Michael Sauers
April 16, 2033
Governor Shapiro seems to be mimicking all his recent predecessors. He recently participated in a ceremony whereby the State of Pennsylvania agreed to grant EMD, a division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, more than 1 million dollars for an expansion project in Hometown, PA. Merck KGaA is an international behemoth making billions of dollars. They could and should fund their entire expansion project in Hometown. They offer the customary promise of jobs during both construction and subsequent operation. They offer the customary promise of enhanced tax revenues. Both of these promised benefits would occur anyway. Merck KGaA is not about to abandon Hometown over a million dollars. They make billions! To me this is corporate welfare. Merck is fabulously successful. They do not need taxpayer money. The State of Pennsylvania’s has more important obligations that are not fully funded. Our public schools are inadequately funded. Our transportation infrastructure is a mess. Our reliance on “fracking” is pitiful and hurting us economically. Our state regulatory agencies are understaffed and underfunded. Our state forests, parks, rivers and recreational venues are understaffed and underfunded. Corporate welfare takes funds away from the above and many more quality of life/community development endeavors. According to left/center/right organizations, corporate welfare is rampant in Pennsylvania. Please do not misunderstand. I believe that taxpayer money should be available to vetted start-ups, vetted underfunded businesses/corporations and vetted entrepreneurial endeavors. No taxpayer money should go businesses/corporations/etc. that are successful and fully capable of funding their enterprise/ideas/expansions
Speciesiem, as defined by the Oxford dictionary, is the assumption of superiority by one specie over another resulting in exploitation and abuse. It is practiced on an immense scale by humans. You cannot talk to humans about speciesism. They are blinded by the intramural battles that plague them. These battles are somewhat organic but they are promoted by a wide variety of special interests whose goals are power, position and profit. Wars, abortion, racism, sexism, guns, LGBTQA, woke politics, etc. keep humans at each other’s throats. It is a sad state of affairs that keeps humans from advancing. From the beginning, humanity has waged war against itself while the Earth’s fauna and flora served as spectators and victims. Speciesism runs rampant. It is vicious. It is cruel. It is savage. There are thousands of examples. I want to point out two.
Pennsylvania is now beginning a new season of hooking, netting, spearing and snagging fish/turtles/frogs. It is part of the consumptive use of wildlife that benefits several state agencies and many private businesses. Characteristically, the lakes, rivers, and streams of Pennsylvania are severely depleted of native fish due to overfishing, development and pollution. This requires the State to propagate and stock fish. This is also when children are introduced to this cruel activity. They are taught that fish can’t feel pain and they enjoy the battle before giving up there lives. They are taught that it is okay, even fun, to trick a fish into swallowing a barbed hook, dragging it around in the water to exhaustion, pulling it out to suffocate and then gutting it. This is a horrible thing to teach a child. Of course, fishing is big business and the State and associated industries need to recruit. Their recruitment strategy is to get them while they are young and gullible. Speciesism!
Every year, billions of animals including cows, sheep, goats, chickens, ducks, pigs, horses and others are deliberately breed, fed and slaughtered for human consumption. They are treated inhumanely during their short, cruel lives. They are afforded virtually no legal protections. Visit a breeding operation. Visit a feeding operation. Visit a slaughterhouse. Chickens have a particuIarly cruel existence. If you are born a male you are immediately killed. Sometimes this is done by suffocation. Most often it is done by maceration. Maceration is horrific and it should be vehemently opposed. It means that you toss millions/billions of live male chicks into a grinding machine. This is not a good look for the chicken industry and they hide it, especially from children. Most children would not tolerate this vicious, savage and cruel treatment of another sentient being. Like fishing, the chicken industry must recruit. They hide many aspects of the truth. They recruit children. Far too many adults stand still for this. Speciesism!
To end, I would like to ask everyone to slow down on highways. We routinely run into and kill millions of animals each year. The vast majority of drivers don’t give this a second thought. After all, humans are vastly superior and the lives of these creatures are hardly worth noticing. Speciesism!
There is a lot more on this. Do some research.