@thefunnyfarm
Power Conserver
Not so different than walmart hmm. Death of the small business man
Rising Food Prices May Start With Seeds
- Thread starter k0xxx
- Start date
Unfortunately, I am not optimistic that anything will happen to sanction Monsanto for their business practices. All's fair in war and capitalism, as long as it isn't so illegal that some other big industry gets hurt.
As a form of government, capitalism stinks for all the little guys. (yes, I know techincally we aren't a capitalist government. But we may as well be)
As a form of government, capitalism stinks for all the little guys. (yes, I know techincally we aren't a capitalist government. But we may as well be)
Wifezilla
Low-Carb Queen - RIP: 1963-2021
There are some similarities, but Walmart doesn't go around suing people who also shop at Kmart.
In our area, Walmart did drive out a local Kmart, but the Kmart was nasty, hadn't been upgraded in decades and it needed to die so nobody really bemoaned the loss. The same thing happened to a local hardware store when Home Base and Home Depot came to town. It was a family run business but it was staffed by underpaid slacker teenagers. Half the time they never had what you needed and good luck having someone help you.
In other communities, the local gvmnt gives Walmart (and other big box stores) all kinds of tax breaks and regulation waivers your average small business person can't get. They drive out the mom and pop shops and then when all the tax breaks and waivers expire, they move to the next town over and leave destruction in their wake.
I blame gvnmt for that more than Walmart though they both suck in that scenario.
P.S.
For the record, theft, corruption, underhanded business practices, etc... is NOT capitalism. True capitalism IS the only system where the little guys get a chance.
patandchickens
Crazy Cat Lady
Now, I'm going to sound like seedcorn here LOL, but...freemotion said:
...farmers are not stupid nor blind nor unthinking. (Well, on the whole, obviously there are nitwits in any business).
The problem is not that farmers are somehow idiots, the problem is that the whole system has worked itself into a state such that the only (or practically the only) way to keep a conventional farm afloat is with conventional methods. (By conventional of course I don't mean REALLY conventional, I mean post-Green-Revolution methods using high inputs and expensive finicky cultivars).
Since the vast majority of farmers have started off with conventional farms, and often the only way to make that work financially is to continue in the same type of farming, well, it is pretty obvious why things are the way they are
Certainly I believe change is possible, but not on all scales all at once, and not on *large* scales until/unless both the gov't AND the buying publich start putting their money strongly into more sustainable methods.
Also, please notice what happens to seed companies that compete with the coupla big giants. They get bought out and assimilated, and nothing really changes much.
Pat
freemotion
Food Guru
I am most certainly not saying farmers are idiots. I come from a farming family. I spend a lot of time trying to re-create the way my grandparents did things because I admire them so much and don't want this knowledge to be lost.
I come from highly intelligent genes. I also observe that the vast majority of people in any field are not creative thinkers. This saddens me. People think that they are stuck when in reality they are not. I am speaking in very broad generalities here, so please do not be insulted if you truly are stuck!
What I am saying, though, is that most people have much more power over their own lives than they realize, but stay stuck in a rut because they don't know it. Again, speaking in broad generalities. Not specifics. Monsatan still sucks.
I come from highly intelligent genes. I also observe that the vast majority of people in any field are not creative thinkers. This saddens me. People think that they are stuck when in reality they are not. I am speaking in very broad generalities here, so please do not be insulted if you truly are stuck!
What I am saying, though, is that most people have much more power over their own lives than they realize, but stay stuck in a rut because they don't know it. Again, speaking in broad generalities. Not specifics. Monsatan still sucks.
Mackay
Almost Self-Reliant
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2008
- Messages
- 1,332
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 128
Everyone REALLY REALLY REALLY needs to watch Food, Inc.
Get your friends and neighbors to watch it.
Netflix has it!
Education is the root of revolution.
Get your friends and neighbors to watch it.
Netflix has it!
Education is the root of revolution.
On Our own
Lovin' The Homestead
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2009
- Messages
- 420
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 83
I know very intelligent extremely well educated farmers who are wise in all matters of business. They cannot stand against an outfit like Monsanto. A farmer that refused to use their seed and refused to buy their products found himself endlessly sued over stupid endless stuff. He got audited every year by the IRS, Every tiny local ordinance was used against him. His loans were always denied. No one was allowed to buy his crops. This is not capitalism and it is NOT stupidity or a lack of creativity on the apart of farmers. It is organized crime aided and abbetted by the government.freemotion said:
Bettacreek
Almost Self-Reliant
Wait a second.... farmers purchase their seed? I had always thought that they kept seed from their harvest for next year's planting. You know.... "don't eat your seed corn". You'd think that farmers would be more self-sufficient than to buy seed. :/
