Governance With RCS: We are responsible for feeding ourselves. We Are Many; We Need Not Govern Alone
Federal bills may seem boring, incomprehensible, and unimportant. They do not have to be that and many are important. Some of them very important to us personally.
Federal bills become national laws which we must live with, or work to change. We need to co-operate to get early information about bills and the changing of bills. Changing them may be more difficult than passing them.
A
new farm bill comes along every five years or so and I am yet to
witness a national dialogue or debate on it. It not only affects our
national debt, but also what we eat and how much our food costs. It may
determine the price of rice in Vietnam and the price of corn in Mexico.
It is our main strategy for feeding ourselves. We, as a people, have
never taken the time to talk about it.
Most of us, including our legislators, consider it boring, incomprehensible, and unimportant.
We
don't have to be this way. We can educate ourselves. We can create
bills that are much easier to understand and we can talk over the issues
and our policy. When e find the bills easier to understand we may find
them more interesting. We may find ourselves giving our children a
better chance of eating well.
The
farm bill is important. It is our farm bill. We could probably benefit
by putting our agricultural policy in better alignment with our public
health needs and our environmental needs. If we cared enough we
could make it easier to feed our children fresh food. W could make sure
that farmers, got fair prices and not distorting subsidies.
When we are willing to talk with one another we can get the issues on the table where we can look them over.
Among
people who are not slaves, it seems important to expand the circle of
citizens who decide how we shall get the food we need and want.
"How am I," you ask, "to take care of our food supply?" You already know the answer to that question. The answer is, of course, that you cannot. We need to organize to do things for ourselves. We. we need to co-operate, to organize and to do the work that needs doing.
We all need to eat.
RCS