Hernando gets a subsidy of heatstroke
In news you will never read about in any US newspaper, the World Trade Organization (WTO), that little crew who used to be so cool to us, is starting to nag us like their our parents and we're living in the basement, hitting the bong and watching Maury all day.
After analyzing a report on the US agricultural policies of the last decade, the WTO found that US subsidies create an unfair climate for trade, essentially erasing the image of a "free market" that we love to talk about so much. To sum it up real quickly (but please look into it further) a sizable chunk of our tax money is used for payments towards US farms. This law was enacted back in the dust bowl days when family farms still existed and crops were struggling due to the harsh weather patterns. Of course that was before factory farms and genetic modification came along. Nowadays there's no need to hand our money over to gigantic farms whose owner's incomes dwarf even our richest uncle.
So why do we keep the subsidies in tact, knowing that the world doesn't like it, the practice is unfair and...um...we could use that money. Well, the short answer is the farm lobby, which has a tremendous amount of power in Washington. The longer answer may rely on the effects of the subsidies; that of lower food prices. Basically, our food is unnaturally cheap due to the subsidies, which seems great at first listen. But think about it; they're only cheap because our tax money is making it so. Wouldn't you rather just have the money yourself to make your own decision on what to eat? These subsidies also contribute to the amount of sugar being harvested, the results of which are a food system dependent on sugar and a population dependent upon twinkies and Pepsi Max.
Because the food prices are unnaturally cheap (again, thanks to the taxpayer), it makes the global trade system unfair because it's cheaper for a country to import food from the US than grow their own. This, as a result, has devastated the agricultural systems of several third world countries, such as Haiti and Jamaica, whose plight was documented in the film Life and Debt. So this is where the WTO stepped in and told us to cut the shit before the entire world is dependent upon American and European grown genetically modified super mutant corn.
Think we'll do anything about it? Nah. Most wouldn't have read past the first paragraph (but thanks if you did)
-B.James
After analyzing a report on the US agricultural policies of the last decade, the WTO found that US subsidies create an unfair climate for trade, essentially erasing the image of a "free market" that we love to talk about so much. To sum it up real quickly (but please look into it further) a sizable chunk of our tax money is used for payments towards US farms. This law was enacted back in the dust bowl days when family farms still existed and crops were struggling due to the harsh weather patterns. Of course that was before factory farms and genetic modification came along. Nowadays there's no need to hand our money over to gigantic farms whose owner's incomes dwarf even our richest uncle.
So why do we keep the subsidies in tact, knowing that the world doesn't like it, the practice is unfair and...um...we could use that money. Well, the short answer is the farm lobby, which has a tremendous amount of power in Washington. The longer answer may rely on the effects of the subsidies; that of lower food prices. Basically, our food is unnaturally cheap due to the subsidies, which seems great at first listen. But think about it; they're only cheap because our tax money is making it so. Wouldn't you rather just have the money yourself to make your own decision on what to eat? These subsidies also contribute to the amount of sugar being harvested, the results of which are a food system dependent on sugar and a population dependent upon twinkies and Pepsi Max.
Because the food prices are unnaturally cheap (again, thanks to the taxpayer), it makes the global trade system unfair because it's cheaper for a country to import food from the US than grow their own. This, as a result, has devastated the agricultural systems of several third world countries, such as Haiti and Jamaica, whose plight was documented in the film Life and Debt. So this is where the WTO stepped in and told us to cut the shit before the entire world is dependent upon American and European grown genetically modified super mutant corn.
Think we'll do anything about it? Nah. Most wouldn't have read past the first paragraph (but thanks if you did)
-B.James
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