The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
Greetings to all in Western Illinois. May your job be secure, your travels safe, your harvest satisfactory, and your family in good health and spirits.
The human race can be so predictable in many ways that it is scary. On the other hand sometimes they are not, especially if they belong to the younger generation.
The press and advertising media take advantage of our predictability and the anti-culture, including drug pushers, body piercers, and tattoo artists, take advantage of our unpredictability.
The liberal press has hammered on the fact that the sky is falling for so long that people are predictably beginning to believe it. A lie told one thousand times eventually becomes believable. Hitler proved that, as well as many other despots, dictators and scarlets in history.
We have been told over and over again, for several years, the economy is failing due to conservative policies and government loosening restrictions. What do you know, it is now felt our ailing economy can be attributed, at least in part, to citizen lack of confidence in the economy. Never mind that many well intended but grievously poor liberal government policies forced many of the problems we are now experiencing.
We were told that your grocery bill has, and is, going up due to higher prices the farmer "received." Note, I said "received" in past tense. Now that the commodity prices have fallen below the cost of production, do you see grocery prices coming down or container size getting larger?
The Grocery Manufacturers Association members, and their ILK say, "Not so," because they bought commodities ahead at higher prices. Why wouldn't the reverse be true? Why didn't they buy ahead when prices were lower and give the consumer a break?
The reason is they gambled and you lost. They gambled their business model for low commodity prices would hold true. They gambled the farmer would store the grain for little or no gain, to their benefit. They gambled a certain segment of our society, the American farmer, would continue producing for fun rather than profit. And, they gambled government policy would always protect their unbridled greed and prevent the American farmer from developing alternative markets. The GMA underestimated the determination and drive of todays farmers.
When they lost their gamble they used it as an excuse to rape the American consumer. They turned to Big Oil and prostituted themselves by turning the blame for rising costs from high energy expenses on to the American farmer.
Big Oil, on the other hand, with their unbridled greed, knew that public opinion would not allow them to go head to head with rural communities. Thus they rented the GMA, as a common prostitute, to do their dirty work for them. Hence, the food for fuel debate. Funded, financed, and initiated by, "Big Oil".
When members of the GMA are asked why prices are not decreasing with the dramatic spiral downward movement of commodities prices, their own answers convict them of their guilt and dramatically underline their nasty unbridled greed.
It would be well to keep that in mind as you haul your grain to several separate members of the GMA in our community. Farmers have short memories and are predictable-they are betting. And, to cinch the deal, they will just hire a few local members of the community to do their bid and call.
Don't get me wrong, they are good people, that is not the point. It's just that the GMA just has a huge appetite to fuel their unbridled greed at the farmer's expense by "obliterating" viable alternatives to market crops.
A little bit of advertising, some good PR, and with some local help: how quickly the farmer forgets. He is so predictable. He will take a beat'n and just keep come'n back.
Maybe the scam will work, but then again maybe it just won't work this time around. We will wait and see.
Please note - for this week I turned this column over to ole Cornelius Farkwad to write as a guest writer.
Barnyard Bruke is busy keepin' track of his neighbors harvest. The views and opinions of Cornelius Farkwad are not necessarily the views and opinions of Barnyard Bruke. He only neighbors with ole Cornelius and relies on him for help and advice from time to time. Barnyard passes liability for words and action to Cornelius and Big Oil.
Catch ya later
Barnyard Bruke