WHAT IS NATIONALIZATION OF AGRICULTURE
The ever-growing wants of the people on the one side, the ever-increasing price of agricultural produce on the other, afford the irrefutable evidence that the nationalisation (sic) of land has become a social necessity.
Such a diminution (reduction) of agricultural produce as springs from individual abuse, will, of course, become impossible whenever cultivation is carried on under the control and for the benefit of the nation. |
The International Workingmen ‘s Association
If you do not know, the International Workingmen’s Association was an international organization which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing socialist, communist and anarchist groups and trade unions that were based on the working class and class struggle. They were, fortunately, disbanded in 1876, but their socialistic/communistic ideas are still being bantered around in our left-wing, ruling political party.
In June 2019, the Democrats who sit on the House Natural Resources Committee passed H.R.3195. This bill mandates permanent funding of $900 million to the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) each year. This would be a whopping two and a half times greater than the Fund’s average annual expenditures over the past 15 years. Just what does the LWCF do? The Fund was created in 1964. It is primarily funded by federal oil and gas drilling royalties. Its main activity has been to gobble up private land (read: nationalize) and put it under government ownership, management, and political control. Among other things, this means that the newly nationalized lands will be poorly managed.
The one thing so interesting and perhaps even unethical about politics is the ability to add riders to a bill that are not really related to the bill itself. Congress can use them as an opportunity to attach policy changes, even if those policies would be difficult to pass on their own. The thinking is, if members can manage to get their policy priority into the must-pass bill, other members of Congress will have to support it because they want to avoid a shutdown. These are called policy riders—because they “ride” on top of a must-pass bill. And, because the president lacks line-item veto authority (meaning they can’t selectively veto parts of a bill; they have to sign or veto the entire bill), they must sign the appropriations bill as-is, which means policy riders have a high likelihood of becoming law. Policy riders tend to be controversial.
That becomes the problem when government is given money for conservation, but the bill includes ability to buy land. It may start out simple and non-threatening but in time could be a problem. This is why we must elect officials that understand and represent our values. Socialists support nationalization of farmland as you see from the initial statement. For those who may not understand the consequences of nationalization, let’s consider the problems with Venezuela. In 2001 President Chavez introduced a Land Law permitting the expropriation of agricultural land. Seized estates were turned over to co-operatives and regime supporters. The new farmers lacked the technical know-how, management skills and capital necessary to maintain production. Moreover, as state retained title to the land, the regime would repossess it if the new farmers did not continue their political support. By 2010, the government had seized 20% of the agricultural land in Venezuela. The remaining private farmers did not invest in their farms for fear of expropriation. |
These expropriations destroyed Venezuela’s agricultural capacity. According to the National Confederacy of Agriculture and Livestock Associations, agricultural productivity dropped sharply from 2007 to 2011. Maize production fell by 40.3%; rice by 38.9%; sugar by 33.6%; coffee by 46.5%; potatoes by 63.5%; tomatoes by 31.0%; and onions by 24.6%. Livestock farming was also devastated. Beef and veal production have dropped by 75% between 1998 and 2014.
Nationalization also affected Venezuela’s food processors. The government expropriated 18 of the 27 plants producing the staple corn flour. All are now making a loss and are in various stages of collapse. One of the most egregious nationalization cases is the Cariaco Sugar Plant: within two years of being nationalized it was only producing at 11% of its previous production levels. The Ezequiel Zamora Sugar Plant, started in 2002 as a new state enterprise by Chavez in his home state, has cost a huge amount but is largely in ruins and barely producing any sugar. Workers in nationalized food-processing firms who protest the situation are treated with no mercy. In February this year, the regime arrested several trade union leaders at the Lacteos Los Andes “Hugo Chavez” plant in Cabudare who protested corrupt and incompetent management. |
Chavez also nationalized food retailers, such as the large supermarket chains Exito and Cada in 2010. These were turned into a state-owned operation called Bicentennial Supplies that by 2017 had largely collapsed, with 60% of its shops shut and 6,000 of its 9,000 workers dismissed.
Of course, nationalization is not the only cause of food shortages in Venezuela. Price controls forced businesses to operate at a loss or shut down. Three-quarters of private businesses in Venezuela have ceased to operate as of 2018. Venezuela now imports 70% of its food and people are reliant on inadequate government handouts. To rescue the situation drastic measures are needed. To prevent a famine the Venezuelan government must abolish price controls and end expropriations. Only then will hunger be relieved.
As we should learn from Venezuela, nationalization of farmland does not work. Who knows how to farm better than farmers? Who has commitment and love for their land better than farmers and ranchers? Who thinks that the government is good at doing anything efficiently and effectively? We already have a problem with foreign countries buying up farmland. Many wealthy Hollywood, tech and media moguls are buying up farmland as well. Understand that under the socialistic policies of far-left politicians, nationalization of farmland is their priority.
Some states have passed laws that will prohibit foreign countries from buying land. We need legislators that would support a bill like this. We must protect our state from Democratic socialistic policies which means we must support conservative candidates for office. We unfortunately have leadership in our state that blindly accept everything Biden and the far-left says. We have two months to decide who we can vote for that will represent our lifestyle. KLN |