I am not a farmer, though I have friends that farm. So I don't pretend to understand the business end of farming. What I do know is that our food chain has been irreparably altered over the last decade. Whether you "believe in" global warming or not, changes in our atmosphere have led to larger and more violent storms, drought, flooding, and a host of other issues which have changed temperatures on both land and in the sea. Warm "blobs" spreading through the Pacific Ocean may turn out to be one of the causes, along with over fishing, of the collapse of the sardine and anchovy populations. Droughts are causing difficulty in growing water heavy crops such as avocados. Beef supplies are expected to decline by over a billion pounds this year. That is on top of last year's decline. Avian flu is decimating poultry flocks in 12 states as you read this. The world is losing one food species every 6 minutes right now. And let us not forget the colony collapse disaster facing our pollinators.
All of this indicates that food, along with clean water, will become priorities for all communities over the next decade. Vermont is uniquely situated to provide for her people, but only if we act with clear intent as we craft laws that define and make profitable the agricultural industry in Vermont. We can create an agri"culture" in Vermont by making the industry a priority in planning and funding. Giant factory farms will not increase tourism, as smaller family farms could. Factory farms are not focused on the people of Vermont, as family farms are, they are focused on profit and their goods most often leave the state. A strong farming community will be vital to Vermont's future both as a secure food source for our population and as a draw to tourists. Along with deliberate, thoughtful action developing Vermont as a destination, agriculture is one of our most valuable resources.
Supporting a strong farming community should be a priority for the state. Legislators, farmers, and citizens should be invited to develop plans detailing a vision for the future of Vermont agriculture in light of the now present food security issues developing around the globe, mindful of Vermont's tourist industry and the balance required to maintain both.
Vermont has a small population. Small enough that we should be able to come together and plan our own future. We can, and should, feed ourselves. If we can grow 75% of the average Vermonters diet, then we should and we should encourage Vermonters to buy that local food. We should serve it in our schools, hospitals, prisons, and government offices. There are many ways to accomplish such a goal. Let's explore them. Let's not hand control of our resources over to those who are selling their influence and selling us out.
Saturday, April 25, 2015
Friday, April 17, 2015
Which brings us to the minimum wage...
I am so torn about this topic. On the one hand, I think that government should stay out of business as much as possible. On the other hand, when business runs out of control and its actions are bad for the people of the country then something must be done. If we were operating under a system of true laissez faire capitalism it might be possible to let the market work itself out. But we are not. We operate under a system whereby the deepest pockets are able to purchase laws and ordinances that favor them and injure the public. You will hear complaining about government interference in business....its because corporations purchase politicians and then the politicians vote in favor of rules and regulations that favor the corporation that is paying them. Mind you, this is not mom and pop stores, this is not small businesses. They are as screwed as the rest of us, in spite of the fact that they have a prominent position as a economic force. They aren't collective and independently cannot spend the same amounts of cash that Monsanto or CAT can spend.
After giving it a lot of thought, I think that Vermont should set a rate of $16.82 per hour as the minimum wage. This is not a lot of money, $35,000 a year for a full time 40 hour a week position. This is right around what I make now. It is never going to make me rich and I have to watch every penny I spend. But I'm not destitute. I own my house. I have a car and a motorcycle. Mind you, I don't have a Lexus and a Harley, I have a Subaru and a Ural. Still, gets me to work. My house will always need work but hey, idle hands and all, it's probably a good thing I have something to do. So $16.82 is not going to make anyone rich, but it is not going to break the bank either. The cost to companies could be offset by the reduced needs for social safety benefits in the state and by increased spending on the part of consumers.
The best course of action, in my opinion, is the implementation of the Fair Tax Act on the federal level, removing the onus of income tax collection from businesses. This, in addition to a livable minimum wage, would jump start a true economic recovery. Not to be confused with the "economic recovery" whereby Wall Street is getting richer and the rest of us are getting poorer.
