Welfare for Farmers Creates Dependency
Critics of welfare for the poor argue that too much “helping” creates dependency. Books like When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor . . . and Yourself explain that poverty...
Category: Agriculture
Time to Sunset Federal Farm Programs
Federal agriculture subsidies, taxes, and regulations confuse and distort farming and ranching across the country. This 2021 article in The New Republic Abolish the Department of Agriculture is subtitled: The USDA has become an...
Oysters, Agriculture, Aquaculture, Health and the Environment
Next year’s Stoa league policy topic calls for reforming federal agriculture policy. American industrial agriculture and aquaculture have long been blamed for heavy water, soil, and air pollution. Environmentalists have called for reforms to...
IP, Agriculture, Infrastructure: Notes on New Resolutions
Here are Stoa policy debate resolution choices: intellectual property, infrastructure, or agriculture. Resolution wording and overview here. Economic principles and history provide insights for economic freedom reforms. Reforming IPEconomic Thinking talks on IP reform...
Smart investments in Central and South American Institutions and Enterprises
For students researching the Central and South America topic, foundational principles for free societies can shine light on real world economic, civic, and political reforms, and open doors for investment. This Atlas Network interview...
Blaming Bananas for Poverty in Central and South America
An earlier post, U.S. Foreign Policy and Economic Freedom for Central and South America discussed the history of U.S. military interventions in Central America. I’m researching a separate post on nutritional support programs in...
Rewilding: Prairies and Forests and Bears, oh my…
The National Speech and Debate Association lists current LD, Public Forum, and Policy topics. Below are notes on the November-December Lincoln-Douglas Debate: Resolved: The United States ought to rewild substantial tracts of land. Many...
Reduce Red Tape Hurting U.S. Orchards and Farms
Though most guest workers for US agriculture travel from Mexico, thousands come from Central and South America. The WSJ Op-Ed, Red Tape Is the Biggest Crop on Some Farms (Aug. 28, 2015) reports: The...
Methane in their Madness: USFG Against Cattle in Central and South America
Last post looked at USFG policies pushing alternative and usually more expensive energy sources in South America. A USFG goal is to reduce carbon dioxide and methane emissions from coal, oil, and natural gas...
After Overturning Chevron, Reform of Congress
The NCFCA debate topic for 2025-26 is: Resolved: The United States Federal Government should significantly reform Congress. NCFCA provides a Policy Resolution Background Paper here. For the NCFCA national tournament, this flyer discussed relevant...