Farmers don't pay enough to get Americans to work for them, so....

What is PG Tips?

That you think it would take a fairy godmother to help someone belies your statement that it’s possible without one.

I'm sure that sounded smart to you when you typed it, but it's nonsense that totally misconstrues what I wrote.

I maintain that to better one's economic standing in life, one generally has to work for it.

Want to be an auto mechanic? You have to spend a lot of time working on cars.

Want to play the guitar? You have to invest years of your spare time to practice.

Want to run a marathon? You had better start training.

It isn't any different with your job. If your job does not satisfy you, you have to change things. If you don't actively pursue a change, things will not get better; in fact, they'll get worse because the world advances even if you choose not to.

There are no fairy godmothers. But a person who's passively waiting for life to suddenly change for the better, though, would seem to believe in them.

And you didn't answer my question.

Yeah, there are.
Rich parents.
But conservatives squeal like piggies against "the death tax".

Some people win the lottery. Some people do everything right and still wind up wrecked. That's life.

We're all adults, though. Pick your best strategy for life and go with it. But if your strategy is simply to wait for your fortunes to change, well, they probably won't.

Imagine someone stuck in a low-wage, dead end job that they don't really like.

Discounting everything I've said--that this person needs to seek opportunities to better their position--tell me what advice you'd give for this person to make their life significantly better in 3, 5, 10 years.

Oh, poor baby. I didn’t answer your question. Boo hoo. You didn’t tell us how the farmer got his family from point A to point B without a lot of stupid talk yourself. So, when you explain that, then you’ll get some honest discussion. Unfortunately, I don’t expect anything more than platitudes from you.

You made a claim. I asked you to back it up. You haven't.

No. You made a claim. I asked you to back it up. All you’ve done is obfuscate.

In case you’re wondering, this is the post.

How have I obfuscated? I've written very plainly. I've even summarized my point a couple of times.

You made a claim that people are held down in low wage jobs by law. I've asked for examples of such laws.

No, you haven’t. All you’ve said is platitudes. Now, try giving us real life examples of what happens.

You can’t.

I know you can’t because you do not live in the real world. Your platitudes make for great headlines and posters. But they don’t tell a story.

I thought that was apparent.

If a business can't operate at a profit, I expect it to dissolve. If a small farm can't operate profitably, I expect the owner to liquidate the assets and sell off the land to someone who can run it profitably.

In the case of farms--which have been heavily subsidized and/or protected with price controls over many decades--I'd support some small social benefits (low/no interest student loans, job retraining, etc.) for displaced workers when subsidies end.

But I'm not for using public money to keep small farms afloat. The small family farm is no different than a blacksmith shop; it's time may be at an end.

The world changes. People have to change with it.

See. More obfuscating and blaming victims.

How am I blaming the victims?

Small farms do not have the enormous economies of scale that large farms do. If they cannot provide food to markets at market price and still make a profit, they need to go away.

It's no different than a blacksmith or a Blockbuster. If your business is not suited to survive in a competitive marketplace, your business isn't viable.

Please go back to the original post and take us step by step how you propose a farmer gets from point A to point B.

What are steps A and B?

The original post is about a shrinking workforce in the milk farming industry.

Fun fact:

A lotta Chinese immigrants claimed citizenship in San Francisco after the 1906 quake leveled most of the city and fires torched most of the rest, including the immigration building. They had a whole lotta other shit to deal with, so they just shrugged it off and let 'em all stay.

Only because Time-Travellin' Tucker Carlson told 'em FOX would be able to use them as an argument against affirmative action in 2022.

Anyone?

The original post - my original post is asking you how the farmer is supposed to “work hard” to get from having had his farm practically stolen from him by corporate farmers to being able to claw his way out of poverty.

Seek better opportunities.

Again with the platitudes.

Have you ever been to a farm?

They are generally at least 5 miles out of town. Certainly within walking distance if that is the case.

A town in which the livelihoods of the restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores were dependent on the farms and farmers that surround the town.

When all the jobs in that town dry up because the family farms that used to be profitable are no longer profitable, then the next nearest “opportunity” is likely 30 miles away in a bigger city.

So, sure, the farmer now walks 30 miles to and from work every day - probably a manual labor job because he may or may not have any marketable skills or more likely, doesn’t know his skills are marketable because in his mind, he’s a farmer and that is his only skill.

how long do you suppose this guy is going to live?

His wife could do babysitting or sewing or baking - not baking because she probably doesn’t have a commercial grade kitchen.

I am more than certain you read plenty of books. That is not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the one thing you seem to be completely unaware in your platitudes. I’m talking about people.

Fuck a rich old dying guy like Anna Nichole Smith.

If his farm is not profitable--and he has no ideas or realizable plan for turning it profitable--he should sell it and find another line of work.

That's it. That's all the answer there is.

If you're looking for an answer where the farmer keeps his farm, has no financial worries, and lives happily ever after, you need a screenplay writer.

Only works if you look like Anna Nicole Smith, though. If you look like Don Knotts...

...you'd better find a rich old dying guy (or gal) who's turned on by people who look like Don Knotts.

"We gotta act fast. There's this rich old guy, see, and he's got a Mayberry fetish..."

Job mobility when you're living on payday loans is non existent. Learning a trade when you have to work 2 or 3 jobs isn't feasible.

Being "stuck" isn't just a frame of mind.

And if he's under water in debt?