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2000 Soap Box Archives Farmers The most indispensable segment of our society has got to be our farmers. Our very existence depends on them. Food, clothing, medicine and any number of other things are produced by them. And yet, with all the importance they hold in the economy and well being of this nation they are one of the most put upon and disregarded industries in existence. I'm not speaking about the big corporate monstrosities who control thousands and thousands of acres and gobble up the government subsidies which were probably put into place for their benefit anyway. I'm referring to one of the original institution of free enterprise, the family farm, the guy with a few acres and a desire to grow things. It seems that business and our government to some extent has conspired to do away with the family farm. And what a shame. There is no better way of life if you are acclimated to it. It’s hard work but one of the most honest and rewarding professions a person can have. We import products which are government subsidized and produced by cheap labor while the family farmer sits and wonders just how much longer he can hold off the bank. Our politicians send billions of dollars to corrupt governments, a large part of which ends up in Swiss bank accounts instead of feeding the starving population. We export technology to nations who will use it to our detriment. We prop up dictatorships and prolong suffering by meddling in the foreign affairs of nations who only want our money. Well I've got an idea. Instead of sending money and technology why don’t we send food and clothing. Food can’t be deposited in the bank and clothing can’t be put in a missile and fired back at us. Instead of paying our farmers to let their fields lie fallow, why not put them into full production and feed and clothe the underprivileged nations of the world. Television is inundated with pictures of pitiful children and the mothers and fathers who are powerless to take care of them, and I for one am deeply affected by these images, which most of the time have been caused by a heartless administration more concerned with holding on to power than feeding their starving masses. Enough! Why shouldn’t we feed these helpless people? Why shouldn't we clothe them? Why shouldn’t we send food instead of money,clothes instead of bullets and medicine instead of technology? No matter how much military hardware, technology and money we send to these people they are always going to be anti - American. But who can hate you for feeding them? Who can be against you when you supply the medicine which saves the lives of their children and who can speak against you when you put clothes on their back? Our family farms and ranches could be prospering as well as the satellite business which do business with our farmers. I'm sure that if you approached a Washington politician with this idea he would say, ”You just don’t understand, it’s just not that simple” to which I would reply, ”How could you possibly know if you haven’t tried it ?” What do you think? God
Bless America
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