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63 lines
3.0 KiB
Plaintext
I found this gem... take a look.
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Kaya #78 @7
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Wed Sep 30 17:23:29 1992
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(The following modest proposal was first posted several years ago to
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one of the talk.politics groups. For those who enjoyed the saga of
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BioHarvest, I hope you'll like this, too.)
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Access to Food Must Be Equal!
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The Bush Administration is proposing radical changes in the way food
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has been purchased by Americans for the past hundred years.
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Agriculture Secretary Clayton Yeutter is floating the idea of a
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"voucher" system for groceries which would allow families to make
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their food and beverage purchases at any supermarket, regardless of
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location. Allowing this kind of choice would destroy the system which
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has made America so competitive today!
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Equality of access to food, regardless of income or personal wishes,
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has long been the hallmark of our food distribution system. Every
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family knows which food district it is in and where its assigned
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supermarket is, just as it knows which school district it is in and
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which schools are in the district. Citizens elect members of the
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District Food Boards, thus assuring democratic input into the food
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distribution process. And parents are urged--without much success, I
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might add--to join their regional Grocer-Parent Association (GPA) to
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further ensure a wholesome food selection for their children.
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It should be noted that temporary shortages of such basic products as
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milk, real, and high-fiber bread have almost become a thing of the
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past, despite criticism from so-called libertarians that a free market
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would eliminate all shortages (doubtful). It is true that some luxury
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food items remain unavailable, but is it fair for some to eat quiche
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while others can't get sushi? And we applaud the recent progress by
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State Food Boards in eliminating unhealthful foods from the diet of
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Americans. This progress would likely be undone if people were free
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to choose their food stores.
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Consider the implications of free choice of supermarkets. The "food
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voucher" system proposed by these nutritional anarchists would surely
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encourage some supermarkets to offer needless luxuries and variety of
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choice so as to lure gullible families into spending their food
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vouchers at these stores. What would then happen is that some stores
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would begin to cater to the tastes of these consumers and so become
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more popular. This would draw even more shoppers, resulting in a kind
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of spiraling prosperity for these opportunistic, greedy stores.
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However, the remaining stores--no doubt disproportionately located in
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inner cities and other poor areas--would suffer lost business and so
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would be less able to provide the luxuries sought by selfish shoppers.
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Some of these stores would obviously close, thus causing hunger and
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unemployment in the affected regions. People of color and victims of
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the class struggle would thus carry the burden of rampant capitalism,
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as they have for thousands of years.
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Every American has the right to an equal share of the pie, regardless of
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their income or personal spending habits. Say no to deregulation of
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supermarkets! Competition just isn't the American way.
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