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A counterexample: After WWII in Poland, Moscow installed a communist government in Warsaw, which promptly started implementing communist policies. One of the b

by badpun 7y ago

A counterexample: After WWII in Poland, Moscow installed a communist government in Warsaw, which promptly started implementing communist policies. One of the biggest ones was collectivization of farming - taking pieces of land and joining them into massive, state-run farms. After around 10 years of this, the studies started showing that this collectivized farming is so much less efficient than private farming (which didn't receive any subsidies!) that, if the whole country converts to it, there's a risk of nation-wide hunger. Further collectivization was stopped shortly after, even though it was clearly against the official dogma of private property and capitalism being the root of all evil.

WalterBright 7y ago
Every economy that has tried collective farming, from small to large, has never been able to achieve self-sufficiency in food. The US economy around 1800 was the first economy in history to produce a consistent food surplus. You can see the results of this in the astonishing increase in the average height of Americans throughout the 19th century. In the Great Depression, the government ordered the slaughter of millions of hogs in order to try and raise the price of pork. https://livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/crops_17.html https://livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/crops_17.html
- michaf 7y ago
  > The US economy around 1800 was the first economy in history to produce a consistent food surplus. Can you provide a source for this claim? Thanks.
  - WalterBright 7y ago
    Eugene Weber's series of lectures "The Western Tradition".
- badpun 7y ago
  > The US economy around 1800 was the first economy in history to produce a consistent food surplus. Poland was a big exporter of food (mostly grain) around XV and XVI century. There was also no hunger in the country, which means that the exported grain constituted a pretty consistent surplus.
  - WalterBright 7y ago
    Countries have exported food at least since Roman times. Much of the ancient Mediterranean shipping was transporting food. Hunger was still a constant specter, though. Consider the rise in height in Americans after this achievement. This doesn't happen without plenty of food available all the time. I'm old now. It wasn't until a couple years ago that I EVER went 24 hours without food (I was experimenting with fasting). Historically speaking, that is incredible.

by badpun 7y ago

WalterBright 7y ago

Every economy that has tried collective farming, from small to large, has never been able to achieve self-sufficiency in food. The US economy around 1800 was the first economy in history to produce a consistent food surplus. You can see the results of this in the astonishing increase in the average height of Americans throughout the 19th century. In the Great Depression, the government ordered the slaughter of millions of hogs in order to try and raise the price of pork. https://livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/crops_17.html https://livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/crops_17.html

michaf 7y ago
> The US economy around 1800 was the first economy in history to produce a consistent food surplus. Can you provide a source for this claim? Thanks.
- WalterBright 7y ago
  Eugene Weber's series of lectures "The Western Tradition".
badpun 7y ago
> The US economy around 1800 was the first economy in history to produce a consistent food surplus. Poland was a big exporter of food (mostly grain) around XV and XVI century. There was also no hunger in the country, which means that the exported grain constituted a pretty consistent surplus.
- WalterBright 7y ago
  Countries have exported food at least since Roman times. Much of the ancient Mediterranean shipping was transporting food. Hunger was still a constant specter, though. Consider the rise in height in Americans after this achievement. This doesn't happen without plenty of food available all the time. I'm old now. It wasn't until a couple years ago that I EVER went 24 hours without food (I was experimenting with fasting). Historically speaking, that is incredible.