"Shit" as a Lifestyle Choice

by Dick Mac

Somebody once told me that recycling is a lifestyle choice and should not be required or promoted by the government.

I guess that's the same thing as, "flush toilets are a lifestyle choice and nobody should be required to have one in the home."

What if I don't want to flush my shit and piss down the toilet?  Shouldn't I be able to let it pile-up in my apartment with no consideration for the people around me.  Isn't that my right as an American?  And why is the government interfering in the handling of my excrement?

Well, the government is involved in the handling of my excrement because it is best for everyone if humans are forced to have their waste products handled in a consistent manner.  In the case of excrement, we have laws and codes that define plumbing standards and the storage of waste.  We spend tax dollars on that.

After forty-plus years of Earth Days and public discourse about waste, our municipal recycling plans, codes and laws are grossly lacking.  All efforts to improve recycling standards are hampered by "conservatives" who care not about conservation, but about preventing the government from governing (that is, traitors).

The arguments against mandatory recycling are borderline psychotic -- they bear no resemblance to reality.  With Fox News informing and defining the "conservative" dialog, the "conservative" movement and its mission against human progress is more like "The Simpsons" and less like "Fox News."

There really is no talking to "conservatives" about an issue like recycling because their arguments are always the same:  "no government this" and "small government that" and "freedom of choice" and blah blah blah; all of which they believe for themselves but not for anyone with whom they disagree (like homosexuals, women, people of color, immigrants, scholars, thinking people, etc.).

When indoor plumbing became fashionable and Americans were expanding the cities into the suburbs under the Communist regime of FDR and other liberals, can you imagine how we would have treated anyone who argued that the government had no right to define plumbing codes?  We would have laughed at them.  They would have been ignored.  And for good reason:  it's insane to consider matters of environment and safety to be "lifestyle choices."  We should be laughing at the "conservatives" who oppose mandated recycling.

The handling of excrement should be controlled by government regulation, and so should the matter of trash and recycling.

Fortunately, there are companies that believe in recycling.  They have taken the initiative that "conservatives" won't allow the government to take.  Stonyfield Farm, Coca-Cola, and Starbucks, to name a few, have instituted recycling programs that might help us save the planet.

I think those companies are branded as "liberals" by Fox News executives, who are now the arbiters and decision makers of the GOP.

Those damned "liberals" are at it again, forcing us to dispose of our shit in a a healthy manner!

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