FARMER FEUDS
One of the cornerstones of rural living is neighbor congeniality. Out here in the country, we know the hospital is far away; the sheriff is far away; the grocery store is far away. We don't rely on 911 as much as we rely on each other.
Even people of different political persuasions and ethnicities work together on everything from work projects to health. Country people, because we tend to be more individualistic and not living on top of each other, also have an acute sense of personal space and property. We're pretty protective of our stuff.
The Hatfields and McCoys became famous because their rural feud was aberrant. Most of us living in the country have never heard of such carryings on. With this context, then, current feuds developing between farmers over herbicide drift is especially tragic.
Bayer AG and BASF SA are desperate to overturn a June federal court injunction against the herbicide dicamba that caused many millions of dollars in damage on neighbor's properties due to drift. That's the word the industry uses to euphemistically describe poisons crossing property lines and destroying neighbors' property. Drift doesn't sound so bad, does it? Sounds like what you do on a raft on a pretty Sunday afternoon. Just drifting along.
Dicamba is a step above Roundup, the glyphosate herbicide, that has already created a new generation of adapted superweeds. Dicamba is stronger and able to kill these weeds . . . for now. Until they become adapted. But like all aerially applied poisons, it's hard to keep it on your side of the fence.
As bad as the poison use is, though, what's just as devastating is the ripping apart in rural communities when a farmer's application drifts over to a neighbor and wipes out his crops. Yes, people have now been killed over this. Many farmers now carry guns to either defend themselves or protect their property.
The social fabric of these rural communities is fraying with these injuries. It tears apart rural organizations like the Ruritan Club and churches. As much as I dislike what these chemicals do to the earth, I think the greater harm is what they do to a community, a neighborhood, when applicators can't keep these poisons home.
The corporations agreed to pay $400 million in damages and add substances to reduce drift. Yada, yada, yada, yada. Bayer and BASF want to supply their market. I say let them. But at the same time, any farmer suffering drift should find the full weight of the local district attorney prosecuting for damages times two. The answer here is not EPA permission, which will sway the court. The answer is to really care about personal property, about my stuff.
The real problem here is not that some people use poisons. The real problem is not that a government agency gives permission to use poison. The problem is not a fickle court that can be swayed by some industry experts or even aggrieved farmers. The real problem is the erosion of the rule that "your fist ends at my nose." As long as we take a cavalier attitude toward protecting personal property, the damaged farmers will be on the short end of this stick. It should be other way around.
This goes hand in glove with tolerating looting and rioting in our cities, destroying buildings and personal property without retribution. A culture loses its civilization foundations when it fails to recognize "my stuff." If we're going to respect each other, affirm each other, or interact in a way that resembles civilization it starts with protecting the right of each of us to be secure in our persons and effects. If you can't honor "my stuff," you won't honor me. It's that simple.
Why is "my stuff" not protected any more?