Posted on 07/02/2016 8:56:40 AM PDT by Kaslin
On the Fourth of July we celebrate the country’s independence from Great Britain. We also honor the country’s founding and remember the unalienable rights to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” laid out in the Declaration of Independence. The Fourth marked the official start to a long fight against a tyrannical, distant government that abusively meddled with the lives of colonists.
This year, perhaps you’ll celebrate our hard-won freedoms by waving the flag, watching a parade, or enjoying fireworks.
But everyone will celebrate with food. So what better time is there to consider how the federal government currently meddles with what we eat?
No Fourth of July fare is more quintessential than barbecue, but agriculture policies mean that most of the food you’ll eat at your barbecue is subsidized by the federal government. So thank a taxpayer.
From the meat in your burger or hot dog to the buns you put them in, products of the agriculture industry benefit from a wide swath of corporate welfare policies. Even the local farmers’ market or simple roadside stand is subsidized. And farm subsidies don’t stop there—they even hit your corn on the cob, the cheese you slap on your burger, the milk in your ice cream, and the sugar in your iced tea.
We are a country founded on individual liberty. Is this bounty of government support for agriculture really necessary?
Supporters often evoke the plight of the struggling farmer as justification. Yet farms are actually doing quite well. Farm income has grown, farmers have less debt and more equity, and farm failures are quite rare. It doesn’t seem that farming is in the kind of dire straits that would even begin to justify the support it receives. Nor does it seem very fair. The typical farming household makes 19 percent more than the rest of the country and has 10 times more wealth.
The family farmer is a throwback to a bygone era. Today, large agribusinesses own the majority of farms. The largest 20 percent of farms received 73 percent of subsidies in 2012 while very few small farms receive any government support. Plus, some who get subsidies are exceedingly wealthy and not even primarily farmers.
So how did we get here? Understanding Washington’s farm policy is trickier today than it was a few years ago. Direct subsidy payments to farmers for simply growing certain crops like corn, wheat, cotton, or soy beans were sensibly abolished in the 2014 Farm Bill. But in their place, Congress created massive new crop insurance programs designed to prop up farm income and protect farmers from losses. The complicated formulas that dictate payments make the benefits more hidden than simply paying farmers for producing the crops that Washington favors.
And while insurance may sound harmless enough, the reality is that these programs protect farmers from almost any risk whatsoever. Put differently, the taxpayers are absorbing what should be the cost of doing business. This is wrong for any business or industry trying to earn a profit. Yet this move was touted as a major reform guaranteed to save billions of dollars. Sadly, the reverse has come true, with the new programs far outspending the old.
Farm subsidies are expensive. They are also inherently unfair—they transfer $20 billion in wealth each year from taxpayers to a small group of well-connected and influential famers. They also create bad incentives for farmers to chase the federal dollar rather than plan and manage risk themselves.
Let’s celebrate the Fourth of July with independence—independence from corporate welfare.
I got some pork for them. Right here.
There are ribs going on our grill this afternoon!
Happy 4th of July weekend.
Plus, it’s wasteful. Middlemen have to be paid.
That given, we can’t forget the ultimate truth. We were put here by God, and God has arranged to bless us even through an imperfect and sinful world. God wants to save our souls completely and bring us to heaven if we will consent, and when this begins, gratefulness to God for what He has given will also begin.
Let us thank God for what God has given, and embrace what power of His that we can at the moment to bring His blessings to bear to improve the lot of our neighbors. That probably shouldn’t be through programs of government, which carries the danger of turning the government into a manipulable idol, but through ministries of church — while governments become simpler and smaller.
It is an ill wind that blows no good at all, and some things can be said to the good even for “pork” projects. They tend to stabilize our production economics. We can count on the oinkers being there and sacrificing for our meals come rain or shine. There is a danger in this, though, and that is to take too much for granted and to become proud of ourselves.
No Can Do. I just got a fresh load of ammo and I need to render some pig fat for future use.
“...Understanding Washington’s farm policy is trickier today than it was a few years ago....”
No, it isn’t.
It’s about Control, same as it was then, same as it will be tomorrow, and a month from now, or a year from now.
Control the food supply, and you control people.
Bacon burgers, pork burgers, pork barbeque, pulled - outside and inside —— every which way. Pork chops, country fried chops, legs, hocks and jowls - take home some salty jowl bacon!
Sidle up to your nearest effing Muslim and offer them a pulled pork sammich slathered in Bacon slices. Pull open a bag of Chitlins and rinds and offer them to the Muslim kiddies. Squirt some halalel juice on their whatever it is goat shit they eat. Hold high a pork sammich to Allah and Mohammed in tribute.
It’s the desire of sinful humans to get adulation and praise from other people. Now people may praise other people for good reason, but if it doesn’t come from God first then it is in vain.
Heh, heh!
“ALLAHU OINKBAR!!”
;^)
Eat mor cow
Strange article. Can’t see what it has to do with the Fourth. Are we not suppose to eat? Are we supposed to eat something else? Should we protest farmers?
I’m gonna have a sandwich and think about this...
It better be a pork sammich by damn! :0)
Do we want to keep on having our governments in the business of insuring continuity our farm operations — why can’t that be a private affair? Certainly there is a need to prepare for a rainy day, nobody is complaining about this. The only question here is to how. Private organizations have their own pitfalls, but at least they aren’t governments.
Already got our ribs for the BBQ - should I take them back?
Of course! (Pressure-cooked pork butt, tendahhhhh...)
Nice...I have to remember that.
You can take back the bones! Heh heh....
Lots of feral hogs that need killing if you don’t like the thought of buying pork at the store
And I think we could again make a contrarian case for why the current system exists. America has been aware of the need to fight wars from time to time, either to avert dangers to itself or defend itself from dangers (however unwisely politicians have exercised that in practice) and a food supply is one thing tied to that. As it is said, an army travels on its stomach. It could be seen as a measure of national security.
That said, there is plenty of room in the private sphere to boost that without the temptations that come with government ossification.
July 4 was about independence from King George. He had become unnecessary. I think our forefathers would smile if we pushed back against our own unnecessary King Georges too.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.