DON'T ASK FOR GOVERNMENT SUPPORT
As my last post for 2024 and advice going into 2025, let me implore everyone who thinks the Trump election spells nirvana for truth to sit down and listen for a minute.
First, I have zero pull or connection to MAGA or MAHA. So everyone sending me an idea or product to get the new officials' attention, quit. I'm not in Trump's contact list. In my bubble, without smart phone, no apps, no TV, I probably know less about plans and positions in the upcoming new slate of appointees than just about anyone.
Second, and this is the crux of my post today, why does anyone think their idea or product is the magic elixir fixer if the government will endorse it? Biochar, bionic foliars, worm pee, outlaw glyphosate, tax Tyson--my goodness, everyone has a magic recipe to save farming if only they could get the USDA's attention.
I'm sorry to bear the unhappy news: 10 miles of USDA offices probably won't change. I remember well when Barak Obama got elected and Michelle put a garden on the White House lawn. I was privy to some inside information because I knew their chef, and the stories about trying to make a beehive that could withstand rotor wash when the helicopter landed were quite entertaining.
All my organic buddies thought this would be the beginning of a new era, since we finally had a first lady who advocated "know your farmer, know your food." Those 10 miles of USDA offices did not change. Instead we got the top legal advisor to Monsanto as the new food safety czar. Change indeed. Perfect example of RFK Jr.'s "agency capture."
And what do those 10 miles of USDA offices believe? Well, they believe life is fundamentally mechanical, more like a car than a spirit. They believe carbon-based (compost) farming will starve the world. That America's farm salvation is exports. That cow burps and farts are melting the ice caps and we'll all be crispy critters in a generation. They believe small farms are inefficient. That food freedom of choice would fill hospitals with sick people eating tainted food. That the main reason to preserve farmers is to keep a steady flow of good soldiers coming into the military. That wellness comes from a syringe. That mixing plants and animals with integrated farming brings disease. That every cow now needs to be tested for bird flu with a PCR test.
Folks, it's a big ship. Enough already with this potion and that potion, the notion that "if I could only get the USDA's attention with my recipe, all will be well on planet earth." Ain't gonna happen.
What is viable? You do what you can with what you've got where you are and become a beacon of shining truth to your sphere of influence. The brighter you shine, the more people will see your light. And be attracted to your recipe, idea, or product.
A quick look at human history reveals that nearly all the most egregious atrocities foisted upon the human race have been caused by governments. Not business. Not individuals. Not dreamers or entrepreneurs. It's the government that steals your money, your property, your children, your dreams. Few things irritate me more than hearing my organic farming friends wish subsidies for chemical farming could be shifted to subsidies for nonchemical farming. For years one side complains about pigs at the public trough but as soon as the winds shift, grovel together to become new pigs at the trough. It's obscene.
No, no, a thousand times no. Just quit subsidizing anything. Our side will carry far more weight if the heavy hand of the government didn't tilt the scales on the anti-health side. Get the government out of health care, completely, period. Personal agency in health would foster a sudden shift toward personal accountability, leading to personal responsibility, leading to exercising the muscles of decision-making. What the government does well is stealing and killing . . . and lying.
Let's roll up our sleeves, all of us, in 2025 and dedicate ourselves afresh to flourishing and creativity outside government. Why corrupt our recipes? Keep them in the private sector, where voluntaryism, free choice, and individual accountability steer the cultural agenda. One guy builds carbon. Another breeds fungi that eat PFAS. Another creates an anti-microbial sanitizer you can drink. Let's quit wasting time courting government favor and dedicate all our passion and heart to doing better what we already do well. My dad used to say "people still turn aside to see a burning bush." May we all be one.
What's your burning bush?