According to Ben Cohen, cofounder of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream and president of TrueMajority, a grassroots education and advocacy program, “Citizens should be given the facts on the costs of the Iraq war … . And there’s no better way to understand the giant numbers involved than to compare them to spending on stuff we all care about like schools and world hunger.” And there’s no better way to compare costs than by creating a giant Pigmobile and putting on tour across America.
The littlest piggie represents the $10 billion America has dedicated to fighting world hunger.
The second-smallest piggie represents the $34 billion the federal government spends on K-12 education.
The gigantic piggie (the size of a Chevy van to be precise) represents the $200 billion America spent on the initial attack on Iraq, plus the projected cost of reconstruction. It’s actually a fairly conservative piggie, all things considered.
TrueMajority’s Pigmobile, which makes loud oinking sounds and flashes facts and figures about the cost of the Iraq war, will be making random appearances throughout Memphis this week. According to the Pigmobile’s Middle Tennessee drive team, the swine have been greeted with cheers, applause, and the occasional one-fingered salute, all of which they claim, are perfectly appropriate. Just don’t go asking the drivers for a pulled sandwich on Texas toast with extra slaw. They’ll only stare at you.
Plante: How It Looks
