Baraka_Guru

It's a good thing the government doesn't micro-manage everything.

I have asked a vegan friend of mine about how he feels about being a taxpayer when a portion of what he pays goes towards things he doesn't support. I'm thinking particularly about farm subsidies that go towards the meat and dairy industries. He shrugs if off, of course, because what is he going to do? The vegan philosophy is about minimizing what you can with regard to the use of animals as products.

But you're right, there are unintended consequences. I think the U.S. is in a particularly tough spot where they've made corn, meat, and dairy products way cheaper than they should be in the consumer marketplace. I imagine a large proportion of what McDonald's produces has been subsidized by American taxpayers. On top of that add in vast purchasing power, highly developed processes, and high volume production and sales, and you have a really cheap product that makes fresh fruits and vegetables seem a luxury. I won't even get into packaged junk food.

If liberals fear any of this, it's the fear of the influence and reach of McDonald's, rooted in the fact that their products tend to top the list of foods that lead to heart disease among other things.

I agree with you in that the move to ban certain categories of food or whatever is misguided. I'd rather they go to the source. Cut down, redirect, or eliminate the subsidies that go towards corn, meat, and dairy producers. Interestingly enough, the meat and dairy producers are essentially double-dipping in that they use a shit-ton of corn for their purposes. There is no reason why beef should be as cheap as it is.

And for the record, eating products like rice, potatoes, beans, carrots, etc., is rather cheap. But when alternatives are cheaply produced convenience foods, you have competition. I think the problem stems more from a combination of convenience and food education.

But after having said all of this, I cannot see how this train of thought isn't rational. Bad food is bad for you. I suppose the lapse of rationality occurs in how problem is dealt with.

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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot