Capitalism and Agriculture

by Gherald

Our host wrote:

One of the biggest reasons I have fallen out of love with the whole Ayn Rand/laissez faire capitalism point of view in recent years is my exposure to all of the truly horrible stuff that unbridled capitalism, tied to exccessive corporate entanglement with government, has done to us as a people over the last 50+ years.

Setting aside all the truly wonderful stuff we should thank laissez faire capitalism for, let's consider the specific horribleness he cites:

[..] the main reason for the explosion in E. Coli deaths over the last 20 years had to do with changing the diet of factory farmed cows from grass to heavily subsidized corn products

I agree that this—along with other pernicious effects of corn subsidies—is a horrible situation. However, it's clearly a point in favor of the laissez faire model.

Free money for corn growers et. al. is a classic example of government intervention gone awry that cannot be undone because of entrenched special interests. And the market's flooding with cheap high fructose corn syrup is exactly the result we should expect from such bad policy.

I've long maintained that repealing all agricultural subsidies would be one of my first acts as Benevolent Libertarian Dictator. (Right after replacing all welfare and progressive taxation with a flat negative income tax).

The rest of Metavirus' post is an expression of general dismay after listening to Michael Pollan in Food, Inc.

As the son of a farmer myself, I heartily recommend you explore the other side of the story–particularly The Omnivore's Delusion, a farmer's defense of industrial agriculture.