De Soto explores how autoempresas (self-entrepreneurship) is transforming
Latin America and could do so much more if "policy instruments" which favor
big business did not stifle entrepreneurial activity, especially in
agriculture.
Unfortunately, the polarized policy atmosphere in the US may undercut
interest in De Soto's ideas because he is being promoted by the "wrong"
crowd, despite his praise for Mao and Ho Chi Minh.
http://www.reason.com/DeSoto.html.
For other sites promoting de Soto look at:
http://www.worldforum98.org/speakers/h-desoto.html and
http://www.lfb.org/pr5625.html.
One quote from De Soto: "Agrarian reform is a process by means of which
government assigns lands to the peasants. But when we talk about titling
and registering those who have already occupied the lands, the "squatters,"
we are talking about a different phenomenon. The squatters have already
created their own revolution. They do not need anybody, neither a party nor
a government agency, to carry out a revolution for them. I am going to show
you the real magnitude of this revolution so that you can see that this is
not the sort of resolution that can be negotiated: 90 percent of the
agrarian sector in Peru is informal."
Jim Worstell, Delta Land & Community
920 Hwy 153, Almyra, AR 72003
Phone: 870-673-6346 Fax: 870-673-7219
www.deltanetwork.org jvworstell@futura.net
-----Original Message-----
From: James Vard Worstell [SMTP:jvworstell@futura.net]
Sent: Sunday, January 03, 1999 8:40 AM
To: sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu; 'Hal Hamilton'
Subject: RE: farm policy
Hal,
Maybe you should lead a delegation to Australia and New Zealand. The
social, historical and economic context for "policy instruments" in those
two countries seems much more similar to the good ole USA than is any
country in Europe. Those instruments, by the way, have some similarities
to APUC and associated programs in North Dakota and AURI in Minnesota.
But in all four cases, the policy instruments followed fundamental shifts
in perspectives which occurred in farmers and legislators in North Dakota,
Minnesota, New Zealand and Australia. We've got about 10 years of history
now for all those programs.
That said, laying the groundwork for those fundamental shifts is far more
interesting, lasting and profound than enacting the "right" legislative
language. Kinda like Community Farm Alliance used to do (still does?) in
the good old days.
By the way, the 10th annual Marketplace of Ideas is this week in Bismarck,
ND. Will anyone on this list be joining me and rest of the 5000 attendees?
----------
From: Hal Hamilton[SMTP:hhamilton@centerss.org]
Sent: Saturday, January 02, 1999 11:13 AM
To: sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu
Subject: RE: farm policy
I recently helped lead delegations to study European marketing initiatives.
We began with the assumption that many US farm movement and sustainable
agriculture policy campaigns were not adequate to our multiple goals
(family
farm prosperity, environmental protection, community development) and that
a
more robust marketplace strategy is needed. We studied eco-labels,
farmer-owned stores, regional marketing, organic marketing, etc.. There's
a
lot to learn in Europe on all these fronts. And we certainly heard an
earful about GMOs!
But my point of the day is this: without a vigorous use of the governmental
policy instruments so many of us disdain, there would be far fewer European
farms from which to do all this marketing. Many US and European farmers
are
realizing market premiums for special, regional, and/or green products.
There are good market strategies to investigate. But "policy instruments"
are also obviously necessary. Sometimes these are measures to protect the
"artificial" label integrity of a regional product; sometimes they might be
subsidies from water authorities to organic farmers who reduce the expense
of cleaning up surface water; sometimes they might be legal frameworks for
farmer-owned stores; sometimes they might be tax incentives for small
businesses that create rural employment; sometimes they might be seed
capital for cooperative processing facilities; and sometimes they might be
straight out subsidies to farmers in order that farmers survive.
The remarkable thing about some of the least fertile agricultural regions
of
Europe is the prosperity and beauty of a countryside that would, in the US,
be abandoned.
Many government programs everywhere are wasteful, stupid, short-sighted.
Many large wheat farmers around Paris get subsidized to flood the world
with
unwanted product. Just like here, only Cargil etc. benefit from these
policies that use farmers to launder subsidies for agbiz.
It's just too easy, however, to castigate all public programs because many
of them are wasteful and wrong. Some are excellent, and many are at least
marginally useful.
For more on the marketing study of Europe, see:
http://www.iatp.org/eurotour/
For some fascinating discussions of European farm policy, see:
http://perso.club-internet.fr/geyan/bruges/index.html
Hal
Hal Hamilton
Center for Sustainable Systems
433 Chestnut St., Berea KY 40403 USA
Phone: (606) 986-5336; Fax: (606) 986-1299
hhamilton@centerss.org
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