After giving it a lot of thought, I think that Vermont should set a rate of $16.82 per hour as the minimum wage. This is not a lot of money, $35,000 a year for a full time 40 hour a week position. This is right around what I make now. It is never going to make me rich and I have to watch every penny I spend. But I'm not destitute. I own my house. I have a car and a motorcycle. Mind you, I don't have a Lexus and a Harley, I have a Subaru and a Ural. Still, gets me to work. My house will always need work but hey, idle hands and all, it's probably a good thing I have something to do. So $16.82 is not going to make anyone rich, but it is not going to break the bank either. The cost to companies could be offset by the reduced needs for social safety benefits in the state and by increased spending on the part of consumers.
The best course of action, in my opinion, is the implementation of the Fair Tax Act on the federal level, removing the onus of income tax collection from businesses. This, in addition to a livable minimum wage, would jump start a true economic recovery. Not to be confused with the "economic recovery" whereby Wall Street is getting richer and the rest of us are getting poorer.
Thursday, April 16, 2015
Let's talk about welfare...
I have heard people talk about the bums collecting welfare, no jobs, kids running wild, etc etc
Hear's the thing, most of that crap is just not true. And I'm not saying that there aren't people who game the system, there are, but they represent a very small percentage of welfare recipients. I can't speak to any experiences but my own. So I'm going to talk about the food service industry. Food service employees, industry-wide, collect around $9 BILLION dollars in welfare benefits a year. That is about $197,000 a year per Olive Garden location. Why? They have jobs. They work, often far beyond 40 hours a week.
Here's why. A corporation exists to produce profit. If they hire full time workers and pay them good benefits they might save money on turn-over and training. But they WILL save money if they hire all part-time workers and give them no benefits. Although the rate of attrition is high, the overall savings is higher. As a food service worker I have often found myself in a position, mostly when I was a young single parent, of having two and three part time jobs in order to pay the bills. But I lived in fear of someone getting sick or having an accident. I raised my kids hand to mouth and it sucked. Yet here we are, 25 years later, corporations posting record profits, CEO's making obscene salaries 300 times the pay of their average employee, and still, still we blame the worker who, trying to put food on the table, turns to welfare.
This is corporate welfare folks. This is the taxpayer subsidizing the income and benefits of the worker while Wall Street reaps the profits. So, they build companies utilizing publicly funded infrastructure, like roads and the power grid which taxpayers paid for, then they screw the taxpayer again by forcing them to subsidize the wages of their employees. To top it off, they use their welfare check to purchase favors and influence from the public officials that WE PAY.
Thing is, both political parties are taking the payola. If they weren't there would be no such a job as lobbyist. Both parties work diligently to convince you that they are looking out for your interests and both are lying. Listen, everyone knows you don't bite the hand that feeds you.
I wish Elizabeth Warren would run for President.
Hillary ate at a Chipotle in Iowa. No tip.
Hear's the thing, most of that crap is just not true. And I'm not saying that there aren't people who game the system, there are, but they represent a very small percentage of welfare recipients. I can't speak to any experiences but my own. So I'm going to talk about the food service industry. Food service employees, industry-wide, collect around $9 BILLION dollars in welfare benefits a year. That is about $197,000 a year per Olive Garden location. Why? They have jobs. They work, often far beyond 40 hours a week.
Here's why. A corporation exists to produce profit. If they hire full time workers and pay them good benefits they might save money on turn-over and training. But they WILL save money if they hire all part-time workers and give them no benefits. Although the rate of attrition is high, the overall savings is higher. As a food service worker I have often found myself in a position, mostly when I was a young single parent, of having two and three part time jobs in order to pay the bills. But I lived in fear of someone getting sick or having an accident. I raised my kids hand to mouth and it sucked. Yet here we are, 25 years later, corporations posting record profits, CEO's making obscene salaries 300 times the pay of their average employee, and still, still we blame the worker who, trying to put food on the table, turns to welfare.
This is corporate welfare folks. This is the taxpayer subsidizing the income and benefits of the worker while Wall Street reaps the profits. So, they build companies utilizing publicly funded infrastructure, like roads and the power grid which taxpayers paid for, then they screw the taxpayer again by forcing them to subsidize the wages of their employees. To top it off, they use their welfare check to purchase favors and influence from the public officials that WE PAY.
