I like your paper. Thanks for the easy-to-read format. And thank you for your coverage of the two Wisconsin farmers showing the contrasts in several areas [“Wisconsin Farmers on Trade Wars, Pandemic Impact, and the Future” by Cara Ding, published Oct. 7].
First of all, I was a Great Depression baby, born in 1931. As I aged then, I was unaware of how dire the situation was in the country, so I have to begin a couple of years prior to World War II. People at that time were on pretty much an even scale—some had little, some had nothing. Poverty was not a buzzword then. People struggled to keep a place to live and keep food on the table.
Our community in Alabama was agrarian, mostly dairy with grain crops to feed the animals, and of course some cotton. Almost everyone with land to plant had a garden. Seed was difficult to come by. Still, there was some food, and most people shared if there was extra, neighbor-to-neighbor, family-to-family. People maintained their integrity and self-respect.
Those who were government employees—federal, state, and local—lived comparatively well. Some folks lost out, many survived. Democrats were in power and the New Deal was in place.
Fast forward to your article, two farmers contrasted, one a dairyman, one a grain cropper. I know a little about dairying. My father was a dairyman. It is confining, consistent, and demanding, and risky. Dairymen love their animals, and they love the work. It is what they want to do.
In your article, the dairyman had a small farm, and across the highway, his neighbor’s farm was large. Both farmers need expensive equipment and labor to enjoy success. The larger farmer receives “largesse from the public treasury” in the form of a subsidy, quite a large one. The smaller farmer receives no subsidy and is pleased to “break even.” He has, more than likely, contributed to the “public treasury” and thus his neighbor’s good fortune.
This brings me to the point. The large farmer did no work to receive the large government subsidy. As a Democrat, he voted for it. And referring to the beginning of this letter, he did not share it with his “friend” across the road. He certainly could have, but that isn’t what Democrats/socialists do. They vote raises and other “largesse” for themselves and keep their constituents “on the plantation” with promises never kept.
That is why we need to make America great again.
Evans Dunkin
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