They are cared for by the couple who own the farm and a small band of dedicated vegan followers. They all believe not only that eating any animal is bad, using any products derived from animals, such as cheese, milk, or leather is immoral.
One of the volunteers knew who I was, and wanted to know something about the governor’s race. She asked me, how did the two candidates stand on the question of puppy mills?
That’s the term for factory-like dog breeding operations, which produce as many purebred puppies as possible, to make as much profit as possible. Dogs produced by such methods often have poor temperaments and other genetic deficiencies.
Well, I told her, I didn’t have any idea if Virg Bernero or Rick Snyder have thought about puppy mills at all. My friend is, however, ready to support the most anti-puppy mill candidate, no matter what.
That might strike you as a trifle bizarre, but she is far from alone. We have become a kaleidoscope of sub-cultures, each of whom see reality through their own special prism of importance.
While not too many of us make dog breeding conditions our main focus, many more people do abortion. Which makes no sense, when it comes to electing the next governor of Michigan.
Why? Because the governor of Michigan has nothing to do with whether or not abortion remains legal. Thirty-seven years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a woman has the right to an abortion, a ruling that’s been bitterly controversial ever since.
But for those who think this is wrong, there are only two ways to change the law. You can fight to amend the United States Constitution, or you can hope that someday the Supreme Court reverses itself. Neither of those things can be done, or even affected very much, by the governor of Michigan. And frankly, abortion policy is not the governor’s job. Running our state’s government is.
Running the government, and doing whatever he or she can to help improve the economy. The next governor is going to inherit a state government that doesn’t work very well, to put it mildly.
Every year we have massive budget deficits, plus demands to provide more services with shrinking revenue streams. Our schools are in crisis and our roads and bridges are crumbling.
Our automotive industry now seems likely to survive, but never again to be the mass employer it was for nearly a century.
We have a complex, troubled economy and complex problems, and whomever we choose for any state office will have to have a wide-ranging skill set and pool of talents.
If you are an intelligent, thinking human being, it is likely that none of the candidates will seem like a perfect fit in every way.
That’s what real life is like. As voters, we should make the best choices based on what we have to work with. That’s a little harder than making decisions on the basis of a single, possibly irrelevant issue. But that’s what grownups need to do. Think about it.
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