Thought Provoking

Charlottesville

September 9, 2025

As I watched this video, I became cynical. How many will view this as fake news, wokeness, Democratic hogwash (possibly a pun?).

It’s 4 AM, and I’m probably not able to articulate my opinions clearly. But I’ll try. Apologies for any thinkos.

1. Farming is a tough way to make a living. I don’t blame the farmers for trying to maximize their yields.

2. Across so many industries, we don’t price environmental costs — “ environmental externalities.” That’s actually a misnomer IMO as the environmental costs truly are a direct cost. But we as a society have tacitly agreed that we are not going to pay dollars for those costs. We are going to pay them in declining environmental quality.

3. Subsidies? Those who are against them need to realize how important they are to farmers.

4. IMO, there are no doubt environmental regulations that were well intentioned but in practice have not worked. But to think that corporations will police themselves and do what is “right” environmentally is naive. Corporations exist to maximize their short-term cash flow. Yes, short term — case study is Kodak. Environmental stewardship is a long-term matter. No doubt there are some companies whose strategy is to be “environmentally friendly” but they are the rare exception. I guess what I am saying is we need a strong EPA to hold in check the companies that will arrive the environment for their near-term cash flow.

We hear so little these days about an associated issue — water. So many aquifers are being depleted — again, for short-term gain. Maybe I’ll write about that issue (again) soon.