being the extremist radical Muslim’s indirectly causing violence against American Muslim citizens after 9/11. Yes, “preachy vegans” and “fad vegetarians” exist. They are the minority, and generally don’t associate with the middle ground vegetarians who make up the strong majority.
3. Animals have Been Killed “Forever” for Food, Who Cares…
Comment: I’ll eat my hamburger if I f******* want, don’t preach to me about how I’m killing animals.
This is probably the #1 most annoying comment, insult, threat, or patronizing jest that vegans and vegetarians getting bombarded with. There is a reason why there continue to be more vegetarians in the world. Sure, the population of the Earth is increasing, but it has more to ethics then mathematics.
The current meat production system is rather cruel. Believe it or not, but most vegans and vegetarians will chastise me for saying that. They want me to say its similar to genocide, etc, …… I view it simply as cruel and unacceptable. Mass production to meet ever growing demand has led to a system where animals are increasingly ripped apart while they are still alive, they live in sub-standard conditions for any animal, and they are viewed simply as a machine - nothing more.
The problems beyond this are that what is considered to be OK for one animal and not for another are completely different all around the world. Over 1 billion people refuse to eat cows; another few hundred million in Korea, China, and Vietnam eat cats and dogs. Each culture has a different idea of what is acceptable and not acceptable. My point is not to argue what is acceptable to eat, but to simply point out that the animal you are eating today, tomorrow, or ate yesterday, was most likely subjected to a horrible life and a cruel death. Something no responsible pet owner would ever allow to happen to their own animal.
The fact of the matter is, that after seeing the way animals are raised and “processed” here in America, vegans and vegetarians find it impossible to sit back and say, “Thats OK with me”.
4. Vegans are Bad Parents and Will Poison Their Babies
Comment: … those ignorant f**** had no right having a baby or pursuing a vegan lifestyle since they obviously had absolutely no idea what constitutes a healthy diet. People that fanatical about veganism deserve nothing less than life in jail.
This couple was unfit to have a baby, regardless of being vegan and they obviously had no concept of how to care for any living creature. If she was functionally lactating, they should have been breast feeding this infant, end of story. If she couldn’t lactate for some reason, then formula should have been used. Similac is used by millions of mothers, yet it a soy based milk product. There is nothing wrong with moderate amounts of soy products, but this baby was fed only soy milk and apple juice. This is clearly child abuse, regardless of vegan or vegetarian influences. The side of nearly every grocery store soy and rice milk container says “not for children under 3“.
There is no excuse for when human life should be squashed for fear of momentary ethical dilemma. However, the article title and focus could and should have focused on the fact that they starved their baby, not that the assumption that all vegans are “idiots” living a dangerous lifestyle.
Conclusion for all this:
Trolls will always exist. To say this one topic brings more of them out then any other is laughable. I felt it was necessary however to respond to some of the ridiculous comments I was reading.
Thank you,
Seth Kravitz
P.S. Since this is supposed to be an open letter and completely free to arguments and debates, bring on the comments.
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