Socialism is a political curse word. When the general public hears a person spew it, we usually perceive the accuser as irrational. However, I have found that I agree with many of the accusations. A person is a socialist if their cumulative actions and beliefs bring us closer to a society where the invisible hand is slapped down by the iron fist.
I have been called many names in the past, but I never once been accused of being a socialist. After all, I am a Republican in the political science department. There is, however, a time and place for everything.
American industry has shifted, along with the rest of the Westernized world, towards a service sector economy. Industrial factories and, before that, the fields once comprised the majority of our labor. Although the shift away from the smoke stacks has left the assembly lines bare in many places around the States, anyone who drives cross-country knows we still grow crops on plenty of fields.
The farmers still grow in America because of socialism. The government provides subsidies to farmers that are intended to influence the quantity and type of agricultural output that is produced. The government did not let the agrarian sector die in America when the free market said it was someone else’s turn to make the food.
I am a free market-loving Republican who swings harder right than most left-handed major league batters, but I support this socialism. When I began researching the issue, my preconceived notion was to support the free market — most of the empty arguments out there could and would not change my mind. But then I saw the argument of protectionalism, which is any policy that protects our country from harm.
Once the free market became more global, Americans farmers began to see outside farmers competing against them for our consumption. These outside farmers could produce food at cheaper prices. Logically, the free market would allow the outside farms to produce our food, while our farms would seek better jobs. This would create a world where America relied on other countries for our food supply.
Would we want to be that vulnerable? Right now we have two military conflicts in the Middle East, and if our track record keeps up, we will probably be interacting with other countries in a militaristic fashion for some time. I support these war efforts, but acknowledge that other countries dissent. I do not want these other counties to dangle the possibility of famine above our heads. We might be a fat country, but imagine if we had food shortages the entire time we were fighting in Iraq.
Economists think we could change our industry back to agrarian in such a scenario, but it takes time to make subdivisions into fields. And that is the obstacle we would face if we did not have our fields for a long enough time. Who knows how long we would wait for food if we were totally cut off. Regardless of my political identity, I support this specific socialism.
Send Conrad your thoughts on farm subsidies to [email protected].
