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Going back to the Romans, Italy was always a country that focused on cash crops like grapes and olives due to the lack of good, flat land. They always imported grain, first from North Africa, then due to climate change (been going on before Al Gore)from Germany, France and certain flat parts of Northern and Southern Italy. My ancestors grew wheat for around 600 years then had their lands taken by the socialistic policies of the bitter-sweet post unification period in the 1800’s. Most of the peasants the gov’t gave the land to chose to grow cash crops in order to make a living off of such small plots of land.
joe,
I understand your point about voting your conscience and for independents with a sharp vision and focus,
my problem with these candidates is simply that they can afford to articulate a cutting edge and many times appropriate solution to given problems,
but at the expense of understanding and acknowledging the unavoidable constraints of our political/economic system.
It is one thing to say, like Ron Paul, we should just get up and leave all overseas bases, it is another to understand the massive worldwide instability that may be caused from pulling the American butress out from Eastern Europe, South Korea, Taiwan, South America and the Middle East.
That would probably be considered general knowledge. I’m pretty sure if you look at food production stats and population numbers it makes sense. The main point was that China (as does much of Asia) gets much if not most of its main staple food, rice from the U.S. That’s the kind of leverage that no amount of Walmart merch can buy.
Posted by: Joe from Brooklyn at January 27, 2010 12:18 PM
China was 26% of global rice production in 2006. Total of 600m tonnes so China production = 156m tonnes.
China 2004 rice consumption 135m tonnes.
So that’s it for rice – easily the most important foodstuff in China.
Now, please, do you have any source to back up your statement. I said it before but I’ll repeat it again to be clear, I am not disputing your “fact” and only want a source for it.
joe- i think nothing will improve until the very way Washington does business changes drastically. Unfortunately neither party seems willing to support that, no matter what they say. And lowering taxes without drastically cutting spending will dig the hole deeper. First thing I’d get rid of are the perks every damn Sens and Reps. enjoy. Let them brown bag it from home and take public transportation to work.
Not relevant to what you said initially, bxgrl.
Bush was a disaster on spending. Many (most) conservatives agree with that. But why should that mean we should support ever more spending now??
I also believe that keeping taxes as low as feasible is a moral imperative of government, but that’s another issue again.
speaking of China and other things,
many of you will find the following very interesting.
Stratfor, an independent analysis group often used by the military and the government has put out it’s predictions for the next decade.
they often have the overall trend right, of course they aren’t Nostradamus so the details are often off, but it is worth reading about China.
I agree that the Repubs are no good hypocrites who don’t serve their constituencies in any meaningful way. I think the same is true for Democrats. That’s why I go for mavericks (ie real public servants) like Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich.
Going back to the Romans, Italy was always a country that focused on cash crops like grapes and olives due to the lack of good, flat land. They always imported grain, first from North Africa, then due to climate change (been going on before Al Gore)from Germany, France and certain flat parts of Northern and Southern Italy. My ancestors grew wheat for around 600 years then had their lands taken by the socialistic policies of the bitter-sweet post unification period in the 1800’s. Most of the peasants the gov’t gave the land to chose to grow cash crops in order to make a living off of such small plots of land.
joe,
I understand your point about voting your conscience and for independents with a sharp vision and focus,
my problem with these candidates is simply that they can afford to articulate a cutting edge and many times appropriate solution to given problems,
but at the expense of understanding and acknowledging the unavoidable constraints of our political/economic system.
It is one thing to say, like Ron Paul, we should just get up and leave all overseas bases, it is another to understand the massive worldwide instability that may be caused from pulling the American butress out from Eastern Europe, South Korea, Taiwan, South America and the Middle East.
That would probably be considered general knowledge. I’m pretty sure if you look at food production stats and population numbers it makes sense. The main point was that China (as does much of Asia) gets much if not most of its main staple food, rice from the U.S. That’s the kind of leverage that no amount of Walmart merch can buy.
Posted by: Joe from Brooklyn at January 27, 2010 12:18 PM
When you put it that way I don’t really want to believe you.
From Wikipedia: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice#Production_and_export)
China was 26% of global rice production in 2006. Total of 600m tonnes so China production = 156m tonnes.
China 2004 rice consumption 135m tonnes.
So that’s it for rice – easily the most important foodstuff in China.
Now, please, do you have any source to back up your statement. I said it before but I’ll repeat it again to be clear, I am not disputing your “fact” and only want a source for it.
joe- i think nothing will improve until the very way Washington does business changes drastically. Unfortunately neither party seems willing to support that, no matter what they say. And lowering taxes without drastically cutting spending will dig the hole deeper. First thing I’d get rid of are the perks every damn Sens and Reps. enjoy. Let them brown bag it from home and take public transportation to work.
Not relevant to what you said initially, bxgrl.
Bush was a disaster on spending. Many (most) conservatives agree with that. But why should that mean we should support ever more spending now??
I also believe that keeping taxes as low as feasible is a moral imperative of government, but that’s another issue again.
hi folks,
speaking of China and other things,
many of you will find the following very interesting.
Stratfor, an independent analysis group often used by the military and the government has put out it’s predictions for the next decade.
they often have the overall trend right, of course they aren’t Nostradamus so the details are often off, but it is worth reading about China.
http://www.businessinsider.com/stratfor-predictions-for-the-next-decade-2010-1
I agree that the Repubs are no good hypocrites who don’t serve their constituencies in any meaningful way. I think the same is true for Democrats. That’s why I go for mavericks (ie real public servants) like Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich.
Joe,
according to Etson’s food trade chart, look at who is HUGE net importer. you know which country I’m inferring to.
Russia shows up as a modest net importer.
The sheer amount of oil, gas and minerals they have would make a pretty handy bargaining chip in a worldwide food shortage.