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It is impossible to introduce into society a greater change and a greater evil than this: the conversion of the law into an instrument of plunder.
Frederic Bastiat
The expression "All roads lead to Rome",comes down to the fact the elite of Rome plundered the rural areas and the roads conveyed wealth from the countryside to Rome.
In June, 2010 New York dairy farmers were paid a total of $177,505,300. According to USDA "Costs and Returns" the total costs were $261,960,900. There will be those who argue the "costs" numbers are not accurate because milk can be made cheaper - think slavery.
All of the arguments for the elimination of parity were bogus. Yes, the government bought a lot of product, but there was no "need test" at all. As noted in an earlier blog, elimination of parity actually increased milk production, while the profit from milk production went to "Rome."
There was absolutely no public benefit from elimination of parity. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for dairy went right along with the CPI for all items - a .99 correlation.
Rural NY looks like a war zone. NY has been the third largest dairy state. Dairy is the most important economic factor in rural NY. The plundering of dairy farmers has left the rural areas decapitalized - to wit, plundered.
The same can be said of other states, I have just taken NY as an example.
The saying "All roads lead to Rome" is as meaningful as saying all roads lead to Altoona.
ReplyDeleteWhile Romans plundered, upstate NY was left for dead by its politicians back in the 1960s. Understand that $30 per cwt milk would have only invited $10 milk from Indiana to displace NY milk as it does today in slower motion.