6 ms·

Americans are uneducated and unsophisticated, believing someone can wave a magic wand and make food prices come down,… when wages and supply must go up to accom

by sympil 2y ago

Americans are uneducated and unsophisticated, believing someone can wave a magic wand and make food prices come down,… when wages and supply must go up to accomplish this… Government wields a magic wand that can make this happen. Americans aren’t dumber than other people. The President in the U.S. is the front person for “government” and asking why the President hasn’t accomplished something is one of the ways we put pressure on our leaders to lead.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
toomuchtodo 2y ago
> Government wields a magic wand that can make this happen. What wand would government wave to make food prices decline in a short period of time? Cattle herds are at the lowest level in 73 years due to costs related to climate change (which influences beef prices), and the government isn’t going to mandate vaccination for poultry to stem Avian flu contagion (leading to flock culling, further intensifying the supply death spiral; this influences eggs and poultry meat prices). The majority of coffee comes from Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, Ethiopia, and Indonesia; it can only be commercially grown in California, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico in the US. Show your work to support your assertion. https://archive.today/bzPeJ https://archive.today/bzPeJ > Americans aren’t dumber than other people. If you vote for someone who tells you they can make something cheaper they can’t actually make cheaper, and you don’t understand the how and the why, you are not a smart voter. US Cattle Herd Shrinks to 73-Year-Low in Blow for Beef Lovers - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-31/us-beef-to-remain-expensive-as-herd-shrinks-to-73-year-low https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-31/us-beef-t... | https://archive.today/GJz4w https://archive.today/GJz4w Major Florida grower [Alico Inc.] to end citrus operations after years of hurricanes and tree disease - https://apnews.com/article/florida-citrus-alico-hurricanes-greening-be79c91639a91c43e93487563a8c5f84 https://apnews.com/article/florida-citrus-alico-hurricanes-g... - January 7, 2025 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42806145 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42806145 (citations wrt poultry, dairy, and meatpacking supply chain) Food prices worried most voters, but Trump’s plans likely won’t lower their grocery bills - https://www.ap.org/news-highlights/spotlights/2024/food-prices-worried-most-voters-but-trumps-plans-likely-wont-lower-their-grocery-bills/ https://www.ap.org/news-highlights/spotlights/2024/food-pric... - November 14th, 2024 Trump now says bringing down grocery prices, as he promised, will be 'very hard' - https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-now-bringing-grocery-prices-promised-hard/story?id=116763207 https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-now-bringing-grocery-p... - December 13th, 2024
- sympil 2y ago
  The vast majority of the world’s population falls into this category: If you vote for someone who tells you they can make something cheaper they can’t actually make cheaper, and you don’t understand the how and the why, you are not a smart voter. Your premise is wrong. There are lots of smart people who make dumb, emotionally based decisions in voting and other aspects of life. …. in a short period of time? ? What wand would government wave to make food prices decline in a short period of time? Cattle herds are at the lowest level in 73 years due to costs related to climate change (which influences beef prices), and the government isn’t going to mandate vaccination for poultry to stem Avian flu contagion The discussion was about oligopolies and their pricing power. Now you are changing the topic by talking about things that don’t have to do with oligopolies and their pricing power. I suggest you are not in a position to call other voters dumb.
  - toomuchtodo 2y ago
    I suggest you don't understand the problem besides "oligopolies are the culprit," which is not supported by the evidence. Ag consolidation is a factor, but not the sole factor, nor one this administration will take action on. The supply side will remain unresolved, and the voter will remain angry and upset about it.
    - riehwvfbk 2y ago
      OK, oh Smart One. What do we do? I'm guessing the answer is along the lines of "There's nothing that can be done about these artificially created conditions. They just are. So please die quietly, you plebes." Correct? You are conveniently forgetting that the plebes are subsidizing the status quo via their taxes. Corn subsidies. Chicken tax. These are not laws of nature and they can be repealed.
      - toomuchtodo 2y ago
        > I'm guessing the answer is along the lines of "There's nothing that can be done about these artificially created conditions. They just are. So please die quietly, you plebes." Correct? No, not at all. I would suggest this administration maintain its monopoly busting stance Lina Khan demonstrated at the FTC [1], in concert with the DOJ [2]. I would suggest removing ag subsidies for operations over a certain size [3], and target subsidies towards smaller operations (not necessarily family farms, but simply more, smaller operations to optimize for competition and resiliency over efficiency and profits). I would suggest directly subsidizing production capacity increases that had to be proven and maintained to receive subsidies (government supported price floors, if needed), as well as fund increased biosecurity policy and implementation (to prevent supply shocks). I would suggest strong labor and worker protections to drive up wages much faster (versus the slower rate they are accelerating ahead of inflation currently). But, this is not policy that was voted for, or what conservatives will deliver on, so it is moot. > You are conveniently forgetting that the plebes are subsidizing the status quo via their taxes. Corn subsidies. Chicken tax. These are not laws of nature and they can be repealed. "The top 50 percent of all taxpayers paid 97 percent of all federal individual income taxes, while the bottom 50 percent paid the remaining 3 percent." [4] Agree laws are mutable though. Increase and protect supply, increase wages, decrease consolidation. Solving for one is insufficient, solving for all three is required for the economic system to reach food security equilibrium at scale. [1] https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/ftc-accomplishments-june-2021-january-2025.pdf https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/ftc-accomplishm... [2] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-12-17/biden-s-doj-antitrust-chief-leaves-trump-record-monopoly-cases https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-12-17/biden-s-d... | https://archive.today/FCZaW https://archive.today/FCZaW [3] https://greenfiscalpolicy.org/under-trump-farm-subsidies-soared-and-the-rich-got-richer/ https://greenfiscalpolicy.org/under-trump-farm-subsidies-soa... [4] https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/federal/latest-federal-income-tax-data-2025/ https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/federal/latest-federal-in...
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

