08/27/01: Libertarian gloom-and-doomers wrong again!

Posted By: convenor

As if THAT should surprise anyone. When the federal government began subsidizing wetland protection, libertarian gloom-and-doomers were all over the place, proclaiming that this was federal intervention of the worst sort, that landowners wouldn't be able to administer their land as they saw fit (regardless of its impact on adjacent landowners), that the U.S. was at risk over this centrally administered, big government program.

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/27/national/27FARM.html

Well, it turns out that the folks in North Dakota who are voluntarily participating in the program, are not only doing good, but they're also doing well. Family farms have stayed in the family, and by rotating crop plantings, and instituting a rotation of grassland, these small farmers are able to make their annual "nut" to continue farming; they've revived previously flagging duck populations; and hunters and other outdoorsmen are able to take advantage of robust game bird populations.

So, the Libertarian doom-and-gloomers were wrong. They said that this federal subsidy would bankrupt the treasury, and they were wrong. They said that the program would unfairly limit the uses to which a landowner could use his property, and they were wrong. They said that small farms would go bankrupt, and they were wrong.

What is telling is that large agribusiness concerns haven't been able to snap up these small farms for a pittance from their financially destitute owners, and so they're lobbying Congress hard to end the program. There's a program you'll see grundle-James and his Libertarian friends get behind 100%.

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