Thing is, both political parties are taking the payola. If they weren't there would be no such a job as lobbyist. Both parties work diligently to convince you that they are looking out for your interests and both are lying. Listen, everyone knows you don't bite the hand that feeds you.
I wish Elizabeth Warren would run for President.
Hillary ate at a Chipotle in Iowa. No tip.
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
The Hillary video
Did anyone see Hillary's "I'm running for President" video.
This thing embodies all that is wrong with our political system. It assumes the audience is stupid, that we can't tell that the diner is fake and the logo is corporate. Rehash of the same old crap. She may well be a wonderful person, but we will never know it. Because it is damn near impossible to have both the people and the corporations like you at the same time......their needs are too different.
People need decent wages, affordable medical care and medications, healthy food and enough of it. We need good schools where our children can learn how to read and write and complete mathematical formulas. We need teachers who are competent and well paid to do the VERY IMPORTANT WORK of educating the next generation......who will be caring for us in our decrepitude. We need medications that have been tested and that we can trust are safe and not just profitable. We need a smaller government and a larger vision.
Corporations need PROFIT.
That's it. Profit. When they make money they can pay decent wages and work to maintain a healthy, educated, productive workforce. ROFLMAO!!! Like that has happened at any point in the last quarter of a century.
Listen, corporations are not inherently bad. Neither is capitalism as a system. Pretending that corporations are people. Abusing your workers. Buying politicians and selling lies and poison. Destroying our planet for a buck. Those things are bad. But they were done by the collective decisions of people. Because corporations cannot make decisions. They are not people. In spite of what the folks running these corporations work hard to make us believe. Capitalism, like religion, is easy to twist and distort.
These are real people that make the decisions that are hurting the little guy. They make those decisions so that they can maintain the privilege we have allowed them to assume. Until we say no, they, like children, will continue to push the boundaries. Because in capitalism, as in life, rules are needed to help shape our choices and decisions. It is no more wrong to expect a livable wage than it is to expect your child to say please and thank you.
Look, the simple truth is that we really don't know what we would do if we were given the keys to the kingdom and no rules to follow. But like Lord of the Flies, the results would probably be ugly. We, as citizens, have failed to maintain control of our society and it has become something very ugly. We can either take it back, set some boundaries, and get to the task of building a great town, state, and country or we can say screw it. The choice is ours to make.
This thing embodies all that is wrong with our political system. It assumes the audience is stupid, that we can't tell that the diner is fake and the logo is corporate. Rehash of the same old crap. She may well be a wonderful person, but we will never know it. Because it is damn near impossible to have both the people and the corporations like you at the same time......their needs are too different.
People need decent wages, affordable medical care and medications, healthy food and enough of it. We need good schools where our children can learn how to read and write and complete mathematical formulas. We need teachers who are competent and well paid to do the VERY IMPORTANT WORK of educating the next generation......who will be caring for us in our decrepitude. We need medications that have been tested and that we can trust are safe and not just profitable. We need a smaller government and a larger vision.
Corporations need PROFIT.
That's it. Profit. When they make money they can pay decent wages and work to maintain a healthy, educated, productive workforce. ROFLMAO!!! Like that has happened at any point in the last quarter of a century.
Listen, corporations are not inherently bad. Neither is capitalism as a system. Pretending that corporations are people. Abusing your workers. Buying politicians and selling lies and poison. Destroying our planet for a buck. Those things are bad. But they were done by the collective decisions of people. Because corporations cannot make decisions. They are not people. In spite of what the folks running these corporations work hard to make us believe. Capitalism, like religion, is easy to twist and distort.
These are real people that make the decisions that are hurting the little guy. They make those decisions so that they can maintain the privilege we have allowed them to assume. Until we say no, they, like children, will continue to push the boundaries. Because in capitalism, as in life, rules are needed to help shape our choices and decisions. It is no more wrong to expect a livable wage than it is to expect your child to say please and thank you.
Look, the simple truth is that we really don't know what we would do if we were given the keys to the kingdom and no rules to follow. But like Lord of the Flies, the results would probably be ugly. We, as citizens, have failed to maintain control of our society and it has become something very ugly. We can either take it back, set some boundaries, and get to the task of building a great town, state, and country or we can say screw it. The choice is ours to make.
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