by sympil 2y ago

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

toomuchtodo 2y ago

> Government wields a magic wand that can make this happen. What wand would government wave to make food prices decline in a short period of time? Cattle herds are at the lowest level in 73 years due to costs related to climate change (which influences beef prices), and the government isn’t going to mandate vaccination for poultry to stem Avian flu contagion (leading to flock culling, further intensifying the supply death spiral; this influences eggs and poultry meat prices). The majority of coffee comes from Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, Ethiopia, and Indonesia; it can only be commercially grown in California, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico in the US. Show your work to support your assertion. https://archive.today/bzPeJ https://archive.today/bzPeJ > Americans aren’t dumber than other people. If you vote for someone who tells you they can make something cheaper they can’t actually make cheaper, and you don’t understand the how and the why, you are not a smart voter. US Cattle Herd Shrinks to 73-Year-Low in Blow for Beef Lovers - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-31/us-beef-to-remain-expensive-as-herd-shrinks-to-73-year-low https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-31/us-beef-t... | https://archive.today/GJz4w https://archive.today/GJz4w Major Florida grower [Alico Inc.] to end citrus operations after years of hurricanes and tree disease - https://apnews.com/article/florida-citrus-alico-hurricanes-greening-be79c91639a91c43e93487563a8c5f84 https://apnews.com/article/florida-citrus-alico-hurricanes-g... - January 7, 2025 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42806145 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42806145 (citations wrt poultry, dairy, and meatpacking supply chain) Food prices worried most voters, but Trump’s plans likely won’t lower their grocery bills - https://www.ap.org/news-highlights/spotlights/2024/food-prices-worried-most-voters-but-trumps-plans-likely-wont-lower-their-grocery-bills/ https://www.ap.org/news-highlights/spotlights/2024/food-pric... - November 14th, 2024 Trump now says bringing down grocery prices, as he promised, will be 'very hard' - https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-now-bringing-grocery-prices-promised-hard/story?id=116763207 https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-now-bringing-grocery-p... - December 13th, 2024

sympil 2y ago
The vast majority of the world’s population falls into this category: If you vote for someone who tells you they can make something cheaper they can’t actually make cheaper, and you don’t understand the how and the why, you are not a smart voter. Your premise is wrong. There are lots of smart people who make dumb, emotionally based decisions in voting and other aspects of life. …. in a short period of time? ? What wand would government wave to make food prices decline in a short period of time? Cattle herds are at the lowest level in 73 years due to costs related to climate change (which influences beef prices), and the government isn’t going to mandate vaccination for poultry to stem Avian flu contagion The discussion was about oligopolies and their pricing power. Now you are changing the topic by talking about things that don’t have to do with oligopolies and their pricing power. I suggest you are not in a position to call other voters dumb.
- toomuchtodo 2y ago
  I suggest you don't understand the problem besides "oligopolies are the culprit," which is not supported by the evidence. Ag consolidation is a factor, but not the sole factor, nor one this administration will take action on. The supply side will remain unresolved, and the voter will remain angry and upset about it.
  - riehwvfbk 2y ago
    OK, oh Smart One. What do we do? I'm guessing the answer is along the lines of "There's nothing that can be done about these artificially created conditions. They just are. So please die quietly, you plebes." Correct? You are conveniently forgetting that the plebes are subsidizing the status quo via their taxes. Corn subsidies. Chicken tax. These are not laws of nature and they can be repealed.
    - toomuchtodo 2y ago
      > I'm guessing the answer is along the lines of "There's nothing that can be done about these artificially created conditions. They just are. So please die quietly, you plebes." Correct? No, not at all. I would suggest this administration maintain its monopoly busting stance Lina Khan demonstrated at the FTC [1], in concert with the DOJ [2]. I would suggest removing ag subsidies for operations over a certain size [3], and target subsidies towards smaller operations (not necessarily family farms, but simply more, smaller operations to optimize for competition and resiliency over efficiency and profits). I would suggest directly subsidizing production capacity increases that had to be proven and maintained to receive subsidies (government supported price floors, if needed), as well as fund increased biosecurity policy and implementation (to prevent supply shocks). I would suggest strong labor and worker protections to drive up wages much faster (versus the slower rate they are accelerating ahead of inflation currently). But, this is not policy that was voted for, or what conservatives will deliver on, so it is moot. > You are conveniently forgetting that the plebes are subsidizing the status quo via their taxes. Corn subsidies. Chicken tax. These are not laws of nature and they can be repealed. "The top 50 percent of all taxpayers paid 97 percent of all federal individual income taxes, while the bottom 50 percent paid the remaining 3 percent." [4] Agree laws are mutable though. Increase and protect supply, increase wages, decrease consolidation. Solving for one is insufficient, solving for all three is required for the economic system to reach food security equilibrium at scale. [1] https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/ftc-accomplishments-june-2021-january-2025.pdf https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/ftc-accomplishm... [2] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-12-17/biden-s-doj-antitrust-chief-leaves-trump-record-monopoly-cases https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-12-17/biden-s-d... | https://archive.today/FCZaW https://archive.today/FCZaW [3] https://greenfiscalpolicy.org/under-trump-farm-subsidies-soared-and-the-rich-got-richer/ https://greenfiscalpolicy.org/under-trump-farm-subsidies-soa... [4] https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/federal/latest-federal-income-tax-data-2025/ https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/federal/latest-federal-in...

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]