Endeavor to Persevere(*)
“God will not have his works made manifest by
cowards.”-Emerson.
Food for Thought:
The “Way We Do Things Now”, is counterproductive, mean,
nasty and stupid.
The beneficiaries are large Artificial Entities, whose sole Moral Imperative is, simply, “More Profit”.
The beneficiaries are large Artificial Entities, whose sole Moral Imperative is, simply, “More Profit”.
Parasites.
Under their System, jobs and production and Capital are sent
to the Third World, and the Profits realized are sequestered in Tax Havens,
where they can remain safe from paying their way, here…in the USA.
Freeloaders.
To get out from under this Cartel System, We will have to do
more, for ourselves….not in the fantastical way of Rugged Individualism,…but,
instead, by Community.
Protecting Cargill, ADM and Monsanto…let alone Exxon…is Not
“Conservatism”; it’s being Suckers.
“Conservatism” implies that we are Conserving something…like,
perhaps, a Local Economy.
The Giant Cartels,
and their System, are in the process of coming apart…this is due to their
Model’s over-reliance on “Growth”, on a Finite Planet.
It’s also Failing for Us…especially those of us who live in
former Farm Country….Small Town
America.
When I first moved to Mason County,
I drove around, a lot…to get a feel for the place, and because I have a thing
for dirt roads. What jumped out at me were the numerous former Towns…Fredonia,
Grit, and the like. These places used to Be Something…were once thriving
Communities. In a big way, the
Mechanisation of Agriculture was the knife at the throat of these places,
ensuring their inevitable Decline.
But Mechanisation was part of a larger story…that of Farm Policy.
But Mechanisation was part of a larger story…that of Farm Policy.
We behave as if “the Way We Do Things Now” is set in stone, handed down from God, or a Function of Nature. Economics is none of these things, rather, it is the Invention of Human Minds…and, as such, it can be changed.
))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
Remember Hurricane Rita?
That storm went into Houston,
in ’05…not long after Katrina. It’s immediate, and unexpected, effect on Mason
was a shortage of Everything. Gasoline tanks ran dry, cheapest to most
expensive; Store shelves emptied out, until there was little but canned oysters
and corn shucks.
Turns out that a whole lot of the things Mason takes for granted, from Fuel to Food, is sourced from the Port of Houston. That’s our Supply Line, and it’s frail and scary enough, just on it’s own…but used as Metaphor, it’s Terrifying.
It was the clearest evidence that I had ever witnessed that our Way of Doing Things was far from Robust…and that, indeed, that it was Foolish, and lacking in Foresight.
Everyone cries and shouts about “Welfare”…the perennial enemy is the “Lazy Poor”, the “Welfare Queen”, and the “Socialist Menace” who pays them to Lay About.
Turns out that a whole lot of the things Mason takes for granted, from Fuel to Food, is sourced from the Port of Houston. That’s our Supply Line, and it’s frail and scary enough, just on it’s own…but used as Metaphor, it’s Terrifying.
It was the clearest evidence that I had ever witnessed that our Way of Doing Things was far from Robust…and that, indeed, that it was Foolish, and lacking in Foresight.
Everyone cries and shouts about “Welfare”…the perennial enemy is the “Lazy Poor”, the “Welfare Queen”, and the “Socialist Menace” who pays them to Lay About.
Leave , for a moment, the evident Non-Existence of such
creatures(entirely Mythological)….and Think.
Why are so many folks Poor?
Why are so many folks Poor?
Could it be the growing Lack of Decent Jobs?
The Wage Stagnation of the last 35 years, relative to
Inflation?
High Costs of Necessaries, like Healthcare, Energy, Durable
Goods?
It’s, of course, all of these things.
But Fundamental to the breakdown is one thing, that no one
wants to talk about:
We don’t Make Anything, anymore.
We don’t Make Anything, anymore.
We do not Grow our own Food, Provide our own Energy, or even
make our own Toilet Paper.
To fix this requires a reordering of how we Think about Economy….and Informed Consumers.
It also requires a commitment, by those Consumers, to Vote with their Dollars.
What I am proposing is a garden of Self Reliance…Toilet Paper, as a Cottage Industry.
To fix this requires a reordering of how we Think about Economy….and Informed Consumers.
It also requires a commitment, by those Consumers, to Vote with their Dollars.
What I am proposing is a garden of Self Reliance…Toilet Paper, as a Cottage Industry.
Instead of going to HEB, and buying Lamb from Australia,
Beef from Argentina, Grapes from Chile, and Eggs from wherever Eggs come from…a
way must be found to do these things for ourselves.
Regulations, written largely by the Parasitical Giant Corps(e), hinder these efforts…especially with Meat, milk and Eggs…but these are easily overcome, if Local Government could be persuaded to do so.(see: http://vermontfoodsovereignty.net/2011/05/second-vermont-town-passes-food-sovereignty-measure/ )
Another Hindrance is the Purchasing Policy of our One Grocery Store.
Has anyone else noticed that the Produce Sucks?
That the Meat is often sub-par(to be charitable)?
Regulations, written largely by the Parasitical Giant Corps(e), hinder these efforts…especially with Meat, milk and Eggs…but these are easily overcome, if Local Government could be persuaded to do so.(see: http://vermontfoodsovereignty.net/2011/05/second-vermont-town-passes-food-sovereignty-measure/ )
Another Hindrance is the Purchasing Policy of our One Grocery Store.
Has anyone else noticed that the Produce Sucks?
That the Meat is often sub-par(to be charitable)?
I purchased a loaf of bread, there…just yesterday…and it was
dry and hard and well on it’s way to Stale.
But the Local Bakery, if they so desired, could not sell Bread at the one Supermarket.
Similarly, a local gardener…say some retiree who happens to have a surplus of tomatoes,…cannot sell more than a few.
But the Local Bakery, if they so desired, could not sell Bread at the one Supermarket.
Similarly, a local gardener…say some retiree who happens to have a surplus of tomatoes,…cannot sell more than a few.
Why?
Policy.
and Regulation by the State.
and Regulation by the State.
Instead of continuously, and tiresomely, Hating on “the
Least of these”…perhaps some thought needs to be given to the Reasons for their
plight.
Instead of “Take Back Mason(before it’s too late!)”… how
about, “Make Mason Work for Us”?!
* Chief Dan George in “Outlaw Josey Wales”
“Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.
Accept the place that divine providence has found for you, the society of your
contemporaries, the connection of events. Great men have always done so, and
confided themselves childlike to the genius of their age, betraying their
perception that the absolutely trustworthy was seated at their heart, working
through their hands, predominating in all their being. And we are now men, and
must accept in the highest mind the same transcendent destiny; and not minors
and invalids in a protected corner, not cowards fleeing before a revolution,
but guides , redeemers and benefactors, obeying the Almighty effort and
advancing on Chaos and the Dark.”
- R.W. Emerson, from, ”Self-Reliance”.
- R.W. Emerson, from, ”Self-Reliance”.
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