The Lie of the Land
I watched Molly Dineen’s excellent documentary “The Lie of the Land” (C4 9:00pm Thursday) on the state of British farming in the aftermath of the ban on fox-hunting and the government’s “Single Payment” scheme this week.
Oddly enough this important issue gets little interest from the media even in the context of tackling climate change and has spawned only moderate interest in the blogersphere but then the forces behind these problems are complex, tainted by [inverse] class bigotry and ultimately leads to governmental corruption and their links to big business aided by the mute compliance of a public who easily manipulated and seduced by an ever cheaper shopping basket as they distance themselves ever more from the realities of life and death.
Not everyone thought highly of this documentary but then I have modest expectations of my television set. I can see why a director would want to keep their focus narrow in order to make a set of simple points strongly rather than spread their net more widely and end-up not making an impact on the viewer’s psyche. This is a subject worthy of a series but holding the viewer’s attention is another matter in the MTV age.
Food Security
A question which was brought up by farmers on the documentary several times this is something people like to think of as something we need not consider in a globalized economy however with oil supplies currently at their peak we should be starting to consider turning to local sources before we reach the depletion curve when oil prices will be sure to rise sharply and importing fresh food from abroad will become swiftly economically unviable.
Food Quality and Production Methods
It seems ironic that the British government and the EU impose strict guidelines on farming methods and quality only for the supermarkets to then be able to source their products from countries which do not impose these strict standards. This alone pours cold water on the notion that its market forces or capitalism alone which is responsible for these problems, this is an unequal application of law within the framework of capitalism and there’s something very wrong with that.
Supermarket Market Dominance
The growth of the major supermarkets in the UK has allowed them to dictate prices to the farmers without recourse to sustainability of the market. Smaller businesses have all but disappeared as they simply don’t have the financial clout to pressure suppliers into lower margins. I find it suspect that the Monopolies and Mergers commission have remained silent as they have swelled to stifle our high-streets and farmland into a sub-standard economic monoculture.
…strict guidelines on farming methods and quality only for the supermarkets to then be able to source their products from countries which do not impose these strict standards…
Therein lies the problem. So why aren’t Britain and the EU aware of it?
They’re aware of it James but they turn a blind eye. This is corruption plain and simple and it leads to the grand lie that is the centrepiece of Globalization itself.
Hi, I was directed here through Sophia’s blog. I have a question not related to this post, but you are the only one I know in finance …!
I guess you know about Aaron Russo’s movie, and maybe this video. If so, do you think their points valid in general?
I came recently across Henry CK Liu, and I found his article very interesting.
Thanks.
Prior to your comment I was not aware of Aaron Russo’s work. I have taken a look at some reviews and viewed the first 15 minutes of the movie. Broadly speaking I agree with his synopsis regarding the role of the Federal reserve but regard his stance on taxation as rather “Cranky”, I found his movie somewhat trite and condescending with an uncomfortable “The Juwes are not The men That Will be Blamed for nothing.” sub-text. I was not impressed with this amateur attempt at economics.
Mr. Liu’s site is more interesting and in broad terms I agree with his sentiments on global liquidity, dollar valuation and globalization. His style gets a bit “ranty” in places and some of his analysis regarding ancient history are somewhere between speculative and down-right bonkers, nevertheless his contemporary analysis is mostly sound.
Thanks for your reply.
Maybe you’ll have time sometimes to see the Money Masters - links above. It is an interesting movie as it is presents some financial issues in a way which is understandable for non experts, but again a person who is in the field should advise.
Russo comes across as a guy who is upset that he is being prosecuted for non-payment of taxes - which, in fact, is what he is. There is some decent material in his film but it is not original work and it is not well presented. The Money Masters is better but it is dated, too US specific, and takes several hours to communicate information that could better be presented in 40 minutes.
Most films and writings on the subject of the Fed source heavily from Eustace Mulllins…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eustace_Mullins#Writings
By accident, or by design, many of the people and groups who have attacked the debt-money system tend to be on the cranky side and their output is consequently flawed. With that in mind, this pamphlet includes some decent insights for non-specialist readers…
http://www.michaeljournal.org/myth.htm
Economist Michael Hudson also says some interesting things though, once again, he can go off the rails and say some peculiar things sometimes
http://www.michael-hudson.com/
So Mr Wolfie you don’t buy into the theory that the JtR ‘Juwes’ comment refers to Masonic ritual and is nothing to do with Jews at all?
To be honest Stef, I find it quite odd that most critics of the debt-money system seem to be more than a little cranky. Either that or they become fully-fledged anti-capitalists whereas I don’t think there’s anything wrong with Capitalism, I am concerned with the way that it has become corrupted by the institutions who are supposed to police and guide it. The current zeitgeist in free-market fundamentalism isn’t helping either as it allows the corrupt to hide their trail all the more effectively.
No I don’t buy that theory in the Ripper case. I think it was just plain ordinary East-End Anti-Semitics, maybe to misdirect the enquiry maybe even unconnected.
Yup, I understand where you’re coming from re. the Capitalism thing. The problem is that there is a deliberately cultivated mismatch between the popular perception of what capitalism entails and how it is actually being practiced today
Re. the Ripper thing - I wouldn’t buy into that particular theory either except for the fact that the killings do seem to have had a ritualistic element (maybe) so the book’s still open on that one AFAIC…
…has allowed them to dictate prices to the farmers without recourse to sustainability of the market…
Again - short-termism. The disease is over here in a big way too.
Yesterday, there was a program on Radio Canada in which they asked four of their reporters dispatched in four different locations and climates (from Los Angeles to New Foundland), to cook a whole meal made of food produced within a perimeter less than 200kms from where they live. The result was quite astonishing. It brought to life totally forgottten food.
I remember when I was a child that we didn’t eat rice because it was not produced locally. Instead we ate Burgul (wheat). But as rice was introduced to the market the snobery code entered our lives at the same time and it was only the poor who ate Burgul while the rich ate rice…But this is market economy…
Very true Sophia. When I was a boy in the ’70s the choice of food was far more limited than it is today however the vegetables were higher quality and kept for a week or two in a cool larder. Now we have extensive choice but but the vegetables have to be eaten within a few days, necessitating more frequent visits to the supermarket. It didn’t really hurt me to have to wait until the strawberry season to eat strawberries either.
Ironically Burgul is more nutritious than rice.