The march of the weenies

Imagine your corner pharmacy, the one you have been going to since you were a kid, suddenly closing down. You would now have to travel many miles farther to get your prescriptions, become familiar with unknown faces and procedures. Reality set in and the owner could no longer compete in a modern world.
What if your local restaurant closed because of a fire, flood, or some calamity that was totally unforeseen? If they had insurance, they may well open again as life goes on. If not, life goes on.

Now pretend you are a local farmer or fruit grower who experiences a bad year due to unfavorable weather conditions. The weather was too wet, too warm, too cold and you lost some, or a good portion of, your crops. In the old days, a farmer would simply pick up, lick his/her wounds and move forward. If they had crop insurance, they would not consider it a total loss and begin again. If not, life went on. Local markets have changed over the years and produce and farm goods can now be brought in from distant locations. The family farm would either survive, or not.

But wait! Times have changed. Besides the marketplace being able to support local food needs with products from other areas, the government has decided that is simply not good enough.

We must save the local farmer by throwing money in the form of grants and no/or low interest loans to keep him/her on the planting bubble. After all, farming is an important industry, especially in Wayne County.

Perhaps the farmer did not save for a rainy day, or failed to buy enough crop insurance. We, the people must subsidize his/her existence to ensure their survival. If the farmer let his migrant living facilities go to hell, we must give them money to rebuild the migrant housing. Then, we must supply free medical and schooling and a host of other services to the migrant workers to ensure the steady income for the farmers, not necessarily for the good of the migrants.

Local politicians, State Senator Mike Nozzolio and Assemblyman Bob Oaks jumped on the bandwagon to ensure the steady flow of cash to the local agriculture industry. They flood the press release market with kudos for themselves and their efforts to get money for their ‘growing’ constituents.

Last week a resolution came before a Board of Supervisors’ committee in an attempt for the County to apply for grants/no/low interest loans for rebuilding migrant workers’ living quarters. Only one supervisor, Bill Hammond from Macedon, a farmer by trade, spoke out against the resolution on the basis that the government should not subsidize farmers for letting their migrant homes go to hell in the first place.

The local politicians say they are all in favor of cutting government spending, but at what cost? All the Republicans in power here simply do not have the guts to do as they say. In short, they are a bunch of weenies who fail to see the forest/orchard for the trees. We continue to boost up an agricultural community which, for those demanding more out of government, simply cannot, or will not stand on its own two feet in a changing marketplace.

Meanwhile, the local pharmacy, restaurant…

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