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The suicide rate for farmers in the U.S. is more than double that of veterans

theguardian.com

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Re: The suicide rate for farmers in the U.S. is more than double that of veterans

#151

Post by baldfat »

EdSharkey wrote: post #140
baldfat wrote: post #65

> but the most extreme anti-government/anti-tax ideologies. It's the very definition of cutting off your nose to spite your face. That sadly isn't an extreme ideologies. Every wonder why Republicans are all for tax cuts? Its the simple idea that if the Government has less money it must be smaller. So lower the taxes of the rich and corporations = smaller government. This is why we have problems all the time with tax…

I've always thought of "trickle down economics" as an overly-rosy way of saying that we'll "grow our way out of the hole". Nevermind the 'conservatives' will never stop digging, will never cut spending, even occasionally spinning up another entitlement of their own, and only occasionally toss their people a bone by slowing existing programs' growth rate. I don't think Reagan thought of government size as being a prob…

But Hillary wasn't a liberal. Liberals actually hated her. We are now in the world perception of Democrat = Liberal and Republican = Conservative and its just wrong. I grew up being a Republican and I don't think I have changed much in my political stances but everyone else has moved far to the Libertarian doctrine.

Case in point: Increase the wages and benefits = less government funding. Never going to get backing from Republican Party in its present form. So instead we have this Corporation Welfare system where tax dollars for Walmart's benefits.

Re: The suicide rate for farmers in the U.S. is more than double that of veterans

#152

Post by JBlue42 »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #23
mc32 wrote: post #6

There was an article on HN not long ago [1] about professionals leaving their jobs in record numbers to pursue life as a farmer, producing and living off the land. How do we reconcile on the one hand farmers by trade leaving and wannabe farmers wanting to join a farm life? [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15771168

You can have a rural life, and not be hurt by the vagaries of farm prices etc. Me for instance. I live on 80 acres outside Iowa City (a college town). The neighbor does the farming of half the land; he pays rent on the land and suffers the risk all himself. So best of both worlds for me. I have my orchard, gardens, sheds, tractor (for mowing and plowing) and rural vistas. And work remotely at software for whomever, a…

That's pretty much how my grandmother manages her land. A guy I went to high school with now plants and harvests it. The normal stuff: soybeans and corn.

An orchard would be sweet.

Re: The suicide rate for farmers in the U.S. is more than double that of veterans

#153

Post by JBlue42 »

PrimalDual wrote: post #63
neolefty wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What would a good role of government be? It sounds like subsidizing getting people off the farm would be helpful, but that's also loaded politically. One program I've heard of working well is subsidizing fallow land that eventually just becomes wild and never returns to cultivation.

I was reading other commenters mentioning the relatively old age of farmers. Maybe the only good option would be something like removing/phasing out existing subsidies so that only right amount of young people choose the profession coupled with a generous retirement program. Something like social security plus but with your farmland backing the plus part. Maybe in the spirit of what you’re describing. I worry about t…

Maybe there's also a concern about losing farming knowledge in local areas. This is a speculation since my general assumption is that as one of the oldest, most studied professions, we have more than enough knowledge socked away on it.

Re: The suicide rate for farmers in the U.S. is more than double that of veterans

#154

Post by JBlue42 »

PrimalDual wrote: post #24

There are few places where market forces work as well as in farming. Which is surprising considering the distortions imposed by subsidies. Still, I think this is a case where automation will eliminate many if not all of their jobs and the market is doing a good job at signaling that they probably need to change professions. This especially rang true when they mentioned how the price of a wheat bushel appeared to belo…

>reinvent themselves for the future.

Give people meaning

Re: The suicide rate for farmers in the U.S. is more than double that of veterans

#155

Post by JBlue42 »

mc32 wrote: post #6

There was an article on HN not long ago [1] about professionals leaving their jobs in record numbers to pursue life as a farmer, producing and living off the land. How do we reconcile on the one hand farmers by trade leaving and wannabe farmers wanting to join a farm life? [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15771168

>How do we reconcile on the one hand farmers by trade leaving and wannabe farmers wanting to join a farm life?

Stardew Valley

Re: The suicide rate for farmers in the U.S. is more than double that of veterans

#156

Post by JBlue42 »

claudiulodro wrote: post #28
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #7

Local farm services guy had this to say: "Used to buy truckloads of fertilizer, then the coop would buy train car loads and undercut us. So we bought a train car - they bought a train. We bought a train - they bought a barge. The margins are disappearing entirely" Almost everybody is being squeezed out by 'economies of scale'. And its going to get worse, when we start making simple foodstuffs electrically (starch, su…

This happens any time your only differentiator is price. The small guy is never going to be able to compete with a larger company on only price. Never make your differentiator "we're cheaper"! It's business 101.

Eh...I've worked in a few businesses that do this. Visual effects was the most notable.

Also, in the US, isn't the government required to go with the lowest bidder to some degree on contracts?

Re: The suicide rate for farmers in the U.S. is more than double that of veterans

#157

Post by s3nnyy »

benevol wrote: post #45

Same thing happens in Switzerland.

I would say farmers are quite happy in Switzerland being the most subsidised farmers in Europe / the world?

On top, some of them own land, which makes them into multimillionaires the moment the land is turned from farm-land into land that can be used to put houses on.

Re: The suicide rate for farmers in the U.S. is more than double that of veterans

#158

Post by yock »

CydeWeys wrote: post #121
yock wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aside from military protection, that is a list of things largely irrelevant to people who live in rural areas. It's money to be confiscated from them and used to prop up societies to which they have little to no connection.

Those societies are their customers. It's where they're making all their money. Only off-the-grid homesteaders can make any credible claim to having no connection to society at large, but if they get sick, they better be honest with themselves and just die at home instead of going to get healthcare from a system they elected not to contribute to.

Why should they be taxed for the benefit of their customers? Aren't their customers paying them?

Re: The suicide rate for farmers in the U.S. is more than double that of veterans

#159

Post by cesnja »

ambicapter wrote: post #92
colanderman wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dumb question, as I am neither a farmer nor a businessperson, but is there a way for a farmer to set up, say, an LLC, which holds money from profitable years for use in unprofitable years, from which the farmer takes a steady salary each year?

Or you could just pay your goddamn taxes and have savings in the bank just like everybody else?

You mean just like everybody else but excluding big corporations and wealthy individuals?

Re: The suicide rate for farmers in the U.S. is more than double that of veterans

#160

Post by linkregister »

cesnja wrote: post #159
ambicapter wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or you could just pay your goddamn taxes and have savings in the bank just like everybody else?

You mean just like everybody else but excluding big corporations and wealthy individuals?

Are you claiming that a majority of large corporations don't pay income taxes?

Is it even 5%?

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