BJN said:
You point out that farms in California are being broken up. Guess what, that is one of the purposes of the federal estate tax. This is the land of opportunity. The little guy is supposed to have a chance to get ahead in this country. You start with nothing, you work hard and you build something from nothing. The federal estate tax makes that possible. Without the federal estate tax, land never changes hands and the little farmer never gets his chance to get started. In an aristocratic society, wealth is maintained for many generations and assets don't change hands. That is where we go without the federal estate tax. Farms getting broken up into smaller pieces and selling every now and then is exactly what lets small farmers have a fighting chance to become big farmers. If the big farmers never have to sell an acre, they just keep getting bigger and bigger until no young farmers can get into the business. If it were not for corporate farming laws and the federal estate tax, the land in most agricultural states would be controlled by fewer and fewer people and larger and larger corporations. If that is good for agriculture and the rural way of life, then I will eat my hat.
And why would you call Hillary Clinton a communist? What on earth does that have to do with the topic and what is it intended to accomplish? Personally, I believe every one of the individuals running for the office of President are real patriots. They have a real belief in what they think they can do for our nation. I think they are all sincere even though they have completely opposite viewpoints. They all put their reputations on the line. I applaud everyone of them for having the intestinal fortitude to withstand a campaign. I don't care if they are Republican or Democrat - they are doing what they do because they really think they can make a difference.
thoughtful comments BJN
i call hillary a communist because she is one. sincerety in communism is her stated goal. she's also stated she's a progressive. read about that.
also, CA is a situation that is spreading to the rest of the states. you mention that the little guy doesn't have a chance. part of that reason is because so much of the land value is tied up to a ponzi scheme of development based on immigration, both legal and illegal. CA has restricted it's taxes through proposition 13 in a response to MASSIVE infrastructrue programs whose rate of cost exceeded taxpayers ability to pay for them. the prooposition was advertised to keep grandma in her home, not to give business a break too. the government NEVER responded with less spending, they announced bond issue after bond issue and NEVER curbed their spending. now we have an indian gaming inititative which is probably going to pass that will give the state 500 milion/ year in additional revenue, but will they reduce spending? heck no, only a sustained ponzi scheme.
small farmers don't have a fighting chance, they don't have ANY chance in california. the tax revenue from converting farms to houses is to enticing and what the government is interested, converting farmland to repegged property values to pay for their pet projects and benefits, ie salaries and benefits. i think nationally, the number of government employees now exceeds the private sector. didn't use to be that way.
in an aristocracy, the aristocracy is relatively insulated by economics by more taxation, simple debt removal and other tactics. in america, bad decsions are reinforced with bankruptcy. coupled with new inventions which increase efficiency, the government protects outdated jobs. these protected jobs are a form of aristocracy. the goverment guarantees their votes with bribes.
the governments goal is the elimination of property rights.
the government, in their zeal to protect us from ourselves, have only ratched up the concentration of property away from individuals to coporations. this has happened rather quickly in the last 20 years. there's nothing this government hates more than the little guy. it's too hard to regulate so many interests. they would rater have consolidation. as the president of a small water company, i deal with this some what often. the government complains they don't have time to regulate all of this, yet the keep increasing the number of tests for all small water companies to "pay" for their testing essentially, rather than letting us just use our own water how the shareholders see fit, particularly since none of us drink it.
Folks, the government HATES small business, that's why they give subsidies to big box stores etc.
there's an acronym in the book smallmart called TINOW. it means there is no other way. but there is. distributed power was what this country was founded on. look around you. everywhere there is pressure to consolidate it. no small business can compete by trying to follow the rules as the rules are set up for companies which span multiple states and subsidize transportation costs to keep them artificially low so it makes sense for china to do business here. yes, i said energy costs are artificially low, and in the past, i have said they are artificially high, so how can two things be true at the same time?
think about it. government tries very hard to control the economy.
