Food
Unlike many things people want and need, food actually does grow on trees. You can find it in the fields as well as in the corrals and barns of farms. Cubans are hungry for many things but on the top of the list is food. So the question is how can we best assure Cubans are fed in the future?
It must be painfully obvious that Fidel ain't no farmer. When he came to power decades ago the first thing he did was slaughter all the cattle on my family's ranch (including all the breeding stock) and the people had meat - for a couple of weeks. However, the way you produce abundant quantities of food is to first not let city boys like Fidel have anything to do with it. Food is too important and will be the main reason Cuba's communist government will be replaced shortly. This has always been the case regarding food going back to the French revolution and beyond. Governments that cannot supply their people with conditions where they can feed themselves always are replaced and usually by a mob of hungry enraged people. I suppose it could have something to do with how fast thin people can chase after obese people like the king of France and Raul Castro who are ladened down with so much fat from years of stuffing themselves.
Food - being another object of wealth - is simply a combination of human labor and land. The question then becomes: How can we Cubans best assure that food production is conducted cheaply and efficiently so as to provide an abundance for the people of Cuba and elsewhere. Castro figured out food grew on trees but thought that was the end of it. But human labor is equally important. How do we assure adequate human labor, including stored up human labor in the form of tractors, reapers, thrashers, etc.? Why is that important too? It is because farm equipment does NOT grow on trees and even stolen tractors will one day wear out. With modern farm equipment and freer labor American farmers grow so much food that it takes me about one day's labor to feed my wife and four kids for one month. And that would be far less if my children were not such disgraceful wasters of food. But that fight is but another of my struggles which must take second place to your food needs and be fought at some future date to final victory. In the mean time I try to live on the left-overs so they do not go to waste and compound the sin.
To solve your hunger problem is quite simple. Follow these steps and you will be eating Cuban produced food within six months and in abundance:
1. Return those weed infested, broken down farms and ranches to their rightful owners.
2. If Cubans are living on any part of the property right now give them title to that small piece of land for their home. They'll make great customers for the farmers in the future as well as farm hands. Surely it won't hurt crop production missing a small piece of farmland.
3. Elect a government that forbids income tax and instead uses the land location value tax that is high in the central urban areas but zero to those farmers living out in the boonies.
4. Sit back for six months and have your meals provided to you by your Cuban brothers and sisters now living in exile as you watch the tons of farm equipment being imported into Cuba. After six months the first crops will all be in and Cuba will be feeding itself again. Soon after we will be helping to feed the rest of the world as well.
Of course all this comes after you remove the current incompetent government. Since voting out your government is illegal you must do it in the streets with a labor strike. Workers in companies don't get to vote on company matters either but can also strike for better pay and working conditions. Raul is not paying you and barely feeding you. It will take no more than a week of Cubans taking to the streets in a strike to drive the "Green Acres" farmers from the island. Then we're coming with boatloads of food for you my brothers and sisters. I promise you that!
Oh yeah...if you didn't know "Green Acres" was a tv show when I was a kid that was about a city lawyer and his spoiled wife who decide to be farmers. Not surprisingly, they had about as much success at farming as Fidel - lots of dirt, weeds and no food not purchased from the store.
It must be painfully obvious that Fidel ain't no farmer. When he came to power decades ago the first thing he did was slaughter all the cattle on my family's ranch (including all the breeding stock) and the people had meat - for a couple of weeks. However, the way you produce abundant quantities of food is to first not let city boys like Fidel have anything to do with it. Food is too important and will be the main reason Cuba's communist government will be replaced shortly. This has always been the case regarding food going back to the French revolution and beyond. Governments that cannot supply their people with conditions where they can feed themselves always are replaced and usually by a mob of hungry enraged people. I suppose it could have something to do with how fast thin people can chase after obese people like the king of France and Raul Castro who are ladened down with so much fat from years of stuffing themselves.
Food - being another object of wealth - is simply a combination of human labor and land. The question then becomes: How can we Cubans best assure that food production is conducted cheaply and efficiently so as to provide an abundance for the people of Cuba and elsewhere. Castro figured out food grew on trees but thought that was the end of it. But human labor is equally important. How do we assure adequate human labor, including stored up human labor in the form of tractors, reapers, thrashers, etc.? Why is that important too? It is because farm equipment does NOT grow on trees and even stolen tractors will one day wear out. With modern farm equipment and freer labor American farmers grow so much food that it takes me about one day's labor to feed my wife and four kids for one month. And that would be far less if my children were not such disgraceful wasters of food. But that fight is but another of my struggles which must take second place to your food needs and be fought at some future date to final victory. In the mean time I try to live on the left-overs so they do not go to waste and compound the sin.
To solve your hunger problem is quite simple. Follow these steps and you will be eating Cuban produced food within six months and in abundance:
1. Return those weed infested, broken down farms and ranches to their rightful owners.
2. If Cubans are living on any part of the property right now give them title to that small piece of land for their home. They'll make great customers for the farmers in the future as well as farm hands. Surely it won't hurt crop production missing a small piece of farmland.
3. Elect a government that forbids income tax and instead uses the land location value tax that is high in the central urban areas but zero to those farmers living out in the boonies.
4. Sit back for six months and have your meals provided to you by your Cuban brothers and sisters now living in exile as you watch the tons of farm equipment being imported into Cuba. After six months the first crops will all be in and Cuba will be feeding itself again. Soon after we will be helping to feed the rest of the world as well.
Of course all this comes after you remove the current incompetent government. Since voting out your government is illegal you must do it in the streets with a labor strike. Workers in companies don't get to vote on company matters either but can also strike for better pay and working conditions. Raul is not paying you and barely feeding you. It will take no more than a week of Cubans taking to the streets in a strike to drive the "Green Acres" farmers from the island. Then we're coming with boatloads of food for you my brothers and sisters. I promise you that!
Oh yeah...if you didn't know "Green Acres" was a tv show when I was a kid that was about a city lawyer and his spoiled wife who decide to be farmers. Not surprisingly, they had about as much success at farming as Fidel - lots of dirt, weeds and no food not purchased from the store.
posted by Tomás Estrada-Palma at
9:37 AM
2 Comments:
Interestingly, Vietnam is doing a variation of a land tax for farms. I'm not familiar with all aspects but they are producing a lot more food nowadays. But I'm sure it's a half way half assed version that Cuba should shun. Fund the government with land rent based on the location sure. Give title of ownership, which can be sold or inherited certainly.
The concept is simple if you look at the Washington Redskins. Season ticket holders pay a price each year for their seat based on location. The better the view the higher the cost. These seating rights can be sold to others and they are passed down to children in wills. But you can buy a seat outright and own it forever. But as long as you pay the fee (rent) you get to sit and watch the game and be a part of the experience. It's a fair system especially since I can still see the game on tv. Likewise those who were not making a high salary would just live a bit farther out and have little or no land rent cost like me watching the game on tv. You got to be crazy to pay those price to see the game at the stadium!
Dammit! I meant "CAN'T" be bought. The seats can't be bought. Sorry.
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