3 ms·

European politicians are great at pretending to do stuff, not newsworthy.

• markus_zhang 1y ago
  “One of your officials pays farmers to produce surplus food, while on the same floor, the next office is paying them to destroy the surpluses.” —- the late venerable Prime Minister Jim Hacker
  • ajsnigrutin 1y ago
    This is at least a bit understandable... if something bad happens, a (trade, or a 'classic') war, some large catastrophe somewhere, you want local farmers with all the equipment, knowledge, fields and warehouses ready to take over. Yeah, sure, today maybe you have a surplus of potatos, more than your people want to eat, and still more expensive from imported ones from some other country, but subsidizing the farmers means that in such extreme cases, you at least have the infrastructure to grow potatos to feed the people at home.
    • troupo 1y ago
      The New Deal used this tactic to (a very simplified description) raise prices on farm products and let farmers get out of poverty during The Great Depression: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Deal#Farm_and_rural_programs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Deal#Farm_and_rural_progra...
      • actionfromafar 1y ago
        Now we use the opposite tactic! Brilliant times ahead.
    • harvey9 1y ago
      The EU also used to have wine surpluses like this. I suppose you could make a witty argument that wine will be needed in a crisis.
• deleted 1y ago
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