hanimmal
Well-Known Member
I wish I could draw a chart and post it. So I will have to describe it. If you can't see it just say so and I will find a way to post it. But minimum wage laws have never been an issue since it was always below the market equillibrium. They didn't raise it to $5 until the minimum wage was above it, likewise minimum wage today is naturally around $9 (ask a McDonalds employee how much they make. So minimum wage laws never really did anything but make people look like they cared.And how do you explain the FAILURE of the Welfare State to eradicate Poverty despite repeated attempts to do so through raising minimum wage, a strategy which has revealed itself to be a failure, because of the natural tendency for the market to adjust to unnatural attempts to control it by doing exactly what is expected of it.
The push at the wages at the bottom results in a push on all wages, and typically those at the bottom reap the smallest benefits of the State's supposed largesse.
I would blame it on technologies. Small farms while efficient on a per acre scale cannot compete with bringing large amounts of good to the market, meaning they get choked out by the large farms. The government giving all the money in tax breaks and grants to the largest farms has broken the bent backs of the small farms, but they would be choked out anyway, it just sells well in the agriculture states when politicians talk about giving the farmers money.Besides, it is the policies of the socialists that has lead to a downfall of the US Agricultural Industry as being an industry dominated by small farmers. Policies such as Estate Taxes that broke up the legacies of small farmers that would have been passed on to their children and forced them to sell to corporations. Corporations that have demonstrated their amazing propensity towards corruption through attempting to use their money to influence the policies of this nation.
And before you think that I side with large farms, I use local CSA's and always try to get local grown produce. If you or anyone don't know what a CSA (community supported agriculture) google it and get on it. Support your local farmers! The average American bite of food travels about 1500 miles before you eat it. Anyway pick up "Deep Economy" by Bill McKibben if you want to support and get some great info on this.
Of course, such a trend is the natural result of the illogical capping of the size of the House of Representatives at 435. As the number of people per Representative has gone up the real representation accorded to each individual has gone down. The founders never intended for us to be dominated by a wealthy House of Representatives. They intended for that August Body to be comprised of merchants, mechanics, doctors, workers, businessmen and entrepreneurs who wanted to give something back, not lawyers and career bureaucurats/politicians who desired to extend their own power.
Another possibility that would restore the level of representation would be term limits imposed on the House and the Senate to match the caps placed on the presidency.
The political system of the United States needs to be fixed before any attempts are made to influence the course of the nation, because right now the voices of a great many of the citizenry is ignored blatantly by the politicians.
HERE! HERE! We are in total agreement! We need to elect better officials and everything would get sorted out. Quit voting for lawyers (almost every elected official is a lawyer)!!! Start checking credentials and electing the smartest people, but to do that we need to become informed on the people we vote for. Not just who says the things we like to hear, but the people that actually have the brain power to understand what they say and think and know how to learn what is needed (and actually cares enough to do so) to make an educated decision.